Thursday, June 16, 2005

The Democracy of the Dead

The Democracy of the Dead is a collaborative blog, nearly one year old, "dedicated to analyzing politics, culture, and religion through the voices of those still living and those who have departed but left us their wisdom." It takes its name, of course, from what G.K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy:
If we attach great importance to the opinion of ordinary men in great unanimity when we are dealing with daily matters, there is no reason why we should disregard it when we are dealing with history or fable. Tradition may be defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.

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