What Do We Do Now? Communications Preparedness By Gene Van Shaar
Since 1789, freedom of speech has been recognized and revered as being a preeminent right. It is what the founders of the United States of America called an unalienable right, meaning that it is a God-given right that should never be violated. In order to ensure Americans’ unalienable rights were safeguarded, ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights were added to the U.S. constitution. The first amendment protected freedom of speech. Concerning free speech in early America, Conservapedia says: The American concept of verbal freedom contrasted sharply with that of England and other monarchies of the time, where to make a disloyal public statement was punished as treason. Communist countries in modern times, likewise, define as treason or sedition any criticism of government policy. Not so in America.