Most people have their favorites--favorite colors (yellow), favorite numbers (a tie between 2 and 4), favorite foods (hmmm, let me get back to you). I also have my favorite words in the English language.
"FREE BEER!" --nope.
"SNOW DAY!" --nope.
"SARAH PALIN'S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!" --nope.
Actually, I have 45 favorite words:
"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."
If I want to feel patriotic and empowered, while it's true that I could run a race carrying the U.S. flag, for me, there is nothing more patriotic or more empowering than the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
It is, I believe, the most radical document written in at least 2,000 years. And to think that it was written by the people in charge...well, that just about floors me every time.
Can you imagine if today's Congress were in charge of writing the First Amendment? Pretty sure they'd skip right on to the Second one, nervously feeling for their sidearms, in case anyone happened to notice.
When it's all about getting re-elected, encouraging things like practicing or not practicing a religion, speaking one's mind, protesting perceived injustices, and staying out of the way of journalism definitely will NOT get you another term.
That's what's so stunning about the First Amendment--there's so little in it for those in charge and so much in it for the rest of us.
You remember the rest of us, right?
In many ways, the First Amendment is a living thing--a breathable document whose interpretations reflect the times we live in. Sometimes restrictive, sometimes utterly freeing, always exhilarating and occasionally exhausting, the First Amendment is the radical idea that free people have free minds and that free minds are better than penned in ones, even when it means that things will get messy.
I, for one, am all for the mess.
Count me in. Now that I am an elected official I promise to remember that it is first for a reason. Because it is indeed the basis, I believe, for all the rest of the freedoms we enjoy each and everyday! Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteDoris,
ReplyDeleteI believe the world (or at least Beatrice and its surrounding area) has become a more interesting place with an elected official like you in it!
Jane