How the Judeo-Christians, Greeks, and Romans Effected Democracy

The Judeo-Christian tradition contributed a great deal of things to what is known as democracy; a huge one being the Ten Commandments that God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. This taught us ethical values to not kill, not steal, not give false evidence, and not commit adultery. The Judeo-Christian view gave us the indication of individual worth in which opinion of all people matters. Therefore, for every citizen to have the ability to vote is only logical. We as citizens have the responsibility to help others and fight injustice. Christianity later spread to Rome and individualism lead to the Renaissance. For many years the rebirth of learning and artistic ways prospered, but when the Roman Catholic Church became corrupt with pardons, a man named Martin Luther started a revolution in the church that became known as the reformation. He broke off from the Roman Catholic Church and created Lutheranism. Moreover, I believe that in some way the different sects of Christianity show us that people can have different views of what starts out as the same exact thing.

Although the Greeks' obvious contribution to direct democracy is the founding of it, there is more behind it all. The Greeks educated us that we are all citizens of a country and not subject to a king. Plato, being one of the greatest philosophers of all time, knew that tyranny would only enrage citizens after time and that only a philosopher as king would end this. Aristotle, Plato's student, believed that a large middle class as arbiter is best for a government because it maintains balance between the upper and lower classes. Without this notion, the governments of countries would end in factions and dissensions. If it were not for the Greeks, we still wouldn't have participation in government. The concept of a jury made up of everyday citizens is genius because no one person can be punished based solely on their social class and appearance. To this very day, all citizens of America have two distinct duties; they must vote and be on a jury. The three branches of government that the Greeks founded helped with efficiency because no one set of people have to carry out all of the duties. Correspondingly, if it were not for the Greeks, modern day democracy would have been neither invented nor as developed.

Romans took democracy in a new turn when they influenced written law so that those in charge of carrying out punishment could not change the law whenever they desired. Four basic principles of Roman law left a great impression on democracy. All citizens having the right to equal treatment under law is a big part of modern day democracy. If a person is accused they are not only innocent until proven guilty but the burden of proof also rests with the accuser. This principle is a precaution to ensure that said person does not frivolously accuse people without imparting evidence. Any law that seems unreasonable or grossly unfair could be set aside; such as being