George Washington once told his army officers, “For if Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.”
Thus, our founding father, conquering general, and first president of the newly fledged United States expressed his belief in the freedom of speech. Fighting, as the Patriots were, against a tyrannical and mostly distant British government that wished to restrict their ability to meet together and to protest the laws imposed upon them without their consent, it is little wonder that the freedom to speak their minds, to offer their opinions, was so important to them. And those early Americans did not always agree on matters or on how they should address their grievances with the British government. Many a heated discussion took place in the taverns of Philadelphia, Concord, Lexington, and Boston. James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton wrote a number of letters and essays, now called The Federalist Papers, in which they debated (disagreed) on what type of government our new country should have. George Washington was even offered a crown, but wisely turned it down in favor of becoming the first of a string of elected presidents.
Disagreement and debate are bred into our DNA as a country. Prior to WWII, there were many German Americans and others who admired the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Many other Americans, wearied and disheartened by the loss of lives during WWI joined them to argue against our intervention in the new war in Europe, even as others argued for intervention and Winston Churchill begged for help to save his lone, embattled, unoccupied country. It took a surprise attack against our navy in Honolulu to change the minds of every American and send us off to rid Europe of the Nazi scourge and the East of the rapacious Japanese.
Those who wanted to join the war or at least to supply war materials to Britain before the attack on Pearl Harbor were not silenced by those who wanted no part in the fight. Nor were those who preferred isolationism silenced by the “war mongers.” It is only in the last decade that large swaths of the country have been frightened or shamed into silence by the elite progressives on the East and West coasts. And those voices that bravely continue to cry against the silencing are quickly removed from jobs at companies or in universities, prevented by often violent mobs from speaking on college campuses, removed from social media such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, and bad-mouthed by the press. That freedom of speech which George Washington told his troops was the only thing that prevented our slaughter, is being systematically taken away from us, bit by bit.
Liberal courts have found that the right to marry an individual of the same gender, which does not appear in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, is more important that the right to practice one’s religion which is protected by the Constitution. Christians have lost their businesses, been fined horrendously large amounts of money, and been forced into court over and over again to try to regain the liberty that is clearly written for the liberal courts to read!
Fortunately, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have orchestrated the confirmation of about 150 judges to various federal courts around the country and their presence is beginning to be felt. The Arizona Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of Phoenix artists Joanna Duka and Beanna Koski of Brush & Nib Studio, ruling that the Arizona Constitution’s Free Speech Clause “ensures that religious organizations and person are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered.”
This judgement adds to a growing list of those in favor of Constitutionally guaranteed free speech: Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado appeared before the United States Supreme Court and Justice Kennedy, in the majority decision declared that “tolerance is essential in a free society,” and that “the state (Colorado) in its position here has been neither tolerant nor respectful of Mr. Phillips’ religious beliefs” and condemned the state for “implying that religious beliefs and persons are less than fully welcome in Colorado’s business community.”
On August 23, Blaine Adamson asked the Kentucky Supreme Court to rule that Americans don’t have to surrender their First Amendment rights of expression and belief when they enter the public square (Facebook or Twitter, for example). Two lower courts had found in Adamson’s favor and there is every likelihood that the Kentucky Supreme Court will uphold those decisions.
Also, on August 23, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of film makers Carl and Angel Larsen. They wish to make films about God’s design for marriage as a life-long union of one man and one woman, but a state law demands that they can only make such films if they also make films about same-sex marriage. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that “the First Amendment allows the Larsens to choose when to speak and what to say,” and instructs the lower court to reconsider giving the Larsens an injunction preventing enforcement of the law.
The battle is far from over for Christians and for free speech. Jack Phillips is headed back to court as are others whose right to religious freedom and free speech has been abrogated. Yet a start has been made to restore and protect those rights which the left tries so hard to take away from us. We need to continue to fill judicial vacancies with constitutional judges and justices, something that will only happen with a Republican President and a Republican Senate.