Our founding fathers were patriots. But beyond that, they were smart, educated, and well read. They had a sense of governing and they had a sense of history. They recognized the difficulties in achieving and maintaining freedom.
At the time, there was thought that a democracy would be the best form of government for the newly freed colonies. The founders, in their wisdom, and for a number of reasons, decided a representative republic would be more suited to a free country that would grow and expand westward.
Not the least of their reasons was to avoid the tyranny of the majority. They understood that a country this big offering great opportunity to settlers would attract a wide variety of immigrants. The rights and needs of minorities that settled here needed to be respected. With fair laws and honest representation, disparate groups could live together in peace.
No system is perfect. That is why we have police and courts. But the system, pretty much, worked. Not perfect but good. Generally, Americans are hard working people, willing to be fair to everyone. Most are too busy with their own lives to be overly concerned with others. Different lifestyles co-existed.
Today, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. We are seeing a tyranny of minorities. No one likes to be accused of hate. Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter has become an H instead of an A. If one takes a moral position on abortion, they are waging war on women. If you support marriage as a religious rite between a man and a woman, you become a homophobe. Speak against the Presidents policies and you will be branded a racist.
In my last post, I wrote about Brendan Eich, late of Mozilla. Was he more unreasonable than gays that want to be part of parades and display behavior that is inappropriate in front of children. A group of Muslims got all distraught because flyers for an Easter egg hunt were passed out in a grade school. This is the same group that expects everyone to accept beheadings, stonings, and honor killings without comment as it is part of their religion. Is it not right to condemn as evil and racist black youths "polar bear hunting" without being called racist yourself.
We need to bring back a new era of tolerance before things really get out of hand. Those users that fan the flames for financial or political advantage needs to end. Politicians, by turning Americans against each, other seek to capture a bloc of votes by demonizing part of the population. It is unfortunate that there are those that are more than willing to be manipulated, including the politicians themselves. This must be stopped. Not by law but by people getting a grip on good sense, getting informed, and to stop allowing themselves to be used.
Actually we need a new era of intolerance but this time originating from white Christian heterosexual males. Tolerance is a two way street. You can't offer tolerance to a person or group who will not tolerate you. We have learned the hard way that they will only use your tolerance to subvert you and your way of life at every turn.
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