The House of Quiet

Hutt News, Volume XXII, Issue 5, 14 July 1948, Page 12

The House of Quiet

IS THE MAJORITY ALWAYS RIGHT? (Contributed by the Mutt Valley Ministers’ Fraternal.) The above question was discussed by a debating society. Alter long and careful debate the decision was reached by an overwhelming majority that "the majority is NOT always right”! Yet there is prevalent today a conclusion of loose thinking by which the majority vote is claimed to he the authoritative answer to many questions: “The voice 01 the people is the voice ot God Is it always so.' One of the many words which have lost their meaning is the much-abused word “democracy.” Every nation claims to be a democracy, the only difference being a considerable divergence of opinion on what is a democracy. The word is applied firstly to a certain form of government, and secondly to ideals of life and standards of human behaviour which are considered to arise in that, political atmosphere. The usual definition given is a quotation of Lincoln’s “government ot the people, for the people, by the people,” or an assertion of the principle ot "one man one vote. ' The machinery of what we understand by democracy is well-known, although there is considerable difference ot opinion upon the meaning of the term. It is a society in which the majority rules, where certain issues are decided by the wish of the larger section of the community. One proviso must be made. A “true” democracy will scrupulously respect the rights and wishes of the minority, and tlie worth of a democracy may he fairly gauged by the treatment meted to them. In the existence of "pressure groups,” especially minority groups, or in the expressed intention of the majority to advance the interests of its members, are found two conditions which negate ideal democracy.

Is it certain that the majority is a ways right? Not always. Many decisions require wisdom and insight not possessed by the majority of humanity, while special knowledge often confers upon an “expert” the right to voice a solitary opinion io which his fellow-citizens do well to heed.

Right and Wrong

Is the majority always right? Not in the realm of opinion. Columbus was laughed to scorn by (tie world of bis time when “the brave fool sailed over the edge of ihe world.” The majority clamoured that he was wrong, but be lived to vindicate his ionely opinion. Copernicus was ridiculed when he made his suggestion that day and night were caused by the revolution of the earth, and when a century later Galileo claimed that the earth travelled its yearly course around the sun he was compelled to retract. The Wright brothers were the last of a succession of men who dreamed that man would fly-—some day. The majority or their fellow-men joined in the Scornful attitude that, if man was meant to fly he would possess wings. During the years that precaded 1D 39 the solitary voice of Mr. Winston Churchill was often raised in warning to his fellow-countrymen of the potential danger of Nazi Germany. The majority disbelieved him, called him a war-monger, and took every opportunity to deny his statements. He was right; they were wrong.

Problem for Many People

It is not claimed, of course, that the majority is always wrong, and that simply because a group is small it is necessarily right. There is ,a relevant application, however, to what is a real problem for many people. A jibe is commonly made at Christianity by saying that, since the majority do not attend church, Christianity must therefore be wrong. Worshippers in the churches of our land total less than ten per cent, of the population, but this is a case where the majority should draw scant comfort from its numerical strength. The Christian faith is too' exacting in its demands for most people to follow closely. The standards of Christian life and conduct sort people out, being too high for most. Society is divided into those who are willing, in His strength, to try to measure to the standards of Jesus Christ, and those who are not. ' Jesus spoke of tw r o roads. The majority travel along the broad road of scant self-discipline and little personal inconvenience; the

minority along the narrow' path of unselfish living, seeking to follow the somewhat exacting paths upon which our Lord travels with His disciples. This state of affairs is not His desire. It is simply the fact, as true during His life-time upon earth as it is today. He found that the majority chose the wrong path in life, many deliberately ignoring tlie right w T ay, which, because an arduous and exacting'way of life, was followed only by a minority.

This is one field where the majority is certainly wrong. Even if the majority choose not to honour the Christian’s Cod nor to worship Him on tlio Christian's sacred day that <'act does not render such an attitude the right one. The future will demonstrate that, in the field of life and worship, although in the minority, the Christian is not thereby wrong. His vindication is found ultimately in the words of Jesus Christ, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad the road which leads to ruin, and many there he who enter by it; because narrow is the gate and contracted the road which leads to Life, and few are those who find it.’’ (Matthew 7:13, 14. Weymou tli. j