The First Amendment...What does it mean?
"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."
Let's look at it.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"
Seems pretty straightforward to me. It is supposed to prevent the gov't from establishing a state-run religion, which the King of England had done (which is why people fled to The New World and started what later became the United States of America). At the same time, the second clause prevents gov't from outlawing religions, thereby establishing a state-run religion by default.
"or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press"
The idea, here, was to allow free political speech; but this clause has been almost as badly abused as the first two clauses. "You can't yell 'fire' in a crowded theater." has become the Liberals' excuse for all kinds of abridgements; yet they say whatever they choose. The press has become immune to charges of treason, even though they daily seek the overthrow of our duly-elected government.
As for the right to assemble, I have seen no laws infringing that; but the press (run by Liberal interests) sees to it that only the messages that advance their agenda are heard and seen.
We need to take away the power that the press and the courts now wield over our First Amendment rights. Our Constitution is very little protection when the Supreme Court chooses to ignore it in favor of their own personal biases and/or the law as practiced in other countries.
Posted: Wednesday 28th September 2005, 8:26 AM
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