Op-Ed by Tonja Condray Klein©01/17/21
There was a time in my older sister’s life before I was born when the issue of Freedom of Speech made people rise up against censorship and called those actions illegal according to the First Amendment. It led to varied stances for society, education, and personal liberty, and while it began to protect views against a party in power, it also held for all opposite views to be protected too. Now, certain media outlets are beginning to take accounts away from those with an opposing view to silence them. We must maintain Freedom of Speech for ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS in 2021!
The First Amendment of the United States of America’s Constitution 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.” It has been understood that this amendment protects American citizens with the right to express views on any issue in open forums, and that the government can’t deprive you of that unless it’s classified and could danger our country’s safety.
There are many ideas, concepts, descriptions, or expletives that I will never support and try to stay away from as much as humanly possible; but I also support the right for those that support one or all of them to express or support any of them as long as not expressly illegal for them to do so since FREEDOM OF SPEECH is for every legal American. Is this troublesome to me at times? Yes. Will I still support this amendment even if I don’t agree with the content used by someone else that has a view opposite of mine? Yes. Why? Right or wrong, this is an important American Freedom!
As long as a person’s freedom doesn’t take away the freedom of another then it is what this country was founded upon in 1776 and upheld for over two hundred-forty-five years; but now different methods of speech are being limited by media outlets claiming the speech goes against stated rules for users. While private companies have that right, if they are working with government agents who DO have to follow the First Amendment, then their users’ First Amendment rights ARE being violated since the company is no longer ‘private’ in the way the other statutes require it to be for protection.
If the company rules are examined and the speech is blocked when it doesn’t obviously violate the rules listed for users, then that makes it become a form of suppression that has been used by other kinds of governments but NOT with a democratic republic such as ours. This is something this country has fought against since its creation. If it’s allowed then it will mean at least half of our country will no longer be allowed to have the same rights as those who will agree with the new political regime that will govern for four years. ALL AMERICANS SHOULD HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
Will this op-ed change the minds of those who have actually been taught false government history that is against our democratic republic? I would say, “Probably not”. Mind-altering programming in education has taken away the rights of children to learn historical FACTS or more than one viewpoint for them to decide if they want history to repeat or not. Some things do have more than one side for a discussion, but others are not only globally true but also universally. Once Freedom of Speech is removed from a major dissenting group then those taking power make slaves out of all the others.
Mankind has always tried to exert personal power over others throughout history, but THIS IS NOT AMERICA! Humanity is flawed, and we have failed often, but our country’s founders tried to make America an example at that time of what FREEDOM should strive to be. While we have had our moments of leaders failing groups of people in the past, 2021 should not put us in any of those positions again! Rights as stated in our Constitution should be legislated as stated and not changed on the whim of a certain group with political bias that defeats our government system as a whole.
As a Protestant Christian I don’t want my faith to be persecuted or for those who share it to be silenced. I have friends who are Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic, and Wiccan so I want their rights to be protected too. We should all have the right to declare our faith as Free Speech allows, compare differences if agreed upon by those in discussion, and not attack each other physically unless in defense. Any other issue should be peacefully debated by those with differing viewpoints. Generations since mine seem to have lost the ability to do any of this at all, and that’s sad and wrong.
I have two webpages that I am now concerned about losing simply because of my viewpoints, opinions, and faith; this is something I never thought I’d face in my lifetime. I have family and friends who are on the opposite side of politics and religion, but I want their rights to be kept free as much as I want my own to be. THAT is a democratic republic. Now if I’m right about my Christian faith and Jesus Christ returns to rule from Jerusalem after the Great Tribulation, then I’ll embrace HIS Theocracy since it will be by our Creator and my Savior. Until then, a democratic republic is my choice.
Facebook, Linked-In, and even LiveJournal may not allow my opinion editorials to be shared on their platforms, but I’m hoping that they and the website hosts will NOT try to silence differing opinions simply for the sake of power. I don’t seek power but want equal justice for ALL Americans regardless of race, color, creed, religion, or gender. THAT’S the American way I was raised on, and I want to have the FREEDOM to share what I know with whomever I wish if they are willing to read or listen. What they do after that is up to them. I WANT FREEDOM OF SPEECH PROTECTED!