People talk about democracy. But do they really understand it? How about representative democracy? Basically it means that citizens (the people) make the rules that we live by. We do so by way of voting for legislatures who will pass laws that represent our will.

This was a major point of the Declaration of Independence. The law of the land would be decided by the voters through laws.  It seems a simple enough concept. And for our nation's history, it has worked pretty well.  When Americans concluded that slavery was an abomination, it voted for laws that outlawed it.  When we decided that women should have the right to vote, we voted for laws that explicitly allowed it. 

In every case, it has been laws, passed by the will of the people. Slavery wasn't abolished by a judge. Women weren't granted the right to vote because some mayor decided they should be allowed to vote. The people enacted laws to do that. That's the way democracy works.

And yet on the subject of gay marriage, some people would throw democracy to the wind. Has any federal or state legislature passed a law enabling gays to be married? Forget what position on the issue you take, you either favor democracy or you don't.

I do not approve of judges or mayors or whatever deciding that they will dictate decide for the rest of us. If gay marriage is to be legal, it needs to become legal as a matter of law. Laws passed by elected officials who were voted in to represent the will of the people.

That's what democracy is all about. If we slide into a system where individuals can declare new laws unilaterally, we slide further away into democracy and back towards what the American revolution was supposed to abolish. 

So to those who support gay marriage, some advice: Make your case to the American people. Build support for your position. Lobby legislatures to pass laws. That's democracy in action and it's served this country well for over 200 years.