YouTube Contest
1 for All > YouTube contest
And the Winner Is…
Congratulations to Oxfam, winner of our First Amendment video contest. You can see the winning and runner-up videos here.
Photos
View some of our favorite photo submissions to 1 for All‘s Flickr page.
Writings
Here are some of the selected submissions about the value of the First Amendment.
Most people understand First Amendment rights as “religious freedom,” “free speech and press,” and the “right to assemble” and protest. Fewer people recognize that when Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, or Ralph Nader wrote the original OSHA legislation, they were exercising “freedom of the press” to publish social contracts or laws. Anyone from Rosa Parks to Sheriffs in Arizona can decide what laws we believe are just – applying freedom of speech and free exercise of beliefs to interpreting and enforcing laws in society. Every day, citizens “assemble to redress grievances” in resolving conflicts in daily relations, not just with corporate or government entities. First Amendment rights represent natural human rights everyone practices to the extent of our education and abilities.
For true equality among people as government, the key issue is restoring checks and balances in exercising these powers. Similar to three government branches, the First Amendment includes free exercise of religion, free speech and free press, all with respect to the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition. Where equal consent and due process are protected – using mediation to resolve conflicts by consensus – everyone’s rights to freedom, justice, peace and security are represented. However, when anyone in government, media or corporations abuses greater collective influence than individual citizens to impose biased interpretations, policy, or action – favoring private interests over public consent – the balance of powers is destroyed.
Following historic progression – where the Bill of Rights originally applied to Congress, before protection of laws was extended to State governments, and later to public facilities and federally-funded institutions – the challenge today is holding citizens and corporations equally responsible as government for respecting basic rights in order to invoke them: in keeping with Constitutional checks and balances, consent of the governed, and equal protection of the laws.
The First Amendment helps to keep us free by giving us the right to disagree with anyone in America, including the President of the United States. Through the First Amendment, we have the opportunity to be ourselves. This Amendment gives us the power to hold accountable the most powerful man or woman in the nation. No other Amendment or constitutional safeguard would be important without the ability to speak freely to anyone. During slavery in early America, one of the most vexing problems African-Americans faced was they did not have the legal right to speak freely to White Americans without the fear of serious consequences, including death.
If we are to be really free, then we have to have the right to express ourselves. The First Amendment grants Americans the right to express themselves in all legal ways possible. Although the First Amendment does not give people the right to physically hurt one another, it does give people the right to respond to people who they feel have wronged them in some way, including the President and other powerful and influential people in America.
The First Amendment gives Americans the right to speak out against corruption, injustices, discrimination, racism, white supremacy, Jim and Jane Crow, sexism, bigotry, inequality, and much more. This Amendment allows those who have been historically invisible to be made visible. It has given the voiceless, powerless, and oppressed a reason to live and experience life to its fullest.
This Amendment was powerful enough to provide a man who would have once been considered property the freedom to express that he wanted to become President of the United States: Barack H. Obama. This Amendment gave us all a real voice!
I am free to say that I do not believe the Bible to be anything more than another book… we all are free to take from it what we feel will create more love…or free to take from it what may create more hate…
We are all free to blog…to write our own bibles, if we so choose…
We are AMERICANS…
We are also free to vote our conscience…and I am free right now to say CAPITALISM ALONE IS EVIL…SOCIALISM plus some form of capitalism would serve our country more realistically…. to prevent the greedy from continuing to wipe the middle class off the face of the earth. AMEN.
“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.” Right after the 23rd Psalm and the Lord’s prayer, these may be the 45 most important words I can memorize, and hold in my heart. It was fascinating to watch the video clip and realize that this can be recited in 30 seconds, yet the magnitude of its meaning is timeless. Would that we all revisit our Constitution, and its preamble, and study its history, and the depth and breadth of the wisdom of these words. Would that we all take them to heart. Would that we all practice what these words preach. And then, would that we all share this with the world.
MY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
(As sung on http://www.kevalin.org, link at left)
Words and music by Rene Salm
Happy, happy he who’s a-trampin’ along
(Now sing fair, my beautiful country!)
With a pack on his back and his heart for a map
(O how fine, to be wandering free!)
A crag far above, a bluff ‘gainst the blue
Is beckoning someone to see
Into some distant valley or canyon so steep
I suppose it’ll have to be me
I suppose it’ll have to be me. . .
Happy, happy he who hears nature’s sweet words
From the brook and the rustling trees
Saying, “Come lay your head on my soft grassy bed
And forget all your difficulties
Let sunbeams remind you that your aches are few
Your troubles are tiny, you’ll see
Just listen awhile now to my point of view
And soon I am sure you’ll agree,
And soon I am sure you’ll agree.”
Happy, happy he who’s a-trampin’ along
(Now sing fair, my beautiful country!)
With a pack on his back and his heart for a map
(O how fine, to be wandering free!)
Down into the valley and up to the crest
It’s sharing wild blueberries that I love best
And here is a secret I learned from a friend:
The best ones are just ’round the bend,
The best ones are just ’round the bend. . .
Happy, happy he who was born to be free
(O sing proud, my beautiful country!)
The mountains are high and the valleys are wide
But you know, they all belong to me. . .
A story is told, full of beauty, and old
By our Mother, the earth, wind, and sea
Who listens will hear her calling him home
I suppose it’ll have to be me
I suppose it’ll have to be me
O sing out, my beautiful country!
The Bill of Rights do not set aside anything “for” the People because no Amendment, writ, or law can grant what people inherently posess at birth. On the contrary, the first ten Amendments define what Congress may not do “to” the People, and any violation of that principle is unconstitutional.
The freedom to speak without fear of persecution is as Unalienable as the right to Life or Liberty, and is the first line of defense against the tyrannical tendencies of government.
There is an almost tacit belief in the blogosphere that our freedom to express our beliefs and opinions without any restrictions is crucial to maintaining freedom of speech in this country. In truth, while this may be one of the most satisfying ways for writers to exercise their First Amendment rights, it in no way assures that those rights will continue. In fact, freedom of speech carries within it the potential seeds of its own destruction at the hands of either an enemy willing to exploit it or a citizenry unwilling to exercise it responsibly. While I have no doubt that many of us, particularly our younger citizens, are unaware of the meaning and significance of the First Amendment, I believe that our nation’s crisis of partisanship is a result of our failure to exercise the freedom of speech it provides responsibly.
I’d suggest that exercising our freedom of speech responsibly requires much more than posting whatever we think. It requires doing some real research when we post on a serious topic as well as the checking of facts both when we post and when we read. It requires differentiating between opinion and fact, even if it weakens our position, and avoiding exaggeration for argument’s sake. It requires taking some time not only to read other viewpoints but to actually consider them, maybe even referencing them in our posts. It means avoiding name-calling and stereotypes … actually rising above the Rush Limbaughs and Keith Olbermanns of the world. It means not only respecting the right of others to express differing opinions but being open to the possibility that their argument has some merit. None of this is guaranteed by the First Amendment but all of it, it would seem to me, is crucial to its survival.
How the 1st Amendment Keeps Us Free
“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.”
Our right to worship without government interference or persecution is the fundamental freedom to choose our core principles, which is the governance of self. Not by compulsion externally (organized religion by government), but instead based on personal conviction. This freedom is the linchpin to the other four—one cannot be free publicly if they are not free personally.
Our right to speak freely enables active and authentic participation in the citizenry as a whole. This allows agreement or disagreement in the discourse of governance, which can only be forthright so long as those governing cannot interfere.
Freedom of the press is an organized corporate voice, empowering the right of free speech. This freedom carries the weight of the collective right to agree or disagree, as well as giving voice to the individual—thus making government answerable to the people.
Peaceful assembly is the ability to take freedom of speech to the public forum, whether in protest or proclamation. This right brings balance to the freedom of the press by empowering rights of speech without depending on the will of the press, or its editors.
Petitioning the Government is a citizen’s right to hold accountable those who govern, by political or legal means. A government constrained by the law governs more aptly than one operating above of the law.
We cannot overlook that the 1st Amendment rights come with inherent responsibility. These rights expressly limit government; however, personal freedom must not become an excuse for self-indulgence. As citizens and a nation, we are only as free as we take responsibility for being so.
I am free to worship whom I want without fear.
I am free to say what I want within legal bounds.
I can assemble peacefully where I want with whomever I want, in order to talk about what we want to talk about. Sometimes with placards. Sometimes with flashmobs. Sometimes with video cam ready to catch brutality.
I am free to complain about my sad, sinking government, without fear of punishment.
I am free to blog.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, NOR PROHIBIT the FREE EXERCISE THEREOF. any law, judgement, or even Supreme Court ruling concerning religion, is Unconstitutional. The so-called serparation of church and state’ ruling by the Supreme Court is Unconstitutional. What the 1st Amendment guarantees, is that our government shall not sponsor Any religion; but, if Any citizen, federal employee or not, may of their own free will and with their own personal finances, worship as they see fit. whether this includes prayer, public or private, having a copy of the Ten Commandments publically displayed, or any other Icon of faith displayed: so long as these prayers and/or Icons are privately purchased, privately maintained, and No government resourses are used to purchase, display, operate, nor maintain; the 1st Amendment guarantees our right to exercise our faith. No one is allowed to force you to worship, AND you are Not allowed to prohibit our worship.
The First Amendment is a law that is more than a law. Most pieces of legislation are so tied to politics and government and dense language that citizens might not even notice them. But the First Amendment is the breath and soul of the United States of America. It is why I am writing this at this very moment; in fact, it is why bloggers can blog, or why any writer in the USA can write what he or she likes. Without the freedom to speak our minds, we cannot fully express who we are as people. As a journalist, I value the First Amendment because without it, my job would be a lot harder. In the United States, we can hear the truth about what is happening in the world. The government does not control the media because the First Amendment gives us the freedom of the press. We have the freedom to believe what we want to believe. We have the freedom to make our own decisions and be our own people. And sometimes we take our freedoms for granted, but there are hardly words good enough to express how vital the First Amendment is to all of our everyday lives.
The other day I saw a report on CNN of journalists being denied access too deeply into the oil zones of the Gulf of Mexico, and I read online that even threats were made against members of the media. If it had not become so common for First Amendment citizen rights to be violated today I would be shocked that such an unnatural disaster as the BP debacle warranted such secrecy, as the main culprit–the oil–is daily washing ashore.
It is good to see a work such as 1ForAll celebrate the freedoms the First Amendment of our great Constitution provides.
Is it free speech if another’s voice drowns out my own due to amplification as the corporations are allowed to do or the media? Is it free speech when someone else is allowed to gain profit from the selling of my body via pornography, even though I am not allowed to sell my body for my own profit? Is it free speech when I and my sister’s are degraded 24/7 and cannot stop our image from being shown and profited from? Is it free speech when news or dissatisfaction has to be within the confines of what corporations allow? Is it free speech when a cruelty to dogs bill is defeated because the pork corporations are worried such a bill may make it easier to pass a bill against inhumane treatment of pigs? Is that the free speech that our ancestor’s gave their lives and the lives of their loins for? I would say no, no, no, no, and no. And thank you to my ancestor’s for granting me freedom to say so. Now is anybody listening?
“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.”
If I can censor your words, I can cease the spread of thoughts, ideas, agenda’s contrary to my own. I can eliminate competition for process, protocol and way of life to the way in which it is most beneficial to myself. Without debate, my words are the only words which fall on the ears of the public. If I can control the words I can control the flow of information, education, news of events, alter the ways in which people think and perceive the world around them and most importantly, I can control history, past, present and potentially future.
Our country is built on the best ideas conceived in honesty, trust, ethics, morals and a belief in something far more reaching than ourselves. It is our responsibility and duty to protect those ideals for this and future generations; this is paramount. History is littered with reminders of once great nations. Nations who willingly sacrificed the ideals on which they were built for personal gain of the few entrusted with the power of a nation. These nations fall subservient to those around them, they never recover. They fade into the obscure memory of history.
For those who understand, no explanation is necessary, for those who do not, none is possible.
There is a proverb that says when wisdom enters your heart and the revelation that it is wisdom is evident in the response, it then becomes pleasing to one’s soul. for then it will be wisdom that keeps you and discretion that preserves you. It is the 1st Amendment that allows me to read the bible and offer my relevations from what I believe is the abolute truth-with that, because we have the right to these freedoms mean that we should walk in the wisdom of what these rights offer to us as a people and as individuals. Because our rights may be lawful, does not mean
they are profitable. Therefore it is the wisdom that we should strive to attain as we practice to protect these freedoms that we call liberty!
Since my teenage years, I wanted to come to the U.S. Not sure why but that country had a pull for me. Raised in an old, traditional, European family, with restrictions and don’ts coming out of my ears, there was something about America which seemed irresistible. It took me a while but I got here, with hubby and 2 toddlers in tow. The freedom was overwhelming. I soon became a divorcee, a lawyer, an actress, a singer and whatever else tickled my interest. Unbelievable. What a country! Everything is possible, from the very good to the very bad. People are allowed to discover who and what they really are, make all the mistakes they want and still come out allright. I am a senior now, happily married to an American and grateful for the plethora of experiences afforded me because of this country’s Constitution, especially its First Amendment. I also wrote a book, a Course in Living. Through all my trials and adventures, I penned down solid principles to live by, if one desires a long, healthy, productive life. Only America is big enough to tolerate the variety of ideas, peoples, temperaments, tastes which can produce good choices in one’s later life. There is only one country where this freedom is boundless and I thank God for America. Not only on July 4th but as often as I remember the source of my excellent existence.
In America, I am free, free to be,see or say what I need to.
This is only due to our Forefathers,who faught long,hard and under horrible cconditions. They gave us a right, that no man can take away. I stand Proud to be in a country so rich in Freedom. We as Americans take so much for granted.
If there ever was a time to bind the ties and be as one, now is the time.
Our First Amendment allows us to speak what is on our minds,say how we feel,reguardless of the subject.
So I say STAND and SPEAK AMERICA.
The First Amendment: The Founders Revisited
This is a good time to consider that it was never the intent of the Founders to eliminate religion from government. The “wall of separation between Church and State” in Jefferson’s letter has been used to eliminate religion from being taught or prayers being given in public schools. The Founders did not prohibit the teaching of religion in schools, nor discourage prayer. On the contrary the Northwest Ordinance, which was written the same year as the Constitution, reads “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” But they did believe that the federal government should not meddle in the religious affairs of the people. “There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion. Its least interference with it would be a most flagrant usurpation.” – James Madison.
They also believed that all religions should be treated equally and that no religion should be given preferential treatment. Jefferson said, in regard to teaching religion in the schools, “No religious reading, instruction or exercise shall be prescribed or practiced inconsistent with the tenets of any religious sect or denomination.” The religion the Founders encouraged was to promote virtue and morality for Washington said “Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports” Franklin said “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. ”
Therefore the first amendment makes us free because it allows religion and morality to be taught to the people so that virtue may thrive among the people thus preserving our liberty and helping us to recognize men of virtue who can represent us in government.
It is truth, in all its forms and expressions that advances the human condition. Truth in speech, art, music, poetry, literature, truth in invention and truth in creation of any kind has been the foundation upon which all else: cultures, societies, economies, governments and entire civilizations are built. This is also the case when truth offends. The truth is always opposed when it confronts men and women, governments and institutions, whose “principles” are warped and corrupted by lies and hypocrisy. In these circumstances, truth is essential to the advancement of the human condition – not just when it offends, but because it offends.
The world as we know it today did not just come about over night. Down through the ages, the broadening of views, ideas and perspectives and the shifting of paradigms in the religious, political, economic, scientific, social and cultural spheres all took place only because someone said something or did something or created something that offended the status quo. In America, the improvement of the human condition for blacks, women and other minority groups would never have happened unless someone ticked off somebody else. Indeed, the country itself would never have come to exist unless a courageous few spoke certain truths that were an affront to a mighty many. In all these instances, the offensive nature of truth was not just coincidental, it was essential.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aQ5LUDzQ6g
FIVE HUMAN SENSES FIVE HUMAN RIGHTS
The First Amendment rights of freedom have a history forged in the concept of “how can government govern” verses “how I don’t want to be governed.”
Freedom is forever defined by being confined or not confined to a jail sentence. Sentenced to jail because: “I spoke”, “I assembled”, “I worshiped”, “I petitioned”, “I printed.” That was the history of governing and being governed.
However in 1971, in California, a human person was confined to jail for a word on his jacket. Being free from jail required a United States Supreme Court decision to free you and I from going to jail for the same exercise.
This human person had already served his jail time before the court’s decision. His freedom had been taken from him. The only power this “word” on his jacket had was to make one blush.
Every kind of government, from a king on down to the people themselves, has an inherent fear of “one human person.” When that “one human person”: speaks, assembles, worships, petitions, and prints.
Freedom from jail is the cornerstone of “how I want to be governed” regarding: my speech, my assembly, my worship, my petitioning, and my printing.
According to John Adams, a founding father, he was the only one that the King of England ordered to be hanged when he was captured.
Hanging is a permanent loss of freedom. But is jail the next best thing to hanging?
The First Amendment and government finally got it right for the first time in history.
Recently, I have decided to stop being defined by my parents’ religion and go out and figure out who I am. I have started writing a blog about it, called The Maybetheist. It occurs to me- without the First Amendment, I wouldn’t be me. I wouldn’t be allowed to be me. None of us would.
The First Amendment allows for us to be ourselves, and is one of the greatest rights our government has ever given us.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is crucial a part of our free society.The First Amendment allows citizens of this country to voice their opinion(s)when dissatisfied with our government on policies that impact the lives of people.When citizens are allowed to voice their opinion(s)on government policies this makes the lawmakers to sit up and take notice.The First Amendment is impertative for a free exchange of new ideas which can allow for economic growth and create new technologies that improves our way life.It allows people to express themselves through not only speech but in other ways such as religion openly,dress,etc.The First Amendment impacts the Second Amendment(Right To Bear Arms)which can be considered a way of expression by carrying a weapon whether concealed or openly.The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is what makes America what it has been and always will be which free as well as unique.
The First Amendment. It is credibly the most important part of the U.S. Constitution. One can only wonder where our country could possibly be without it? The First Amendment has paved the way for pop-culture, networking, and the abstracted willingness of the American people. It provides us with a certain degree of freedom, immeasurable opportunities, and the drive for innovation and ingenuity. Many of us take this for granted; not truly understanding the impressiveness that the First Amendment bears upon us.
For the sake of the argument, let us suggest for a moment that the First Amendment was scribbled off of the Bill of Rights because it was considered a ‘bad idea’ or utterly unethical and non-beneficial for the people. Would we still be in the dark? Quite possibly, both in the figurative and literal sense. What would have become of the voracious individuals who sought after furtherance? For example, Thomas Edison, the father of invention. Assume that his ideas, including the most potentially enriching ones, such as the light-bulb and phonograph, were denied. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but things would be far less easier. No light-bulbs meant no access to an instant source of illumination. Without the phonograph, there would be no iPhone G4 today or tape recorders which are what started it all. So if someone said something, it would be lost forever.
In summary, The First Amendment is very imperative to the American way of life. We have seen it in action whether it be slavery, oppression, or simply expressing yourself. In a way, this actually is one amendment for all. Now there’s only one question: How do you choose to take advantage of this noteworthy grant? Mind you this, the possibilities are endless.
I’m proud to be a reporter on American production agriculture. I can comment frequently on the foibles of our government no matter what party is in power. I can encourage our farmers to be the best they can be and slam the city folks who don’t understand where their food really comes from. I am part of the vast marketplace of ideas that is America. While some may think what I’m writing is wrong, I know that my best detractors will defend to the death my right under the First Amendment to publish what I write.