First Amendment

When I was going to Jr. and Sr. High School we were educated about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and how important they are to our Country, America and our Freedoms. One Right and a teacher's comment on it has stayed with me all these years, it was about the First Amendment. The teacher said “no matter how abhorrent what you are saying is to me, I will defend to the death your Right to say it, because if the government tells you you can not say that, what will they tell me I can't say?” I don't know if they were quoting someone else or it was their own quote but it stayed with me. I have stood up for this many times when I have disagreed with someone, I defended their Right to say it and never censored them.

Now I find it, interesting, upsetting and disgusting all at the same time when I look at the people ignoring, violating or out right attempting to destroy the Constitution and using the First Amendment to do so.

The First Amendment, protecting the the Rights of Religions of Free Speech, Free Press and the Right of the People to peaceably assemble to petition the government.... is the very reason women, blacks, gays and other minorities have equal rights under law today. Yet these very same people and groups who owe their Rights to the First Amendment are attempting to remove the First Amendment Right from all those who disagree with them.

Some may argue that these Rights are in word only and not practiced everywhere in the spirit they were written. Others may say these Rights should have been theirs from the beginning. The fact is these Rights now exist, and it was people exercising their First Amendment Right that made that possible. To me it shows a lack of integrity, of decency, and courage of those individuals and groups to attempt to remove the very Right that aided them from potentially aiding others. They should be the champions of the First Amendment and leaders in Freedom.