First Amendment Rights
On June 21, 1788 Congress ratified the US constitution. This historic document contained the powers that congress would have under this democratic government. The first amendment specifically details several powers that would be excluded from this list. The first amendment 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." In other words, this amendment gave any citizen of the United States the right to free speech, freedom to practice any religion they choose without fear of persecution, the right to freedom of the press, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to petition for a change in government. No where in the constitution does it say these rights only apply outside institutions. Yet, in our society today many types of institutions! directly violate our first amendment rights without any penalty. One of the more obvious of these institutions are schools. Many of the schools are even funded by the government. In school, if a student utters anything that a teacher could perceive as
In this politically correct society of ours, the basics seem to have been lost. People fought and died to win these rights, yet others try to take them away again. It is the obligation of the American Citizens to ensure that our rights are respected and not violated by anyone. The founders of this country believed these rights to be unalienable and a very important parts of a citizens life. We as Americans should feel the same way. I feel another element of the first amendment is being violated in school. When students enroll in a public school, they enroll knowing they will not be forced to worship any religion. This is because public schools are funded by the government and there must be a separation of church and state. Although recently I believe this has gone too far. A public school guarantees that a student will not be FORCED to worship or pray. Nowhere does it say that a student cannot worship or pray by his or herself. I have read many newspaper articles about a student or a teacher at a local public school who was punished because they displayed some sort of religion. This public school is a government institution and it is violating its members' rights. A public school is supposed to offer freedom to choose what religion to worship. It is not supposed to be an area of the complete lack of religion. that the parents of these children allow them to buy the music? They argued that the parents did not know they had it. Once again, it is no the musicians fault that the said parents are not taking an active enough roll in their child's life to know what kind of music they listen to. They then claimed that the parents did not know what kind of material was on the CD, yet if any CD contains possibly offensive material on it a parental advisor sticker is printed on the case. This brings to mind a certain political cartoon I read. It deals with the basis of the first amendment rights and borrows a line from the enlightenment thinker, Voltaire. The subject, obviously from the late seventeen hundred's, it depicted shouting "I may not agree with what you have to say, but I
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Bill Clinton, Kent University, CD CD, American Citizens, amendment rights, public school, schools funded government, freedom speech press, musicians fault parents, amendment rights violated, fault parents, schools funded, funded government, peaceful assembly, freedom speech, forced worship, religion public, speech press,
Approximate Word count = 1425
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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