When the Constitution was created, the first amendment stated that everyone in the United States has the freedom of speech; including Christians. Recently, there have been cases where Christians are being persecuted for their faith shown through what they have said and/or have done. This shows that Christians’ free speech is being violated. Freedom of speech has a very direct and strict definition that isn’t hard to figure out. Freedom of Speech is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “the right to express facts and opinions subject only to reasonable limitations (as the power of the government to protect itself from a clear and present danger) guaranteed by the 1st and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and similar provisions of some …show more content…
The laws made today are completely against Christians, even though the First Amendment says that everyone has the freedom of speech. Despite the First Amendment, in the United States today, Christians do not have total freedom of speech. There are things we believe, ideas clearly taught in the Scriptures, that are now considered “hate speech” in our world of political correctness. A society that proudly proclaims freedom of speech and then creates laws against hate speech is talking out of both sides of its mouth. Laws and governments aside, there are still what we might call “social laws” in place, and when Christians are faced with ostracization due to their beliefs, it certainly does not demonstrate freedom of speech. Many believers throughout history have been persecuted by their societies because the expression of their beliefs did not line up with the status quo. A notable example is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, whose refusal to bow down to the king’s idol landed them in the midst of a fiery furnace (Daniel 3: 1-26) (Got Questions Ministries 3). When the government is making laws that takes away free speech from others while the First Amendment is the freedom of speech to everybody, that is not constitutional. That is wrong and complete hypocritism, no matter how you look at it. What makes this worse is that back when the Constitution was about to be created, the officials tried their hardest to protect religious freedom, which is the opposite of what the government is doing today. The writings of America’s Founding Fathers made it clear that they viewed religious freedom as occupying the highest rung of civil liberty protections. For example, George Washington wrote that “the establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive that induced me to the field of battle.” His belief that the
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution gives the American people the right to Freedom of Speech, as stated in the Constitution: “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.” What is Freedom of Speech? It is the right to both verbal and non-verbal communication of thoughts and ideas. The people of America have the right to Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Expression.
The freedom of speech is one of the most precious rights that the United States citizens have. Unlike many other countries, the United States citizens have the freedom to speak their minds and to give their opinions on anything as long as it is done in a peaceful manner without having any fear of governmental retaliation. “The First Amendment guarantees our right to free expression and free association, which means that the government does not have the right to forbid us from saying what we like and writing what we like.” This does not mean that a person can say whatever he or she wants to say, but rather that a person’s right to say something is protected within certain limits.
When talking about the First Amendment, the law protects us from freedom of speech and free exercise of religion and it also stops Congress from making any new law to prohibit free speech and free exercise. The case involving a Christian printer who refused to print gay pride T-shirts. The printer declined the printing job for T-shirts promoting a gay pride festival on religious grounds, but he did offer the customer to help them find other local printers to do the work for the same price. Based on the information that was provided the printer had a history of rejecting other orders for shirts promoting sexually explicit material/actions and violence.
The First Amendment is known for allowing the people of the United States to have freedom of religion. For Christians, it is a little more difficult. Whatever Christians do, we get penalized for. Someone always has to cause a commotion. For example, a local school, Russellville High School, had a very emotional time. One of their students had a four-wheeler accident and was in serious condition for a while. This student was a football player, a student, and a friend to many of the people on campus. This led some of the football players to ask to be
The first amendment of the United States 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 (Bill of Rights Institute).” In simpler words this amendments means that any citizen may practice any religion that he or she identifies as their faith. It also grants all citizens the right to free speech. Free speech means that an individual can say whatever they wish, without any restrictions, even if the words are inappropriate, disrespect any political leader or disrespect the government itself. We have a right to say what we desire. The first amendment along with granting the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion, allows freedom of press. This allows the press the ability to publish what they desire, even if it is absurd or incorrect. The second amendment of the United States Constitution states “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed (Bill of Rights Institute).” The second amendment grants
The First Amendment protects an individual's freedom of speech and assembly and 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" (U.S. Const. amend. I).
American citizens, provided that they do not insight some form of disturbance or riot (see Chaplinski vs.
The First Amendment tells us that every single person has the rights to speak freely without the government interfering with his or her rights. Each person has a freedom to voice their beliefs about Christianity. According to the First Amendment the government cannot keep any person from establishing a Church Ministry, we as the Creation of the Creator has the choice to practice (or not to practice) any faith without the government involvement. We were created to praise and serve Jesus Christ. No one has the ability or the authority to stop what was put in place by God Almighty. Men seem to try, but that’s all man can do is try.
Over time the Supreme Court has decided that certain aspects of freedom of speech are more important than others. For example, if someone used their First Amendment rights to lie about things they knew were false, threatened to commit a crime, insult another person, or used overly explicit content, the courts have moral grounds to prosecute those persons. It makes sense that if someone’s freedom of speech lessened another person’s right to freedom of religion or freedom of opinion by instilling fear, that is an unfair use of the First Amendment. These parameters, although not specifically outlined in the Bill of Rights are very important to protect everyone’s right to feel safe believing the things that they do.
The first amendment is the freedom of speech and you can exercise any religious belief you may hold. (wikipedia) The first amendment is important to maintaining our basic freedoms because, you can practice any religion you want unlike in other countries where say in China Christianity is forbidden. As a Christian in the united states we don’t have nearly as many problems. We aren’t worried about our buildings being burnt down or being killed for what we are. In other countries Christians are worried about these things.
Freedom of speech is defined by the first amendment as “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 first amendment to the constitution is one that never seems to be debated itself, but its interpretation is often times debated. In saying this I mean that most everyone agrees that people should have the right to free speech, but what is often debated is where to draw the line. The question is, what is the difference is between someone using their right to free speech and them spewing hate speech. The first amendment is quite possibly the most important to maintaining our form government. It allows us, the people to have a say and speak on political topics among other things. The full first amendment, which was officially put into place alongside the second amendment in 1791, is made up of, for the most part, two basic points. It touches on religion and preventing freedom of speech or press “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 of these points that touches on religion was first formed based upon one of the main reasons that
In the United States Constitution, the First Amendment states that “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” (Gold). Historically, as demonstrated in cases such as Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the government in general, has well-upheld this amendment, but starting sometime in the second half of the 20th century, they are slowly embracing it less and less, as demonstrated in cases such as Texas v. Johnson. The recent hostility towards the First Amendment demonstrates that its rights
Every single person in the United States have the right to express their religion of preference or no religion at all, however him or her wants without offending anybody, and the best way to protect religion’s liberty was by keeping the government out if it and creating this First Amendment freedom of religion, to separate the church from the state.
The United States of America was founded with a credo of religious freedom. They hoped to change the vicious cycle of religious persecution and intolerance that had been swirling through Europe for centuries. Over the last two hundred years this legacy has been shredded and stained. Our religious freedoms have been taken away by people who have twisted what our country was founded to protect.