May Misconceptions: Freedom of...

 Happy May Everyone! I hope Spring has been kind to you thus far and your allergies haven’t been too harsh. For the month of May, I’ve decided to write about misconceptions of various topics that I feel are current. Today, I'm going to discuss Americans exercising their 1st amendment right and when that can become problematic. The 1st amendment is a part of the US constitution's Bill of Rights (Personal rights that citizens have):


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 does this mean? This means that in the US, people are free to protest peacefully, practice their own religion, and have a right to not agree with the government. This is really different compared to some other countries, but in the US, citizens take these rights very serious. The internet is one place with millions of opinions on these freedoms, from hating masks mandates, abortion rights arguments, or gun rights arguments. In the wake of Roe v. Wade court ruling being looked back into, protesters took to the Blvd. and personal debates flooded the internet. Some people don't understand why Americans may seem so upset with their government policies on a state or federal level. The truth is that people's fear of losing their personal voice and personal freedom causes this opposition. However, just because we are in a country that honors our differences of opinions doesn't give us a right to behave violently or selfishly all in the name of "freedom". For instance, during the year 2020, a lot of racial tension was on the rise in the US due to George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, and former president Trump's controversial opinions. These tensions led to violent protest with cities being destroyed, that was already suffering from loss of funds due to COVID-19. Many people felt that these cities being burned down, and property damages caused were justifiable because they were upset at the lack of justice they felt and felt that they were exercising their right. They were not in the right, just because they had a good intention that they were acting on. Also, the supporters of the former president that went to our capital building with bad intentions all in the name of being angry about the election. That's not okay just because the election yielded results that someone wasn't in favor of. You're not free to just go hurt lawmakers because you disagree. That's not exercising our rights. That's abusing our rights and using them as an excuse to act out. Everything isn't an attack on our freedom just because we don't like something. When we were told to wear masks and stay at home for the sake of public safety, people kept trying to resist these polices because they felt it was an attack on their freedom. Is it an attack on personal freedom or an attack on personal safety? COVID was extremely problematic when it first surfaced and still is having an impact on the world. So the precautions put in place may have seemed drastic but drastic doesn't mean our freedom is being taken away from us. I think we have to be careful what we complain over because some places really do have strict governments and the citizens have very little say over their lives. We have a lot of blessings to count here and have to remember we are free but not free to break the law when we disagree with things. 

Until Next Time,

Dx3

Source(s): Bill of Rights - National Constitution Center


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