JOE PRENTIS WEBSITE

FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN AMERICA?

If you were to search for the reason so many people left their homeland in Europe and came to America, the word ‘freedom’ would rank high on the list. Freedom is embodied in our Bill of Rights and it is the foundation of our society. We are said to believe that the pursuit of happiness‒ as long as it doesn’t impact the rights of others‒ is what America is all about. Why is it then that we have given most of our rights away in the last two decades in pursuit of being safer and more secure when we really aren’t? The War of Drugs gave law enforcement the right to break down your door at 3 a.m. to search for drugs that are alleged to be on your premises. They really don’t need any proof beyond a ‘tip’ from someone who is said to have reliable information.

Regulations that allow banks and other financial institutions to turn over your financial records to others‒ who really don’t have any right to know you private business‒ has created the opportunity for crooks and con artist to have access to your bank and saving accounts. The government can spy on you while you are on the Internet, despite the assurances that you cannot be unreasonably searched. Most of our personal freedoms are embodied in the Fourth Amendment which says: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” In may cases, probable cause has been cast aside in the name of expedience.

In the past two weeks, there has been an almost hysterical reaction to the shooting in a South Carolina church that has nothing to do with the crime or what it might take to prevent racial hate crimes in the future. The governor ordered the Confederate flag taken down from the state capitol building, which is probably a good thing, but mass hysteria has caused other zealots to take a giant leap forward with an agenda they can’t explain and probably don’t understand. Knee jerk reactions seldom solve anything. There are petitions demanding all materials referring to the Confederacy be removed from store shelves. Some of our largest chain stores have complied. This involves commemorative license plates, materials and objects used by Civil War Reenactors, T-shirts, and many other things. Few people in the South view them as racial symbols. They are simply a part of our history in the minds of most of our citizens. Rewriting history is a dangerous endeavor that solves no useful purpose. There is even a call from a New York literary critic to stop the showing of ‘Gone with the Wind.’ How long will it be until Amazon and other booksellers ban all books having a Civil War theme. Most of this hysteria is driven by politicians who hope to gain an advantage by whipping the citizenry into a feeding frenzy. While many of us were shouting and gibbering in the streets, congress sneaked the trade bill past us. Maybe it would be a good idea to read again the statement made by a writer named Voltaire about freedom of speech.

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.”

I do not believe in censorship in any form except where underage, impressionable children are involved. Do you want anyone telling you what you must think, say, or do? If our freedom of expression is eroded away, then what is left? Think about it.