First Amendment

In case any have forgotten the text of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:

"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."

Read it and then read it again. Commit it to memory.

When you gather to worship, regardless of which faith you adhere to; remember that the First Amendment gives you the safety and security to worship as you please, or to not worship at all if that is your choice. It prohibits any law setting a State Religion to which everyone must belong. It prevents any religion from being singled out for persecution.

When you voice an opinion disagreeing with the action or non-action of the government (federal, state, or local), or march in a protest rally; the First Amendment guarantees you the right to do so safely. Without the First Amendment you would be afraid to protest, afraid to write a blog like this one, afraid to tell your neighbor what you really think about the Mayor, Governor, or President. Without the First Amendment; you could not call or write your elected leaders or go to the Capital to speak against policy decisions that hurt you or your neighbors or the country. Decisions would be made and you would have no choice but to accept them in silence. You would be too afraid of the knock on the door that signaled you were about to be taken from your family, interrogated, imprisoned and maybe killed for expressing your thoughts.

Without the First Amendment, your newspaper, television news and radio broadcasts would all be censored and only the information approved by the government in charge would be reported. Scripted accounts of every aspect of local, national and world events would effectively keep you misinformed and in the dark. Knowledge is power and a government controlled press would render you powerless.

Commit the First Amendment to memory. There seems to me to be a concentrated effort by many in our government and country to wipe it from the book. If we do not stay vigilant, the First Amendment Rights we take for granted may disappear.