Interesting, several of the poll choices are centered on the first amendment. We have been engaged recently in national arguments concerning the 2nd and the 4th amendments (Gun Rights/Warrantless Search Rights) but in the general scheme of things, it seems to me that without the 1st Amendment, the other 10 are pretty much moot.
<strong>Key 1st Amendment Rights</strong>
<strong>Speech:</strong>
The First Amendment says that people have the right to speak freely without government interference.
<strong>Press:</strong>
The First Amendment gives the press the right to publish news, information and opinions without government interference. This also means people have the right to publish their own newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc.
<strong>Religion:</strong>
The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion and protects each person's right to practice (or not practice) any faith without government interference.
<strong>Petition:</strong>
The First Amendment says that people have the right to appeal to government in favor of or against policies that affect them or that they feel strongly about. This freedom includes the right to gather signatures in support of a cause and to lobby legislative bodies for or against legislation.
<strong>Assembly;</strong>
The First Amendment says that people have the right to gather in public to march, protest, demonstrate, carry signs and otherwise express their views in a nonviolent way. It also means people can join and associate with groups and organizations without interference.
When you think about it, it seems that there was a reason why the founders put these rights first in the Bill of Rights, all the other freedoms seem to hinge on them
Little by little my personal rights are being taken away. Tell me why someone I dont even know gives a hoot about me enought to be sure I wear my seatbelt. I dont mind wearing it whe I travel out of batavia but when I am putterin around town I should be able to choose for myself if I want to wear it!
While being framed in the Declaration of Independence, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness encompasses all the other rights listed as choices. They are then enforced through the correct interpretation and execution of the Constitution therefore supporters of the foundational freedoms in our nation naturally gravitate to choice #6 of question 2. Problems arise when people (overzealous courts, media, lawyers, activists, and legislators) confuse liberty with license. It is a difference that has it's roots in scripture. Liberty is the freedom to make choices but also carries the caveat of consequence (personal responsibility) not always in the form of law. License is what most people want to enjoy, choices without consequence (no personal responsibility). The exercise of liberty is bridled by self restraint, absolute truths, and values that protect the common good, while the free application of license is chaos and anarchy.
Liberty: a. The condition of being free from restriction or control. b. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing.
Freedom: The quality or state of being free; the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.
Law: A binding custom or practice of a community. A rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority.
Values: A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable.
Responsibility: a. The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something. b. The state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something.
Self-determination: Determination of one's own fate or course of action without compulsion; free will. Freedom of the people of a given area to determine their own political status; independence.
Independence: Freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.
Government: a. the organization, machinery, or agency through which a political unit exercises authority and performs functions and which is usually classified according to the distribution of power within it. b. the complex of political institutions, laws, and customs through which the function of governing is carried out
Ethics: Moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.
Morality: Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
Religion: a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
Principles: A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
Mores: The fixed morally binding customs of a particular group.
Belief: Something believed; an opinion or conviction; confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.
Reasoning: Think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic.
"Freedom is to be in possession of oneself." George Hegel.
“People are prepared to abandon freedom for social justice. But all that happens is that you get a new form of social injustice." Albert Camus.
“Only in community [has each] individual the means of cultivating his gifts in all directions; only in the community, therefore, is personal freedom possible. In the previous substitutes for the community, in the State, etc. personal freedom has existed only for the individuals who developed within the relationships of the ruling class, and only insofar as they were individuals of this class.” Karl Marx.
"There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where a man is free to do what he ought." Charles Kingsley.
“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” John Adams.
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.” Nelson Mandela.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” George Orwell.
"Freedom is what we do with what is done to us." Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?” Kurt Vonnegut.
Interesting, several of the
Interesting, several of the poll choices are centered on the first amendment. We have been engaged recently in national arguments concerning the 2nd and the 4th amendments (Gun Rights/Warrantless Search Rights) but in the general scheme of things, it seems to me that without the 1st Amendment, the other 10 are pretty much moot.
<strong>Key 1st Amendment Rights</strong>
<strong>Speech:</strong>
The First Amendment says that people have the right to speak freely without government interference.
<strong>Press:</strong>
The First Amendment gives the press the right to publish news, information and opinions without government interference. This also means people have the right to publish their own newspapers, newsletters, magazines, etc.
<strong>Religion:</strong>
The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion and protects each person's right to practice (or not practice) any faith without government interference.
<strong>Petition:</strong>
The First Amendment says that people have the right to appeal to government in favor of or against policies that affect them or that they feel strongly about. This freedom includes the right to gather signatures in support of a cause and to lobby legislative bodies for or against legislation.
<strong>Assembly;</strong>
The First Amendment says that people have the right to gather in public to march, protest, demonstrate, carry signs and otherwise express their views in a nonviolent way. It also means people can join and associate with groups and organizations without interference.
When you think about it, it seems that there was a reason why the founders put these rights first in the Bill of Rights, all the other freedoms seem to hinge on them
It was more difficult to
It was more difficult to choose which was the *most* important than selecting which is better - chocolate or peanut butter.
The best answer, of course, is "all of them" (or in the case of Choc vs. PB, "both mixed together").
While I didn't use the exact
While I didn't use the exact questions from the poll I linked to, the questions were intended to some what mirror what the poll was about.
"The right to life, liberty
"The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness 37.83% (202 votes)"
.
.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure." -- Thomas Jefferson
Little by little my personal
Little by little my personal rights are being taken away. Tell me why someone I dont even know gives a hoot about me enought to be sure I wear my seatbelt. I dont mind wearing it whe I travel out of batavia but when I am putterin around town I should be able to choose for myself if I want to wear it!
While being framed in the
While being framed in the Declaration of Independence, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness encompasses all the other rights listed as choices. They are then enforced through the correct interpretation and execution of the Constitution therefore supporters of the foundational freedoms in our nation naturally gravitate to choice #6 of question 2. Problems arise when people (overzealous courts, media, lawyers, activists, and legislators) confuse liberty with license. It is a difference that has it's roots in scripture. Liberty is the freedom to make choices but also carries the caveat of consequence (personal responsibility) not always in the form of law. License is what most people want to enjoy, choices without consequence (no personal responsibility). The exercise of liberty is bridled by self restraint, absolute truths, and values that protect the common good, while the free application of license is chaos and anarchy.
VERY WELL SAID!
<H2><strong>VERY WELL SAID!</strong></H2>
Liberty: a. The condition of
Liberty: a. The condition of being free from restriction or control. b. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing.
Freedom: The quality or state of being free; the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.
Law: A binding custom or practice of a community. A rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority.
Values: A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable.
Responsibility: a. The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something. b. The state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something.
Self-determination: Determination of one's own fate or course of action without compulsion; free will. Freedom of the people of a given area to determine their own political status; independence.
Independence: Freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.
Government: a. the organization, machinery, or agency through which a political unit exercises authority and performs functions and which is usually classified according to the distribution of power within it. b. the complex of political institutions, laws, and customs through which the function of governing is carried out
Ethics: Moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.
Morality: Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
Religion: a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
Principles: A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
Mores: The fixed morally binding customs of a particular group.
Belief: Something believed; an opinion or conviction; confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.
Reasoning: Think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic.
"Freedom is to be in possession of oneself." George Hegel.
“People are prepared to abandon freedom for social justice. But all that happens is that you get a new form of social injustice." Albert Camus.
“Only in community [has each] individual the means of cultivating his gifts in all directions; only in the community, therefore, is personal freedom possible. In the previous substitutes for the community, in the State, etc. personal freedom has existed only for the individuals who developed within the relationships of the ruling class, and only insofar as they were individuals of this class.” Karl Marx.
"There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where a man is free to do what he ought." Charles Kingsley.
“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” John Adams.
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.” Nelson Mandela.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” George Orwell.
"Freedom is what we do with what is done to us." Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?” Kurt Vonnegut.