In the next few weeks we want to take a look at several topics leading up to our 250 year celebration of America. It’s important that we consider the country that we live in and know some things about it. We hope you take the time to read all four parts in the Article Section of our website
One of our rights here in America is the freedom of speech. But what actually is speech? Speech is the expression of thoughts and feelings through spoken words, which can be a formal public address, the ability to talk, or a specific language used by a group. Well, that seems about right. Today we have expanded that right to not only speech but also action. So now we are able to express ourselves by our actions. It’s not bad enough that words can hurt us, but now people’s actions can hurt us, and we say it is our freedom to do this. Words have ruined a person’s reputation. You see, if our words are not true, if our words do not uplift, then we can destroy people through our words. Is this not what bullying is ? Many people have committed suicide because of it. And yet, we say, “It is our freedom of speech.” But with freedom comes responsibility.
Eleanor Roosevelt the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt said this, “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility…”In other words, the words we speak must be guarded, or else we may slander a person, we may ruin or destroy a person, and we may in our words also destroy our very souls. If our words do such a thing, then we as people, as a society, have fallen into such darkness that we no longer see light or truth and then it is no longer freedom but a bondage that brings destruction. The Bible speaks a lot about the tongue, the instrument of our speech. Here are only two examples.
Psalm 64:3 says, “They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim bitter words like arrows”
James 3:5-6 also says, “So also the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest a small fire ignites! The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell”.
So our words can bring life or death. As the Scripture tells us, our words though we speak them with our mouths, our words come from deep within our hearts. This is what makes our words so dangerous when our words speak hate, because what we speak is generally who we are and what our hand finds
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Proverbs 15:1
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45
When we were children we spoke out in haste and spoke whatever came to our minds but as a person grows older they find that what they say and what they do matters. Here is one more saying in the Bible. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I gave up childish ways.” 1 Corinthians 13:11.
You may say, “Who cares about what the Bible says or anyone else. I have the freedom to do and say as I please.”
The Declaration of Independence tells us this “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
So in other words, our rights come from God. Our forefathers knew this and we as a country have enjoyed these rights, but again with freedom comes a responsibility. We have rejected our foundation, and in so doing, the building up of freedom that has taken place over the centuries is now beginning to crumble. This will only lead us back to where we started, and that is without our freedoms. Freedom of speech is exactly that, speech. This gives us a right to protest, but not the right to destroy, not the right to break the law, not the right to harm. Many people have died for our freedoms and we must hold those freedoms to be sacred. As we are about to celebrate 250 years of freedom, let us not give up our freedom because of violence or anger or hatred toward one another. As citizens of this great country, and it is great, (for without America, the world would have destroyed itself), let us go back once again to hold our freedoms dear to us and let us not destroy ourselves by saying that I have the freedom to harm and destroy and even slander others because of what I think is right. For every one has his own opinion, which is our right, and that is our freedom to have, but we have no freedom or right in forcing our opinion on others through violence and hatred and destruction. Peace is just that, Peace. Peace is the opposite of chaos, confusion, violence and destruction. This is why we have the police, the military and other law officials, to protect our freedoms from being taken away from us through violence and destruction of our property, our livelihood, and even our lives.
Freedom of speech does not mean that someone has the freedom to destroy or occupy what is mine or even obstruct my freedom in how I live. When we all follow the same laws as they were intended to be kept, then we all can live in peace and that is true freedom. That is America at its best. That is why America will celebrate 250 years of freedom because freedom is a strong unalienable right that no individual wants to discard or destroy. Today I as you, “Which side of this debate are you on?” Do you believe that speech is speech and actions are actions and the two are not the same, or do you believe that we should all stop speaking and only communicate through our actions? I only know one word that requires an answer by action and that is love! We must love to survive as a country. This is what happened when we had the Civil War. Our politics caused us to stop loving one another, even our own family. This was a very sad time in our country. We can all believe what we want to believe but when we begin with anger, that only leads hatred and hatred leads to violence and destruction, there is no turning back. We must turn back now, we must not take our politics to the next level because then there will be no turning back and then, there will be no freedoms.
Join us again next week as we ask the question: “Is Anybody There?”