I have been reading of late the stories in the news that seem to be centered around the Muslim world that cry out “Death this” and “Death That” if we protest against their symbols of religion. The statement was made “it would have been tantamount to war” if their symbol was burned at the same time they are burning symbols of our Freedom.
I am reminded of a speech from the 1985 movie “The American President” that pretty much sums up how our constitution guarantees our freedom.
America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the “land of the free”.
This is as true today as it was 200 years ago. Freedom is not something you give someone. Freedom is something they must want and be willing to fight for. When I hear these statements about killing others for their beliefs it reminds me that they have no clue what it means to have Freedom or Free speech.