The First Amendment to the US Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. That means it declares and reinforces the fact that the people have certain rights. These rights are inalienable and not to be infringed upon by the federal government. Among these stipulated rights is “the freedom of speech.” When our founding fathers wrote this, they had in mind those freedoms that had been infringed upon by European governments for many generations. In some places, speaking openly against the government, the king, could be punished by death. Not so in America. Criticizing government has long been understood as the right of all Americans. This was the purpose of ensuring this freedom be guaranteed in our Constitution.
Unfortunately today, freedom of speech is used to provide the right of certain individuals and institutions to produce pornography. In other words, “filth” is permitted because it is freedom of speech. Was this the intention of the people who wrote the First Amendment? I doubt it! In fact, I believe they would be grievously offended by such a use of their words. This is but one example of how our courts and our government have twisted the original intentions of the Constitution. What has our country come to?
Last week, I was visiting in California. There was a big controversy about capital punishment. Albert Brown was sentenced to death for committing two counts of rape and murder of an adolescent student. He was convicted and sentenced to death by a jury of his peers, and now 30 years later the state is still unable to carry out his execution. The Eighth Amendment states, “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Many in our country call capital punishment “cruel and unusual.” In fact, there are many arguments over the “appropriate” method of execution. Once again, we must ask the question, what were the intentions of the writers of that amendment?
George Washington authorized corporal punishment! That is flogging. In the late 18th Century when a citizen was convicted of rape and murder he was executed. There was no question of that being cruel and unusual. The victim received the appropriate amount of concern and pity, while the criminal was expected to pay for his actions. Such was the mindset of the authors of our Constitution.
I am not advocating corporal punishment. I am saying that we have lost our way regarding what is cruel and unusual. We are so concerned for the welfare of the criminal that we completely ignore the heinous crime to the victim.
The First Amendment also prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion.” Since the Bill of Rights is a declaration of the “rights” of citizens that may not be infringed upon by the federal government, just what right is guaranteed here? Our founding fathers valued religious freedom and were dead set against any establishment of a state religion. Any such establishment would undermine the right of people to practice any religion they chose.
There are many stories of our Congress importing Bibles or having them printed. Regardless of the veracity of these, it is a simple fact that the overwhelming majority of the founders were church-going men who valued religious morality. They were not “against” religion at all! Beginning in the middle of the 20th Century, the U.S. Supreme Court (Everson v. Board of Education) began to twist and re-interpret the Constitution ignoring the original intent of the founders. In a letter written in 1823, Thomas Jefferson said the following.
On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.
Surely, there is no misunderstanding here. When in doubt seek out the original intention of the writers. Beyond this, the much used phrase “separation of church and state” has been thoroughly misinterpreted and misused. As currently used, it implies an antithesis between religion and government. Remember that Thomas Jefferson championed the rights of Baptists in Virginia and advocated definite limits on the centralization of government power. He believed that religious liberties were [and are] inalienable rights. In fact, the same letter by Thomas Jefferson currently used to impede religious freedom was quoted to promote it in an 1878 Supreme Court case. It stated that Jefferson’s letter “may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the …” First Amendment.
Instead of continuing in this vein, our federal government, led by a recalcitrant Supreme Court has used the First Amendment to alienate the people from their rights. All this has allegedly been in the name of tolerance when, in fact, it has been aimed at separating man from God and morality. “Tolerance” has become a god unto itself. Of late, it appears we would rather be tolerant than good and politically correct rather than virtuous.
Our current administration continues the practice of undermining the Constitution. President Obama castigated the Supreme Court in his State of the Union address. He wants exceptions to free speech. The Supreme Court confirmed the rights of various organizations to run political ads during the time of elections. It seems that when free speech permits criticism of Obama’s policies it is not perceived as such a good thing. Beyond that, there are those who believe that capital punishment is “cruel and unusual”; however, they do not see abortion as being a heinous act. The convicted criminal has rights that the unborn child does not!
The Constitution is to be interpreted and understood based on the application of fundamental principles. Those principles are constant. They can not be changed to conform to a particular situation. Our founders created a brilliant document. It was meant to be applied with open handedness and equanimity. Not to be twisted to conform to a particular political purpose.
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