How many make it right?

Aves writes the following in response to yesterday's post on Tony Blair:

Do you think maybe there might be a problem when SO many people disagree with him (Blair, I assume but Bush works here too) and SO many people are protesting. Isn't it true that if the majority of the people don't agree with it, then there is a good chance that there's something wrong with it? I mean, isn't that how America works? Majority rules.

Thanks for the post Aves, but - respectfully - I believe you couldn't be more wrong.

Can only one man (or woman) - or a small segment of a population - be right? If it takes more than one person, then how many? Conversely, just because many, many people believe in something, does that make that thing right?

Think slavery or Germany in 1940.

Kerry and The Left hung their hat on this premise during the campaign: If the whole world is against the War in Iraq (of course, that in itself wasn't true... the Coalition of the Willing is comprised of some 50 countries) then the War in Iraq must be wrong.

But since when did the opinions of France, Germany, or Russia determine whether American foreign policy is right or wrong? Remember Kerry's "global test" during the debates? Thank God he's not our President.

But Aves brings up more than a political question - it's a moral one.

For instance, let's say me and a few of my friends believe in something but no one else does. Then we're wrong? What if we convinced 51% of the world to believe in it; all of a sudden we're right?

But if you think about it, that thing my friends and I originally believed in has not changed, just the number of people who believe in it ... how can that fact change the rightness or wrongness of the idea?

It's a fascinating point that, like so many others, transcends politics.

Thanks for the comment Aves ... I think you're wrong, but I'm only one person, so if you get a friend to agree with you, that'll make you right!