At work, a friend who shares my faith found out that I support gay marriage. He asked me how I could support gay marriage when I'm not a fan of the gay lifestyle. I wasn't terribly articulate in my defense, honestly.
This weekend I was shelving books in our sideroom when I came across a book from 1940 called, "Toward Freedom." I flipped through the pages and the prose looked turgid, the illustrations a step ahead of a kindergarten primer, but the introduction took me away. I'll quote them now:
More the specifically, the authors of the Democracy Series use the following characteristics to describe the ideals and procedures of democracy.
1. Respect for the dignity and worth of the individual human personality.
2. Open opportunity for the individual.
3. Economic and social security.
4. The search for truth.
5. Free discussion; freedom of speech; freedom of the press.
6. Universal education.
7. The rule of the majority; the rights of the minority; the honest ballot.
8. Justice for the common man; trial by jury; arbitration of disputes; orderly legal processes; freedom from search and seizure; right to petition.
9. Freedom of religion.
10. Respect for the rights of private property.
11. The practice of the fundamental social virtues.
12. The responsibility of the individual to participate in the duties of democracy.
I honestly couldn't have said it better myself.
