Another July 4 is upon us. In addition to fireworks, flags and hot dogs on this day, each one of us should take it upon himself or herself to read the Constitution and the first 10 amendments to it — the Bill of Rights. These are precious gifts that were bought with blood and given to us by our Founding Fathers, protected by service men and women, and sworn to be upheld by public office holders. The First Amendment is as follows:

“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 is first for a reason — without the freedom to practice or not to practice religion, to believe or not to believe, to speak, to write, to demonstrate, or to petition the government, the other nine are utterly meaningless. Read the others for yourselves. Please.

It is your duty as a citizen to know the established role of government and the wide range of individual and collective liberties expressly protected by our Constitution.

We are not the “greatest nation on earth” because of our military might, our wealth, our health care, or our television content. We are the greatest nation on earth only to the extent that each of us buys into and upholds the ideas and ideals expressed in the Constitution.

 

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