Re: Is religion antithetical to democracy [formerly: Are Islam andDemocracy Incompatible?]

Said  [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kate ) :

 
>It's the bill of rights that guarentees freedoms, not the practice of
>democracy.  

It's the CONSTITUTION that guarantees freedoms. The Bill of Rights was
an appendage that the Federalist Fathers did not want and only
accepted as a compromise to save the Constitution from not being
ratified. 

>With out the bill of rights, democracy is two wolves and a sheep
>voting on dinner.

Democracy is upstream from the Bill of Rights, and from the
Constitution as well. The only validity of the Bill of Rights, and of
the Constitution, is the will of the people - if the people don't
accept it, they're just ink on paper and nothing else. 

And the attitude that the will of the people guides the political
process, well, er, we call it "democracy". 

No democracy, no bill and no rights. 


Alberto.