I thought Bernie Sanders came to Juneau.
I saw it.
Except he was sitting on top of the welcome sign with his legs crossed and had the cutest mittens on so I probably should have known.
I called the kids in to look at this picture and asked why he would visit Juneau in the middle of winter.
They proceeded to laugh at me.
Hard.
"It's a meme, mom."
"I'll meme you."
Just like that, the image of Bernie Sanders at the inauguration has shown up everywhere and I realized again how hard it is to tell what is real. Granted, I should have been able to pick up that the tiny Bernie on top of a sign was not real.
But my brain wanted to believe what it saw. Just like my ears want to believe what they hear.
Recently, I've been hearing lots about the First Amendment. Just like Bernie showing up everywhere, I'm finding mention of "freedom of speech" bubbling up in random conversations.
I decided to read it.
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.
That's a thoughtful piece of legislation. I got a little distracted reading the different Supreme Court decisions regarding the breadth of this freedom. It's enough to say that our freedom to say whatever we want wherever we want is not actually protected.
One of my favorite examples of this weird twisting of the freedom of speech was when someone texted me a heated tirade and called me a b*&%$. The person defended it with freedom of speech and then I gave them more freedom by relieving them of employment. I suppose you are free to say what you want, but you aren't protected from the consequences nor are you guaranteed a forum for your freedom.
I'm incredibly thankful to live in a country where First Amendment rights are protected and I'm thankful to live in a country where we can argue in the courts regarding the boundaries for that freedom. I don't want child pornography protected and I'm less than thrilled with protecting the burning of crosses or flags. I'm not a lawyer, but these are some of the things the courts wrestle with.
Now is a fantastic time for a civics lesson for all of us. Do some research and stop posting Bernie memes or arguing the freedom of speech means you are protected to say whatever wherever.
3 comments:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... what’s your feeling regarding church shut-downs? I mean, I guess Congress isn’t making those rules, and I’m still free to exercise my religion, just maybe not in my chosen location. I should probably look through your past blogs because I’m sure you’ve addressed this ... :D
As always, thank you for your wonderful perspective and sense of humor!!
Paula
That's a fantastic question. I hadn't thought about it. We weren't ever shut-down so it didn't cross my mind to think of it as a freedom issue. Our church leadership decided pretty early on to go virtual and it's been a hoot and a half. I had to teach Zoom to a bunch of people, and now we have more on a Sunday than we did when we gathered in person. I'm really looking forward to hugging people again, but I'm guessing we'll have a virtual option for quite a while. Hugs to your gang!
The prohibition to attending church is not so much a freedom of religion issue, there is difference between practicing a religion and attending a church. However another 1st Amendment right is the right of the people to peacefully assemble. There is constant tension between the federal government and the state governments regarding who is in control on certain issues. Regardless of whom is imposing the closures, if it is for a national health reason and issues of that sort, those that are for the greater good such as slowing down a pandemic have usually been found not to be unconstitutional. That doesn’t mean that they are specially allowed by the constitution, but if they are not specifically denied in the constitution they are often deemed allowable for the greater good.
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