Bill of Rights Now A Bill of Not Permitted by Robert Socha

I have been thinking intently of the magnificent provisions opening the Bill of Rights, restraining those elected to make laws from infringing on the fundamental rights to the propagation of a free people. I remind us of the freedoms enumerated in the first amendment:

• Religion and its free exercise
• Free speech and press
• Free assembly and petitioning the Government for a redress of grievances

Every one of these enumerations has come under attack and faced restrictions the past 18 months.

When the “pandemic” conveniently followed the failed impeachment of President Trump, one of the first restrictions implemented was the freedom to worship in a public gathering. We could go to the store or a house of ill repute but could not go to our places of worship. I remember many pastors arrested for defying the tyranny. Notably, one of those pastors, Rodney Howard-Browne, an evangelist from South Africa who planted a church in Tampa, Florida, has had nightly services every day, except Saturday, since his initial release. What a magnificent display of faith in the face of tyranny!

The freedom to speak one’s mind and disseminate information as we understand it has been curtailed and limited beyond anyone’s wildest imaginations. I agree with S.G. Tallentryre’s statement, “I (may) disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” The shutting down and de-platforming of people because the arbiters of truth at the helm of social media giants disagree with their statements is the most un-American and freedom curtailing action since McCarthyism destroyed many lives 70 years ago.

Imagine if you will a phone call in 1981 happening shortly after President Reagan’s assassination attempt. The callers are conspiring to use the attempt on the President’s life as a tool to rally others to their cause, adamantly opposing Reagan’s political ideology. Their argument might be as follows:

“President Reagan’s radical platform has endangered the lives of every American and driven some to contemplate and act on assassinating the President himself. Let us band together to continue this cause and get those capitalists out of office!”

Hypothetically, the members of this phone call would have been using a phone service licensed by Bell labs. Bell Labs has a department of “Listening for Truth” and is monitoring all phone calls. A voice interrupts their conversation, saying, “Your premise is out of context. Fact-checkers have determined the underlying factor in Reagan’s assassination attempt was one rogue shooter, John Junior. If you continue to speak this way, we will shut off your phone service for three days, and if you continue these types of discussions, we will cancel your service completely and notify the FBI.”

I know this is a preposterous hypothetical, but it is just as inane as the “fact-checkers” on social media giants blatantly interrupting the free flow of ideas to the point of canceling the account of an American President.

A simple search “founding fathers quotes on free speech” on startpage.com will return myriad results of quotes from our Founding Fathers and other notable figures who adamantly defended our Right to speak our minds.

Washington notably warned us, “If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

Now we can address the Hitlerian scare tactics sophomorically implemented by the Left in the aftermath of the January 6th march on D.C. The hundreds of thousands who gathered on the Mall that day had and still have legitimate questions concerning the validity of the results of our last presidential election. But, these questions have been ignored and squashed by the department of Justice and the mainstream press, leaving the masses no choice but to gather peaceably to petition. Unfortunately, as we all know, in the mayhem that transpired at the Capitol, quite possibly instigated by members of the FBI, many well-meaning souls choose poorly and trespassed. Horrifyingly, some of them are still severely punished, possibly in solitary confinement, for that lack of judgment.

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” Harry S. Truman.

Edicts tried to silence our churches. Thankfully most restrictions have been lifted in the United States, but their continued implementation in otherwise free countries in the West and beyond is alarming.

Disagreement to the narrative about this pneumococcus is abrogated daily and shutting down dissent. Most notably, Dr. Mercola removed 25 years’ worth of content because of his stance on the body’s ability to heal itself if treated properly, even against a Sars variant. We should all be angered by this terrible injustice.

We must as a culture return to the free flow of ideas. We must return to the classical debate and argue definitively. Only in an environment where opposing views can not only be tolerated but openly discussed will a culture thrive. Those true and good things should ultimately win the day if we, the people, continue to pursue them vigilantly.

Senator Rand Paul has encouraged defiance of these totalitarian edicts stating, “They can’t arrest all of us,” implying they might arrest some of us. So I ask us today, are we prepared to exercise and possibly sacrifice our liberty that her flame might continue to burn for future generations? Those 56 men who signed the Declaration were so willing. May we have the courage to emulate their example.

I close with this exhortation: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 LEB