I posted this January 12th, and somehow it seems to have vanished from my posting: First Amendment of The Constitution of The United States of America 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. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as The Bill of Rights. These amendments were passed to meet the concerns of many that the Constitution did not provide enough protection of individual rights. When written, they were designed to provide protection to individuals for actions of the federal government. The 14th amendment was passed as the Civil War ended. It provided the framework for extending these protections (cited in the Bill of Rights) to the actions of state and local governments. Over the course of the 20th century the Supreme Court slowly extended the guarantees of the Bill of Rights, to cover all levels of government. The first amendment states that Congress may not do anything that regulates or establishes any religion, nor can it do anything to stop people from observing their religion. This amendment guarantees freedom of religion in the United States. The government may not limit freedom of speech; meaning people may say almost anything. The limit being the famous opinion of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, when he gave the example that no one could falsely cry fire in a crowded movie theater. Thus you may not say anything that brings immediate danger to people. The Constitution gives almost absolute freedom of the press. When the government tried to stop the New York Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers, the Supreme Court refused their request. The Constitution gives the people the right to protest, which is the right to peaceably assemble. Finally, this amendment protects the work of some of the most criticized groups in Washington: the lobbyists. The amendment specifically states that no laws may be made to stop people from petitioning the government and that has been interpreted to include paid lobbyists. In regards to religion, there is nothing in The Constitution that states nor implies the separation of church and state. The First Amendment simply states that The United States will not establish a national religion. Furthermore, all citizens will have the right to practice their religion in whatever manner they feel free. Of course it goes without saying; as long as your practice does not involve things that would result in theft, bodily harm, death or anything else that would be considered as conflicting to existing laws of the land. In regard to free speech, our free speech has been dramatically affected by political correctness, in which Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, or whatever label these people use to describe themselves that wish to complain and censor our free speech. If its something that THEY dont like, they are willing to do whatever it takes to silence those that they disagree with or those that do not agree with them.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 04:54:12 +0000