By Katie Tabeling
Opinion Editor
“Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech.” Sound familiar? I should certainly hope so; it’s the First Amendment of the Constitution. It’s something that every American child is taught in grade school. It’s something that every American citizen knows. It’s something that I, as a newspaper editor, live and breathe every day.
Without the First Amendment, there would be no controversial radio shows, no talk shows that discuss anything from politics to trashy topics, and there would certainly be no opinion section in any newspaper. The First Amendment not only protects your right to speech, it encourages it. It is a way of the United States saying “I got your back” when you can voice your opinion, whether it is popular or not.
In this day and age, the First Amendment applies more to the written word than spoken. With the invention of the computer, people could express their opinions via email and later instant messages and blogs. Then the mother of all methods of communication arrived: Facebook. Just by looking at one webpage, you could find out what one person was doing, what they liked, what they disliked, and what they felt strongly enough about to post. Soon, people everywhere were using networking tools such as Twitter to constantly keep everyone posted.
Today is the digital age. Thoughts can travel the world at the speed of light. It’s everywhere. However, once you said it and click that little “post” button, there is no taking it back. You are actively sharing your private thoughts for however long you leave it up. And even if you quickly remove it, be it an embarrassing comment or inflammatory message, it was still up there. People have seen it, and they cannot simply forget what they saw.
This is not to say that we should live in fear of saying anything that’s on our minds. By all means, say what you need to say. Like I said, the First Amendment encourages freedom of speech. People are welcome to challenge your opinion, just as you are well within your rights to voice it. Just because everyone else has that right does not mean you should be afraid to say what you mean. You should, however, consider if your words convey what you actually mean.
Consider this: there are hundreds of synonyms for the word “big.” But each one has a different meaning. There’s “considerable,” which sounds like an amount to think about, and there’s “ample,” which sounds like just enough. “Vast” gives the image of an open field and “gargantuan” brings a hulking monster to mind. There’s a rather big selection for “big” and yet each one presents a different meaning. That’s huge.
If we have the power to express our thoughts and emotions, we should exercise it to the fullest extent. People everywhere are proudly voicing their opinions. Just turn on the radio or the TV. Flip to a different article in The Elm. If you read something that you don’t agree with, that’s your right. If you feel so inclined to do so, write a letter to the editor. I would be proud to publish it because that’s theFirst Amendment at work. It allows me to say what I believe, and it allows me to be accountable for those beliefs, just like you are accountable for your own.