Freedom of Speech

I’ve shared a few posts on Facebook about the recent flap over athletes peacefully making a statement during the playing of the national anthem by sitting or kneeling but I wanted to pull together some of my own thoughts on this topic as well. I find it interesting how enraged some people are about a group of athletes exercising their Constitutional right to peacefully express themselves over an important issue that has garnered the ire of many. Isn't this one of the very rights over which our country has fought wars to protect?

We can't have it both ways, we either have freedom of speech or we don’t. Just as painful as it might be for someone to say or peacefully do something for which I disagree, it is my duty as a citizen of this country to protect and even celebrate their right to say it - it's in our constitution. If we want to quiet those with whom we disagree today, what is to stop those who disagree with us to turn those tables tomorrow? The few exceptions to this include speech that inflicts injury or incites violence and the definition of this type of speech has been (1) defined by the courts.

Until we’ve walked in the shoes of someone, we can’t know their journey, what they’ve been subjected to, witnessed or worse. To be an American is to embrace all that is good and bad about our country and then to attempt, in our own way, to move the needle toward that “more perfect union”.

I hope we can all agree there is way too much “us vs. them” in our country today. We’ve taken sides without considering that our point of view may not be perfect – might be skewed by the filters we’ve placed on our sources of information, our upbringing and our own life experiences. The only way we will move toward a more perfect union will be when we listen to one another, walk with, not against, those with whom we disagree and truly work to understand each other. This may sound a bit simplistic or even naïve but how else will we ever learn to live together if we don’t try.

In case you’ve not read it in a while, here’s Amendment I of the Constitution of the United States of America:

“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.” 

1) Hate speech in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_in_the_United_States