To the editor:

Mr. Mehl makes an excellent point (Public Forum, April 15). Referring to the hateful and ultimately unconstitutional amendment that Kansans have seen fit to embrace, Mr. Mehl points out that “we teach our kids that it’s not winning or losing that builds character but how you respond to those results.”

He is quite right. And we will show our children the strength of our character by not abandoning the fight for justice. As we teach our children American history they will come to know that justice is not always delivered by the majority. They will learn that the Founding Fathers were well aware of this fact and so crafted the Constitution to protect the individual from the perils of such democracy. Our country was founded as and tenuously remains a republic, a government of laws and not of men, not a democracy wherein mob rules. Each individual citizen’s constitutional right to “equal protection of the laws” must trump any majority wielding any pseudo-Christian morals that might be in fashion at the time.

I have read many of Mr. Mehl’s letters to the editor. I hope that he appreciates the rule of law that ensures his right to be part of this community and to speak his mind no matter how odious the majority finds his views. In a true democracy, things might be otherwise.

Chris Beightel,

Lawrence