Attacks on Free Speech Escalating

Published Monday, December 31st, 2007 in Culture & Society

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. – The First Amendment

The First Amendment is unmistakably clear, yet the onslaught against these freedoms has heightened. Free speech and free exercise of religion are targets for liberals, extreme Islamists, homosexuals, and politically correct people in general. It goes against the grain of what the United States of America stands for and, barring reforming voices willing to stand up for the First Amendment, we could lose its provisions and the freedom that goes with them.

“For decades we have been watching the precious religious liberties and freedoms our founding forefathers gave their blood to protect being eroded,” says Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the truth. “Truth can prevail when it is presented, but the reason prayer was removed from schools and abortion was legalized is because truth wasn’t presented. We have to wake up.”

Attacks on Free Speech Escalating
The ADF often goes head to head with the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, on First Amendment issues. The ADF won a victory against the ACLU’s push to have a painting of Jesus removed from the Slidell city courthouse in New Orleans. Other battles are still brewing. Consider Erica Corder, a high school valedictorian from Colorado. The school district forced her to publicly apologize for declaring her Christian faith and sharing the Gospel message in her graduation speech. In fact, Lewis-Palmer High School refused to give its valedictorian a diploma until she did.

On a different front, pro-life demonstrators in Kansas City, Mo. still await justice. They were arrested three years ago for carrying signs depicting an aborted unborn child. Meanwhile, Susan Mendelson filed suit against a Long Island town for standing in the way of her Gospel-preaching efforts. The Jews for Jesus member was recently ticketed for proselytizing and handing out religious materials in a public park. Police escorted her off the property. And in Florida, two Gideon International members, Anthony Mirto and Ernest Simpson, were arrested earlier this year for handing out Bibles on a public sidewalk. When the judge dismissed the trespassing charges, authorities filed new charges under an ordinance that bans people from being within 500 feet of school property. The arresting officer verbally assaulted the men, who suffered wrist injuries, according to police filings. Not last and not least, two 70-plus-year-old grandmas were arrested in Philadelphia for spreading the Gospel. Under a hate crimes law there, they faced up to 47 years in jail.