Can we keep it?
That question always surrounds the United States Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.
The scholarly, learned, and profound, delegates in the 1770s and 1780s who helped draft the legal course to our country had little guidance than the previous Articles of Confederation, and several European nations, notably England and France, to declare individual’s rights within a government.
Dictators were not a part of the founding of the U.S. Constitution, in part because of the King of England’s autocratic power.
Here is the quote from the First Amendment:
“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.”
With recent unrest in the streets in more than a few communities, we are reminded of the need to adhere to the First Amendment, both with its rights and limitations. Violence is not a part of the First Amendment rights. First Amendment rights for one person ends at the jaw of another person. The distinction is the basis of our democratic republic.
Our Nation will continue to have a functioning government if we live by that admonition. It is a delicate balance few societies historically have maintained.