Democracy

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notmartha
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Democracy

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BIBLE

The words democracy, democrat, democratically, etc. are not found in the KJV or any other translations I’ve checked.

The Sovereignty of God, Arthur Pink, 1918
But who is regulating affairs on this earth today—God, or the Devil? Attempt to take a serious and comprehensive view of the world. What a scene of confusion and chaos confronts us on every side! Sin is rampant; lawlessness abounds; evil men and seducers are waxing "worse and worse" (2 Tim. 3:13). Today, everything appears to be out of joint. Thrones are creaking and tottering, ancient dynasties are being overturned, democracies are revolting, civilization is a demonstrated failure; half of Christendom was but recently locked-together in a death grapple; and now that the titantic conflict is over, instead of the world having been made "safe for democracy," we have discovered that democracy is very unsafe for the world. Unrest, discontent, and lawlessness are rife everywhere, and none can say how soon another great war will be set in motion. Statesmen are perplexed and staggered. Men's hearts are "failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth" (Luke 21:26). Do these things look as though God had full control?
The Apocalypse, Lectures on the Book of Revelation, Joseph A. Seiss
Thus, in the name of Democracy and popular rights, comes absolute Dictatorship and Imperialism; in the name of Freedom, comes complete and universal enslavement; in the name of the better Reason, which tramples on religion and Revelation, comes a great consolidated system of gross idolatry; in the name of a charitable Liberalism, which disdains allegiance to any creed, comes a bloody Despotism, which compels men to worship the base image of a baser man, or die! Here is one star in the crown of this world's boasted Progress.
Commentary on Revelation. Bullinger, E.W.1909
xiii. 16. And he (i.e., the Second Beast) causeth all, even the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, to receive a mark on their right hands, or upon their foreheads:]

Thus, out of Democracy comes Despotism: out of Liberalism comes "Boycotting" on a large scale: out of Reason comes Idolatry; out of Socialism comes the abrogation of the rights of "Free labour." What was thought impossible in this direction a few years ago is now seen to be an accomplished fact in all directions. In whole districts it is often forbidden to buy or sell either their merchandise or their labour; and none are exempted from this new enslavement. The False Prophet will bring "Boycotting" to perfection, and employ it as a political power and a religious agency.
Lectures on Systematic Theology, Charles Finney, 1878
1. The particular forms of state government must, and will, depend upon the virtue and intelligence of the people.

When virtue and intelligence are nearly universal, democratic forms of government are well suited to promote the public good. In such a state of society, democracy is greatly conducive to the general diffusion of knowledge on governmental subjects; and although, in some respects less convenient, yet in a suitable state of society, a democracy is in many respects the most desirable form of government.

God has always providentially given to mankind those forms of government that were suited to the degrees of virtue and intelligence among them. If they have been extremely ignorant and vicious, he has restrained them by the iron rod of human despotism. If more intelligent and virtuous, he has given them the milder form of limited monarchies. If still more intelligent and virtuous, he has given them still more liberty, and providentially established republics for their government. Whenever the general state of intelligence has permitted it, he has put them to the test of self-government and self-restraint, by establishing democracies.

If the world ever becomes perfectly virtuous, governments will be proportionally modified, and employed in expounding and applying the great principles of moral law.

2. That form of government is obligatory, that is best suited to meet the necessities of the people.

This follows as a self-evident truth, from the consideration, that necessity is the condition of the right of human government. To meet this necessity is the object of government; and that government is obligatory and best which is demanded by the circumstances, intelligence, and morals of the people.

Consequently, in certain states of society, it would be a Christian’s duty to pray for and sustain even a military despotism; in a certain other state of society, to pray for and sustain a monarchy; and in other states, to pray for and sustain a republic; and in a still more advanced stage of virtue and intelligence, to pray for and sustain a democracy; if indeed a democracy is the most wholesome form of self government, which may admit of doubt. It is ridiculous to set up the claim of a Divine right for any given form of government. That form of government which is demanded by the state of society, and the virtue and intelligence of the people, has of necessity the Divine right and sanction, and none other has or can have.
Anti-Thought-Control Dictionary created by American Christian Ministries
http://benwilliamslibrary.com/dictionary_set.html
DEMOCRACY

CONTROLLED MEANING:
A form of government in which the highest power is vested in the citizens ("we the people"). The bastion of freedom and liberty throughout the world.

CORRECT DEFINITION:
From the Greek "demos" (common people) and "kratos" (rule): thus, "rule by the common people." In a true democracy government would be ruled by the common people. This, however, is NOT what rules America. America is ruled by money powers (bankers) exercising power through politicians and judges. It is, in essence, a Plutocracy (rule by the rich).

America is not a real Democracy ... but if it were it would amount to "government by men" (as contrasted to government by God). "Democracy" is a term used by politicians to confuse and manipulate "the people" into practicing idolatry. The people are led to believe they, collectively, are god (i.e., they can create and/or change law - legislate) through voting and writing their congressmen. Thus, the people are deceived by "subtle" devils (Gen. 3:6) to think they can "become as God, knowing good and evil" (i.e., make their own laws instead of accepting God's laws).

This idolatry (self-worship) leads "the people" into bondage under an elite ruling class of sly, subtle serpents (bankers, politicians and priests) who claim to be "representatives" and protectors. The inherent problem is that these so-called "protectors of the public" always manipulate things to their own advantage.
DEFINITIONS

Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language, 1828
DEMOCRAT, noun
One who adheres to a government by the people, or favors the extension of the right of suffrage to all classes of men.
DEMOCRACY, noun [Gr. People, and to possess, to govern.]
Government by the people; a form of government, in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people collectively, or in which the people exercise the powers of legislation. Such was the government of Athens.
Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856
DEMOCRACY, government.

That form of government in which the sovereign power is exercised by the people in a body, as was the practice in some of the states of Ancient Greece; the term representative democracy has been given to a republican government like that of the United States.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 1st Edition, 1891 and 2nd Edition, 1910
DEMOCRACY.

That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens; as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy. According to the theory of a pure democracy, every citizen should participate directly in the business of governing. and the legislative assembly should comprise the whole people. But the ultimate lodgment of the sovereignty being the distinguishing feature, the introduction of the representative system does not remove a government from this type. However, a government of the latter kind is sometimes specifically described as a “representative democracy.”
DEMOCRATIC.

Of or pertaining to democracy or to the party "the democrats”.
U. S. Army Training Manual No. 2000-25, US War Department, Washington, D.C., November 30, 1928
Democracy, n.:
- A government of the masses.
- Authority derived through mass meeting or any other form of
direct expression.
- Results in mobocracy.
- Attitude toward property is communistic... negating property rights.
- Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate,
whether it is based upon deliberation or governed by passion, prejudice,
and impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences.
- Result is demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, [chaos].
Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition, 1968
DEMOCRACY.

That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens, as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy. According to the theory of a pure democracy, every citizen should participate directly in the business of governing, and the legislative assembly should comprise the whole people. But the ultimate lodgment of the sovereignty being the distinguishing feature, the introduction of the representative system does not remove a government from this type. However, a government of the latter kind is sometimes specifically described as a "representative democracy."

Town form of government constitutes pure democracy as distinguished from representative
government. Commonwealth v. Town of Hudson, 315 Mass. 335, 52 N.E.2d 566, 572.

Democracy is loosely used of governments in which the sovereign powers are exercised by all the people or, a large number of them, or specifically, in modern use, of a representative government where there is equality of rights without hereditary or arbitrary differences in rank or privilege; and is distinguished from aristocracy.

In modern representative democracies, as the United States and France, though the governing body, that is, the electorate, is a minority of the total population, the principle on which the government is based is popular sovereignty, which distinguishes them from aristocracies.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1979
Democracy.

That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation, as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy.

Black’s Law Dictionary, 7th Edition, 1999
Democracy

Government by the people, either directly or through representatives.

QUOTES

Aristotle:
Democracy arose from men thinking that if they are equal in any respect they are equal in all respects
A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employments.
Plato:
Democracy leads to anarchy, which is mob rule.
Democracy…is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.
Lysander Spooner:
If our fathers, in 1776, had acknowledged the principle that a majority had the right to rule the minority, we should never have become a nation; for they were in a small minority, as compared with those who claimed the right to rule over them.
The principle that the majority have a right to rule the minority, practically resolves all government into a mere contest between two bodies of men, as to which of them shall be masters, and which of them slaves; a contest, that -- however bloody -- can, in the nature of things, never be finally closed, so long as man refuses to be a slave.
Benjamin Franklin:
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!
Walter E. Williams:
Democracy and liberty are not the same. Democracy is little more than mob rule, while liberty refers to the sovereignty of the individual.
John Adams:
Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.
Democracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man’s life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable cruelty of one or a very few.
Neal Boortz:
Our founding fathers detested the idea of a democracy and labored long to prevent America becoming one. Once again -- the word 'democracy' does not appear in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, or the constitution of any of the fifty states. Not once. Furthermore, take a look at State of the Union speeches. You won’t find the 'D' word uttered once until the Wilson years.
James Madison:
From this view of the subject, it may be concluded, that a pure Democracy, by which I mean a society, consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the Government in person, can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will in almost every case, be felt by the majority of the whole; a communication and concert results from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party, or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is, that such Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property, and have in general been as short in their lives, as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed, that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.
Richard M. Ebeling:
Democracy in itself does not define or guarantee a free society. History has told many stories of democratic societies that have degenerated into corruption, plunder, and tyranny.
James Fenimore Cooper:
The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.
Benito Mussolini:
Democracy is talking itself to death. The people do not know what they want; they do not know what is the best for them. There is too much foolishness, too much lost motion. I have stopped the talk and the nonsense. I am a man of action. Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy. You in America will see that some day.
Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Democracy is morose, and runs to anarchy.
James Russell Lowell:
Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor.
Voltaire:
The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.
Sir Winston Churchill:
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.
Thomas Babington Macaulay:
American democracy must be a failure because it places the supreme authority in the hands of the poorest and most ignorant part of the society.
Friedrich August von Hayek:
By giving the government unlimited powers, the most arbitrary rule can be made legal; and in this way a democracy may set up the most complete despotism imaginable.
H. L. Mencken:
Democracy is a form of religion, it is the worship of jackals by jack asses.
Oscar Wilde:
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
Alexis de Tocqueville:
I am far from denying that newspapers in democratic countries lead citizens to do very ill-considered things in common; but without newspapers there would be hardly any common action at all. So they mend many more ills than they cause.
Thomas Sowell:
To include freedom in the very definition of democracy is to define a process not by its actual characteristics as a process but by its hoped for results. This is not only intellectually invalid, it is, in practical terms, blinding oneself in advance to some of the unwanted consequences of the process.
Adolf Hitler:
National Socialism is what Marxism might have been if it could have broken its absurd and artificial ties with the democratic order.

Dave Barry:
The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and time again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy. The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club.
Harry S. Truman:
Secrecy and a free, democratic government don’t mix.
Henry David Thoreau:
Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man? There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. I please myself with imagining a State at least which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen.
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