A democracy is rule by the people; we elect our leaders according to the will of the majority. But our Constitution and many of our laws protect the rights of the minority from the will of the majority. Does the majority (or the representatives of the majority) protect the rights of the minority from the will of the majority only because the majority wills it? Can the majority decide that the rights of the minority should no longer be protected? If the majority does decide this, what is there to stop it?

This is how we had legal slavery for so long, and how women were not allowed to vote for so long, among other things. How did we eventually come to realize that those things were wrong? Through objective observation and rational thinking, is the only answer I come up with. I hear a lot of people (including the President) complain about judges being "activists" and making rulings about laws that are against the will of the people. I would argue that that is exactly what judges are supposed to do; protect the rights of the minority from the will of the majority, whenever the majority is wrong.

This brings up another point though: our judges are appointed by leaders the majority elects. If the majority is too dumb to know which laws are OK and which ones wrongfully harm the minority, then how is the majority smart enough to pick leaders to decide which laws are OK? People only vote for leaders they agree with. By electing leaders all we've done is pushed the problem up one level. The majority elects leaders; the leaders appoint judges; but the judges must somehow be willing and able to disagree both with the leaders and with the people themselves, if disagreement is warranted. It doesn't seem that our system is set up in a way to allow this to happen very easily.