The First Amendment: Good, Even if You Don’t Like What You Hear
I am a staunch defender of the U.S. Constitution. To me, it is a document inspired by God Himself.
The First Amendment says 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. Those few words are part of the bedrock of our country.
Each of the freedoms given us in the First Amendment were what the founding fathers saw as basic human rights, those being freedoms of religion, speech, the press, to peaceably assemble and to speak out against and address grievances against the government itself and its officials.
Freedom of speech is huge. Basically, the government, as an entity, cannot tell us what we can and cannot say. We, as Americans, are free to speak our minds. Sometimes, those around us don’t want to hear what we have to say, but we have the right to share our thoughts and say what we think. Sometimes we hear things said we do not like. We need to always be mindful that as we have a right to say what we think, so do others, even if we don’t agree with them.
Sometimes people say things in a public forum we don’t like. Once in a debate on the Second Amendment in a very large public forum, a gentleman stood up in the middle of it and said basically guns are bad and thought the police should go door to door confiscating every one of them. My response? I looked right at him, smiled, and told him that was his right to think that and to state his opinion. I went on to say I didn’t agree with him, but that I would do everything I could to fight for his right to think and say that publically because I believed in the Constitution and in our basic rights. That happened when I was director of the Texas State Rifle Association at a Dallas County Democrat breakfast event. My response totally startled the crowd of several hundred people who were staunch democrats. The gentleman cast his eyes to the floor and would not look up at me the rest of the time. I didn’t like what he said, but because I believe in free speech I had to stand up for him to have that freedom as much as anyone else.
This freedom of speech does not only mean words that are spoken. It can also mean written words, art, online posts, movies and television, music and dance, video games, political yard signs, clothing and symbolic speech such as wearing a ribbon.
Each of us needs to remember that even though we have free speech, that freedom is from government censorship and does not mean the First Amendment protects your freedom of speech from private individuals, groups or organizations. There are also certain times our freedom of speech is limited, such as when it pertains to blackmail, real threats of violence, obscenity or defamation. You can still speak out, but that does not mean you are free from the consequences, either good or bad, that may come.
With freedom comes responsibility, and we are responsible for the things we say, regardless of the form in which we say it. So hold tight to your freedom and say what you wish and enjoy the support or the criticism that may come along with it. Regardless of what you say or do, there will be those who support you and those who will criticize you for it; and that’s okay, because we are free.
Randy Gibson is the CEO of RDG Communications Group, LLC, and the former director of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce and the Texas State Rifle Association.
