1st Amendment Then and Now

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

On September 17, 1787, these clauses said exactly what was meant, and it was totally understood by anyone who read it. There was total freedom of religion, and the government was prohibited from establishing a state religion.

How are we doing in March 2024? Do we still have total freedom of religion? Can Americans freely place religious symbols on public property such as the Ten Commandments or a nativity scene? Can a public employee place a religious symbol on the wall of his/her cubicle or office wall? Can a public employee or student in public schools have a bible on his/her desk? Can he or she openly pray while on the clock? In 1787, this was not a problem. However, it would seem that the free exercise of religion is a lost liberty in 2024.

"Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics." ~ George Washington

"Remember civil and religious liberty always go together: if the foundation of the one be sapped, the other will fall of course." ~ Alexander Hamilton

"Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness." ~ Samuel Adams

"The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded." ~ James Madison

"We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments." ~ James Madison

"It is when a people forget God, that tyrants forge their chains." ~ Patrick Henry

or abridging the freedom of speech,

In 1787, this clause too was direct and easily understood by everyone. There was absolutely no inhibition about speaking about anything and everything. That is what free speech is all about.

Here we are in 2024, and things have changed just a bit. Can Americans speak freely about anything and everything? Can Americans speak freely about a person’s sexual proclivities? They could in 1787. Can the illusive concept of “hate speech” get today’s Americans in trouble? Can Americans talk without self-censorship for fear of offending someone? What can happen if a person fails to use a preferred pronoun? Is it safe in America to freely discuss changing government when the government monitors phone calls and electronic communications?

"Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech; which is the right of every man as far as by it he does not hurt or control the right of another; and this is the only check it ought to suffer and the only bounds it ought to know.... Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freedom of speech, a thing terrible to traitors." ~ Benjamin Franklin

“In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves." ~ Thomas Jefferson

or of the press;

In 1787, the press was viewed as an outside of the government check and balance to detect and report government misbehavior to the public. The Founding Fathers wanted to protect the press from suppression by the government. As wise as these men were, they couldn’t imagine the press being corrupted to become a tool of the government against the people.

In 2024, is the press a reliable check and balance against government misbehavior? In 2024, can the press and other news media to be trusted to report the truth?

"The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood." ~ Thomas Jefferson

"You know well that government always kept a kind of standing army of news writers who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, invented and put into the papers whatever might serve the [government] ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper." ~ Thomas Jefferson

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,

This, too, is a clause that the people of 1787 took literally and fully understood. This clause worked quite nicely for the first 200 years of America’s history.

In 2024, not so much! Why has the United States government declared some Catholic Masses political extremism? Why when a relatively few people misbehaved on January 6, 2021, and yet thousands of people who were in Washington D.C. that day have been caught up in legal and IRS complications? The vast majority of these American citizens were involved in a peaceful assembly. Why were Americans restricted from assemblies such as attending church services during the COVID-19 scam when casinos were allowed to operate?

and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In 1787, this clause was important enough to be included as part of the very first amendment. This was a fundamental issue that help precipitate the revolt against the British government.

In the modern day 2024 America can a citizen petition the government for redress of a grievance without spending thousands or perhaps millions of dollars? The aforementioned January 6, 2021peaceful assembly was “a living petition” of a perceived grievance by American citizens. Was not Donald Trump’s questioning of the vote count of the 2020 election a petition for redress of a grievance that corrupt government officials have tried to turn into a crime?

You judge these issues yourself. In my readings of what the Founding Fathers wrote over the years I suspect, if they were alive today, they would judge that the situation in 2024 is worse than it was in 1776. Does America now have unrestricted freedom of religion? Does America now have unrestricted freedom of speech? Is the American press truly free? Does America now have unrestricted freedom to assemble? Does America now have the unrestricted ability to petition for redress from the government? American citizens in 1787 did!

"When you abandon freedom to achieve security, you lose both and deserve neither." ~ Thomas Jefferson

"Trade liberty for safety or money and you'll end up with neither.” ~ Thomas Jefferson