I’ll admit that I’m not sure we’re doing the right thing in Iraq. I’m not sure that we should be there. Now that we’re there we need to stay the course and finish the job, but I’m just not sure we should have ever gone in the first place.
If Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction, or if Iraq was providing assistance to terrorist organizations then we were justified on going in. There’s been no hard evidence of those two things made public though, so I’m just not sure.
What I am sure of is if France was against it, it was probably the right thing to do.
A French court has convicted Brigitte Bardot of “inciting racial hatred” and fined her the grand sum of $6,000. That’s the fourth fine in the last seven years for similar convictions. I’m not a fan of Brigitte Bardot – and anyone that is a self proclaimed animal rights activist is probably more than a little whacko – but I’m afraid I would have to back Ms. Bardot on this one.
What was Ms. Bardot’s crime that brought the weight of the French government crushing down upon her? She wrote a book in which she was critical of homosexuals, immigrants, and welfare. Hmmm, maybe she’s not so whacko after all.
What’s important here is not what Ms. Bardot actually wrote; and it’s not her views on homosexuals, immigrants, or welfare. What’s important is the contrast between her “crime” and the freedom that we have in the United States to state our opinions without fear of the government.
The first amendment to The Constitution of the United States has been pulled, twisted, and mangled almost beyond recognition by people and groups trying to use it for their own purposes. Its publicly accepted meaning is now much broader than a literal interpretation of its words could ever explain – and I believe much broader than our founding fathers ever intended.
It’s when we hear about cases like Ms. Bardot’s that we as Americans should take a moment to thank God that the founders of this great country had the foresight (ok, technically it was an afterthought) to include the “Freedom of Speech” amendment.
If we were to see Ms. Bardot’s book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble we might have a thought about how much we agreed with her, or how we thought she was a blubbering idiot. For most of us though, it would never cross our mind that she shouldn’t be allowed to publish her book. It would never cross our mind that the government should censor her because of what she said or didn’t say.
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It is simple things like the Bill of Rights that set us apart from countries like France.
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It is simple things like the Bill of Rights that have made this the most powerful nation in the world.
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It is simple things like the Bill of Rights that allow us to enjoy a level of personal freedom unparalleled in the world.
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It is simple things like the Bill of Rights that allow the people to control the government – and not the government controlling the people.
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It is simple things like allowing the Bill of Rights to be diluted or ignored that will cause us to lose it all.
The greatest threats that this nation faces are not from the outside. The greatest threats are not terrorism, immigration, or globalization. The greatest threats are not the environment, the economy, or public education.
The greatest threats that this nation faces are a lack of personal responsibility; a willingness by the people to “let” the government provide for them; and an apathetic people that are too quick to give up those rights that our forefathers so insightfully penned into The Constitution and that countless soldiers have died to protect.
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When was the last time that you actually read The Constitution of the United States?
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When was the last time that you actually read The Bill of Rights?
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When was the last time that you actually thought about what the First Amendment means instead of accepting at face value what someone else told you it meant?
My challenge to you is go find a copy of The Constitution and read it from start to finish. After you’ve finished, go back and read the first 10 amendments again. Read what the words actually say. Forget what Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, and Peter Jennings have told you they mean. Look at what they say.
You might just be surprised.
Wayne
Bill of Rights
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.
[Ed. Note: The emphasis added to the above paragraph by special formatting was mine. The words were from some great Americans.]
Buy a copy of The Constitution
Read The Constitution
Read The Bill of Rights