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BY DANIEL WOIKE
dwoike@nwitimes.com | Sunday, July 03, 2005 | (No comments posted.)
Orange and yellow flames engulf and char the red, white and blue of the U.S. flag. The Vietnam War veteran is called a "baby killer" while marching in a Welcome Home parade.
One man prays to God, and his neighbor bows to Allah. The media catch another of President Bush's infamous malaprops, eliciting laughs at the president's expense.
Black men march on Washington, D.C., 1 million strongly united; at the same time, somewhere in the Midwest, white men meet to discuss why they think their race is supreme.
While the ideology is varied, these situations all share a protected place as a part of one of our country's most important foundations -- the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Warren Watson is the director of J-Ideas at Ball State University in Muncie, a group dedicated to promoting high school journalism while fostering awareness about the First Amendment.
"The First Amendment ensures that ideas get out into the public arena," Watson said. "People need a free flow of information to make decisions; this is the core of democracy.
"The Founding Fathers realized that makes the country work."
Pastor Jack Schaap of First Baptist Church of Hammond said the diversity of information leads to endless debate -- something he values.
"The beauty of America is that we have 270 million people, and we each have our own opinion," Schaap said.
And when the opinions are especially unpopular, the Constitution, a living document, protects them.
Don Wruck, a practicing lawyer in Crown Point and adjunct professor of media law at Valparaiso University, said the First Amendment isn't there to affirm statements that are widely accepted.
"What's really interesting -- and it's illustrated when you look at the history of the cases that have come before the Supreme Court dealing with the First Amendment -- is the First Amendment ends up protecting speech that most of us don't want to hear," Wruck said.
In addition to protecting the views that make some uncomfortable, the First Amendment ensures that the religion of most isn't imposed by the government onto other groups, such as Muslims.
Imam Mongy Elquesny of the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center said he left his homeland of Egypt to come to the United States to practice Islam.
"When I decided to come to the States 22 years ago, I knew where I was going -- to a Christian country; I'm not going to Mecca, I'm not going to a Muslim state," he said.
"But I know there is a lot of chance for me in this society that I would be more free than even in my own country to practice the way I want to practice my religion -- without any pressure from the government or the society."
Starting Monday, The Times will look at stories of people who work closely with religion, expression, the press, and protestors who have seen freedom at its most protected and its most neglected.
Monday: Freedom of religion
Tuesday: Freedom of speech
Wednesday: Freedom of press
Thursday: Freedoms of assembly and petition
"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 to the U.S. Constitution
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