Freedom and the U.S. Constitution

One of the public issues that I have a very strong interest in is Freedom and of course two particular parts of the 1st Amendment in the United States Constitution.

As we see as quoted below from Cornell University Law School, The first Amendment to the United States Constitution contains both of my favorite issues.  The first one I fight for is FREEDOM OF RELIGION and the second is the FREEDOM OF SPEECH. I would like to address two things in this post. 1. What being FREE in the terms of true FREEDOM actually means and 2. What does FREEDOM OF SPEECH mean in U.S. Law?

Amendment I

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.

What does it mean when the Founders of the United States of America mentions Freedom? Here is the philosophy of Freedom. Since most Americans who claim the First Amendment do not even understand what the word Freedom means in context of Law, Government or even with in the context of the relationship between human beings.

“Philosophy . the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination.” Quoted from the website dictionary.reference.com
I am going to explain this as simply and plainly as I can. If for some reason you do not understand what I am talking about or if I am using terms or words you do not understand then use the internet to look them up. 

Being free does NOT mean that just because you want to do something you can do what ever you please. It does NOT mean that you are free to rape, pillage, murder, or break laws of the government or humanity. It does NOT mean that you can impose your will on another person. It absolutely means that with FREEDOM comes a responsibility not to impose or prevent the experience of FREEDOM of another.  I will give you an obvious example. 

John Doe likes to rape and kill little children. He does NOT have the right or the FREEDOM to go around raping and killing little children. He is arrested, has a full and fair trial and finds himself in prison for raping and killing little children. He screams that his FREEDOM was impeded upon because he is not allowed to do as he chooses when he wants to rape and murder little children. Can you tell me WHY his claim that “his freedom has been impeded” is invalid?  Likely not so I will tell you. His claim is invalid because He was in fact impeding on the rights and FREEDOM of the little children to live a happy and natural life and did not allow them the FREEDOM to make the choice to be raped or not. Had the children been given the choice, they would have made the choice to play with their friends and live a full and natural life and NOT being raped and murdered. 

To truly be FREE it must apply to ALL. That means that if we desire the FREEDOM to make choices and live as we see fit. WE ALL have the responsibility to avoid impeding on the FREEDOM of others. Breaking it down to its basic principle, we are only free to do what we want as long as it does not impede on another’s freedom of choice. Freedom is basically having a “CHOICE” with out taking away someone else’s freedom to choose. With that said, you should now be aware that even FREEDOM has limits.  

Now I am going to address the topic of FREEDOM of SPEECH. Now that we have learned what FREEDOM means, let’s apply it to FREEDOM of SPEECH. This right means that we have the right to express an opinion, tell about one’s life experiences, report the news as long as it is fact, etc. with in the limits of the law.  What it does NOT apply to would be such things as verbal harassment or verbal attacks and any form of verbal abuse. (if you do not know what constitutes a verbal attack or harassment please look it up).  When FREEDOM FIGHTERS like me talk about FREEDOM of SPEECH we are referring to keeping the internet, the press, books and other form of expressed speech from being censored. We do NOT fight for the right to verbally assault or abuse another in writing or in any other form of speech. Does this mean that you or I have to listen to or read what others have to say? Absolutely NOT! That is the beauty of FREEDOM. It works both ways. If there is a book, post, news paper article, a public speech or any form of expression of speech that you do not want to read or hear, YOU and I both have the CHOICE to not look at it, read it, or listen to it. We have the FREEDOM to Choose to walk away. That is how the freedom of speech works. If you do not like what I say or write than you do not have read it or listen to it. In fact, you can start your own Blog and write what ever you want as long as it is within the confines of the law.  I have the right to ignore or not read your Blog Posts; I have the right to not listen to your speech. Most importantly I have the RIGHT and FREEDOM to ignore, block, and walk away from verbal abuse.  Freedom of speech means you can say what you have to say, it does not mean anyone is required to listen. 

One last point I would like to add to this subject is simply that the United States Constitution is not the Bible. It doesn’t work when people try to twist the meaning of what the constitution states into an idea or meaning that suits the individual. The Bible is often open to interpretation by the individual. The Law of the United States is Black and White. It is absent of opinion, emotion, desire, beliefs and all the human perceptions. The interpretation of the law of the United States Constitution is not determined by individuals or any groups. The interpretation of the United States Constitution is interpreted only by those appointed in Law, The Government of the United States.  The Bible is interpreted to have many different meaning by many different groups who need to justify their illogical, unethical and at time criminal behavior. It does not work the same with the Laws, Constitution, Bill of Rights etc. 

When you want to use the Constitution or the 1^st Amendment to justify verbal abuse or harassment of a fellow human, expect to be put in your place by someone who understands the law you are citing and think twice before shoving both feet in your mouth and looking foolish. 

By the way this also applies to FREEDOM of RELIGION. It really does mean that ALL religions have equal freedom to be practiced, expressed, and taught with in the confines of the law. (Example: human sacrifice is not exempt from being punishable by law just because it is claimed to be part of a religion).

Hate speech is NOT Free speech.

I hope this post has been most informative to all who have chosen to read it.