Speech

The Freedom of Speech

A gift from the writers of the Bill of Rights.

Our freedom to speech and freely assemble is what makes our country great.  But when this right turns into violence and looting and destroying property it ceases to to be a right and turns into breaking the laws that govern us.  These laws just like the Constitution and Bill of rights are here to protect us, to protect our freedom.

Continue reading my post from Oct 2007 

Freedom of Speech - A Process

Freedom of Speech is the right of every citizen. The United States Constitution protects the right of speech for every citizen. We see this almost every day when someone makes a statement in public that is not politically correct and offends somebody. I sometimes feel that we need some order to this freedom of speech. Roberts's Rule of Order applies to most organized committees, clubs, and business meetings. The principles of this organized way of conducting formal meetings could be applied to private or public speeches. 

Toastmasters International is an organization dedicated to the proper way of public speaking. Toastmasters, in their mission statement, say it “is to make effective communication a worldwide reality.” The organization is international, so its principles are not based on any particular government. However, Toastmasters are represented in the US Senate and the House of Representatives for counsel to its members. The course of action for any system would be voluntary, and it would not take away from our actual freedom or imply censorship. The system would have a formal way to address the public in any situation, and again the rules would be basic and not infringe on any freedom of speech.

The system could have elements like timeframes, format, and implementation. We currently have rules already in place today. For Example, a permit is the first step when a parade is organized in most cities. A parade must have order so it can safely move through the streets of a city. The order within the parade gives everyone involved the right to display their message. 

Most parades on any holiday will have religious organizations, various clubs, and floats representing a message to the public. We can even take this system back to the early days of the United States. Thomas Paine wrote the Common Sense pamphlet in 1776. Common Sense was distributed throughout the colonies to spread the philosophy of independence from England. The colonists usually gathered at the town square to hear news about the upcoming revolution. This gathering at the town square was a part of everyday life in 1776. In both examples, the practice of free speech had order.
The parade would have law enforcement for traffic control and public safety, and the town square meetings of 1776 had order because it was the method of the times to dissimulate information. I believe that speakers presenting their message to the public want to have a peaceful assembly, but depending on the message, there will be someone that disagrees, and a peaceful assembly turns into a violent assembly. 

This is one of the main reasons why order must be established. We have various ways to convey our message, television, the internet, and publications. Freedom of Speech can take many forms, and having the resources available to anyone to help guild them through the process could have an immense effect on our right to free speech.
I believe that having a formal design to follow would encourage the practice of free speech. Nations around the world could adopt this system, and depending on the government, it could encourage free nations to involve their citizens more in the political process. 

Our forefathers fought to gain this right, and I sometimes think we forget that freedom is not free as a nation.