Harris
First Courtney Amendment
Imagine living in a world where there is no established government to control the
things that people do on a daily basis. Complete chaos would exist in this type of society.
With no one telling anyone what to do or how to act, life would be scary and people
would learn to live day by day not knowing what could happen to them at any moment.
Luckily for me, being a citizen and living in the United States of America, we have a
Constitution to live by. This Constitution was written by a bunch of rich, white men in
the 1700s. It is the supreme law of our 50 united states, and it is the basis for our
government. The power that the government possesses and how our government reacts
with us, the citizens, is all layed out for them in the very lengthy Constitution. The first
three articles of the Constitution establish the three basic branches of our government; the
executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Each of these branches has its own unique
members, who are elected, and powers, which are given by the Constitution. However, to
keep one branch from over powering the others, they can check each other and make sure
no one is crossing the line. This is known as checks and balances; a way to maintain
balance in the government. The United States Constitution is the second oldest written
Constitution that continues to be used by a nation to this day. This can be viewed as a
good or bad trait depending on the individual and their believes and values. The
Constitution has been amended, or changed, a total of twenty-seven times. The first ten
amendments are most often referred to as the Bill Of Rights. Although all ten are
important, the first amendment is arguably one of the most influential of all ten.
The first amendment is the most well known amendment and is very complex. It
contains a grand total of five different, but important freedoms. The first freedom given
to the citizens of the United States by the Constitution is freedom of speech. This gives
people the right to speak freely without the government getting in the way or telling them
they cannot say that. Before the Constitution, freedom of speech was only for the rich
and people of power, and if you were a person that was not either and got caught
speaking out about something you failed to agree with, you could end up in a lot of
trouble. Thankfully the Constitution was written and now everyone can exercise this
right. Freely expressing oneself is also included in this freedom of speech. The way you
dress, behave, think, talk, and what you do for work or fun, are all included in the way
that you express yourself. The boundaries of free speech continue to be stretched daily,
but it is only a matter of time before the government says enough is enough and sets their
foot down. In some ways they already have. For instance, it is not recommended to yell
FIRE! or BOMB on an airplane or crowded place. In fact, if you say one of these
words on an airplane, serious precautions are taken and you will get in a bunch of
trouble; especially since the events of 9/11 and terrorist attacks. Police and airport
officials take these events very serious and it is their job to protect others on a plane, so
no slack is given to those who disobey the law. Freedom of speech is a very important
luxury that we are given as U.S. citizens and some take full advantage and most are just
thankful that we dont have a ruler telling us what we can and cant do on a daily basis.
Freedom of the press can be described as giving the press the ability and right to
publish news, information, and opinions without the government needing to interfere or
say what is right and wrong; or what should or should not be said. This freedom also
gives us, the citizens, the right to publish any news, information, or opinions we feel are
necessary to be shared no matter how stupid or irrelevant they may be. Press is a very
broad term and can be defined as any type of newspaper, radio, television, movie, CD,
book, computer and many more. This freedom is very useful in todays day and age due
to the amount of technology that has evolved over the last 10 years. From the evolution
of home phones to smart phones, or the evolution of AOL instant messaging to Facebook
and Twitter, the media has a huge impact on our lives. Being able to say what you feel on
a social networking site, or a text message to your best friend is all to often taken for
granted. We do not realize how lucky we really are that we do not have someone
watching our every move and getting us in trouble for the little things that we should and
are allowed to do today. Everyday more and more new technologies are discovered and
used by most everyone that it is available to. Media has one of the biggest impacts on
how we live and what we think. Without the being able to freely express what we feel in
media and this press, world would be a totally different place.
Freedom of religion is typically a very controversial issue here in the United
States of America due to the fact that we are allowed to belief whatever we wish to.
Considering that America is a melting pot of numerous different cultures and ethnicities,
there is no possible way that we can all have the same beliefs, or any beliefs at all for that
matter. To live in the United States it is not required that you believe in a higher power.
The religions include Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and many others. Having the
right to express your faith to whatever God you believe in, in such a huge country, is an
enormous freedom. However, with every freedom also come rules. The freedom to
express religion in schools is not allowed. Religion is not taught in public schools and
prayer is not allowed in the school place. We continue to say the pledge, but tons of
issues, for and against, have been brought to the federal level about this issue. If we are
going to be given the right to believe in whatever God we want, there is no reason that it
should change just because we are at school and surrounded by peers that may or may not
believe the same thing as we do. I cannot seem to get my mind around the fact that we
are given the right to express our believes in whatever higher power we want, yet we are
not taught religion in schools and it is frowned upon to talk about such topics in public
schools. I do not see the problem of studying certain, or all religions in schools. We are
forced to go to school and learn about math and science which may or may not help us in
our future jobs, but our faith in God, or whatever we believe, will live with us forever and
will never change. If I could go back and change one thing about my twelve years in
elementary, junior high, and high school, it would be the problem that we never studied
any kind of religion. I am not saying that we need to study my religion because that is
what I believe, but any religion in general. And for those who do not believe in the
particular religion that is being studied at the time, it will teach them something they
never knew, and it will ultimately teach them understanding of others believes and ways.
Which to me, is one of the most important things anyone can learn in their lifetime. The
truth is that our neighbors or family friends might not believe the same things as we do,
but does that mean that we cannot live next to them or be civil when we see them out
walking their dog or at the grocery store? No, we dont discriminate based upon what
people believe or whom they worship in their lives.
The freedoms of petition and assembly go hand in hand in my mind. For the
government to give the people the right to stand up for themselves and get a group
together to protest is not something you see in many other countries. But the amendment
does not just protect the right to protest, getting together with friends in a public setting is
also included in these two freedoms. The government protects these rights to every
citizen. Any type of nonviolent protest is protected in the Constitution due to the first
amendment.
The United States of America is a one of a kind country and I cant think of a
better country to live in or how I would survive in a place where these freedoms are not
given upon citizenship. Without the United States Constitution, there is no telling how
different our lives would be and how our day-to-day activities would be affected. After
reading the book and looking a little more into what exactly the freedoms mean, I feel I
have a better understanding of what our founding fathers wanted for us and I feel it is
important to keep them and their thoughts in mind when we start to amend their original
ideas and freedoms.
Bibliography
Barton, David. The Truth about Thomas Jefferson and the First Amendment. The
Ten
Commandments Ministry. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.thetencommandmentsministry.info/ministry_info/sunday_sc
hool/christian_heritage/FF06%20The%20Foundations%20of%20A.G.%2
0Class%206%20of%2013.doc.>.
Constitutional Debates on Freedom of Religion. Westport: Greenwood Group,
1999. Ebrary.com. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
<http://site.ebrary.com/lib/oru/docDetail.action?docID=5007075>.
Hennessey, J., & McConnel, A., (2008). The United States Constitution: a graphic
adaptation. New York: Hill and Wang.
"The Right to Petition." Free First Amendment and Constitution Day Education
Materials. Illinois First Amendment Center, 2011. Web. 25
Oct. 2011.
<http://www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com/petition.php>.
"What Does Free Speech Mean?" United States Courts. Administrative Office of
the U.S.
Courts, 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources/ClassroomActivities/FirstAmen
dment/WhatDoesFreeSpeechMean.aspx>.