The Cost of the First Amendment
First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
On Memorial Day, we remember and honor those who paid the price for that collection of words, or at least we should.
The cost of the First Amendment was paid with blood, limbs, death and lasting physical/emotional trauma and the pain for those left behind.
War creates a loss we can never truly measure. Just think of the families that never were; soldiers who never returned to start a family.
Our Founding Fathers created the First Amendment after living under tyranny denying freedom of religion, assembly, speech.
They knew from true experience that those freedoms were to be cherished and protected.
James Madison, the Father of Our Constitution and key author of
the Bill of Rights, wrote in an 1882 letter: We are teaching the world the great truth that governments do better without Kings & Nobles than with them.
So, now in 2013, how much do we cherish the First Amendment?
We love it enough to accept (though not like) some vile incidents protected by freedom of speech. Some examples: a "church" that protests at military funerals --- those who burn our U.S. flag.
Those are just two of the many cuts that we bear because we believe so much in the First Amendment.
There's the story of the man who is in a bar and he gets into an argument over the U.S. being involved in a war; the man's son was killed fighting for our nation in that war so he is angry with those criticizing U.S. action. The argument escalates to the point where the father of the soldier kills another man.
Later, sitting in his cell, the father is grieving over what he's done.
He recognizes that he didn't just commit murder ... he killed another man's freedom of speech ... one of the fundamental rights, his son died trying to protect.
Something to remember about the cost of the First Amendment, but also remember, that right and all of our others are not just under attack on the battlefield.
James Madison also wrote: I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power ... than by violent and sudden usurpations.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
On Memorial Day, we remember and honor those who paid the price for that collection of words, or at least we should.
The cost of the First Amendment was paid with blood, limbs, death and lasting physical/emotional trauma and the pain for those left behind.
War creates a loss we can never truly measure. Just think of the families that never were; soldiers who never returned to start a family.
Our Founding Fathers created the First Amendment after living under tyranny denying freedom of religion, assembly, speech.
They knew from true experience that those freedoms were to be cherished and protected.
James Madison, the Father of Our Constitution and key author of
the Bill of Rights, wrote in an 1882 letter: We are teaching the world the great truth that governments do better without Kings & Nobles than with them.
So, now in 2013, how much do we cherish the First Amendment?
We love it enough to accept (though not like) some vile incidents protected by freedom of speech. Some examples: a "church" that protests at military funerals --- those who burn our U.S. flag.
Those are just two of the many cuts that we bear because we believe so much in the First Amendment.
There's the story of the man who is in a bar and he gets into an argument over the U.S. being involved in a war; the man's son was killed fighting for our nation in that war so he is angry with those criticizing U.S. action. The argument escalates to the point where the father of the soldier kills another man.
Later, sitting in his cell, the father is grieving over what he's done.
He recognizes that he didn't just commit murder ... he killed another man's freedom of speech ... one of the fundamental rights, his son died trying to protect.
Something to remember about the cost of the First Amendment, but also remember, that right and all of our others are not just under attack on the battlefield.
James Madison also wrote: I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power ... than by violent and sudden usurpations.
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