During the upcoming days I will be writing a series of essays about the first ten amendments, also known as the “Bill of Rights.” I will discuss what the Founding Fathers were trying to convey in each amendment beginning with the first amendment which 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.
The first amendment is important because it places constraints on the federal government in order to keep its powers in check and protect the people’s rights from being abused by bureaucratic usurpations. The first amendment guarantees basically five individual rights that all citizens cannot be deprived of.
The first right addressed is the restrictions placed on the limits of the national government with regard to religious freedom. It states, Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof. That means that the government will not create an official state or national religion. It also says that the government will not interfere in a citizen’s right to practice their beliefs.
In 1802, Thomas Jefferson spoke in front of the Danbury Baptist Association and he made the following statement: “The Constitution has created a wall of separation between church and state.” Up until Jefferson’s statement there was no question as to the role of religion as it pertains to the government. After that point the U.S. Supreme Court misconstrued what the actual meaning was with regard to religion. Providing equal treatment of all religions was meant to be a state responsibility, not a federal government function. The U.S. Supreme Court began to interfere with issues of religion when the Constitution strictly forbids this kind of action. The Constitution does not keep religion out of the government; it keeps the government out of religion.
The second issue that the first amendment covers is the issue of “freedom of speech.” This part allows citizens to be able to have the liberty to express their complaints publicly with regard to issues involving their government. It helps the people not to be fearful of persecution by government entities that do not agree with the ideas of the citizenry. Written expression is also covered within the amendment by including freedom of the press which protects the media. Thirdly, citizens are afforded protection against repercussions when they gather as a collective group in order to protest or demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the government about certain concerns or grievances.
The first amendment allows for a great deal of liberty within the realms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition of grievances but citizens cannot legally exercise these constitutional rights to the point of anarchy. This amendment is a useful tool for balancing both conveniency and inconveniency of individual freedoms and rights. In my upcoming series on the Bill of Rights, I will deliberate next on what the Founding Fathers meant in the Second Amendment.
I feel it is extremely important for the population of this country to read and fully understand their first amendment rights. As you are aware of, the first amendment is one of the the most misused and misconstrued in the Bill of Rights. Statists often try to falsely intimidate people into silence through false claims of "1st amendment" rights.
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