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Noonan: America should pray for the First Amendment
Hot Air.com ^ | December 5, 2015 | TAYLOR MILLARD

Posted on 12/05/2015 2:43:04 PM PST by Kaslin

Peggy Noonan is worried about the future of the First Amendment. She writes in The Wall Street Journal the First Amendment is in perilous condition, especially after some on the Left went ape over politicians saying they were praying for the San Bernardino victims.

Journalists, bloggers, contrarians and citizens jumped into the fray. Then the U.S. senator, Chris Murphy, came forward rather menacingly. "Your 'thoughts' should be about steps to take to stop this carnage. Your 'prayers' should be for forgiveness if you do nothing again."

Wow. You might think he was aiming this at President Obama, who when he was a popular president with an overwhelmingly Democratic House and Senate did not prioritize gun control. But it was clearly aimed at all those Republicans and religious people who were praying, saying they were praying, and implicitly asking you to pray, rather than doing what they should do, which is supporting the senator's cause.

Noonan suggests a lot of people on the Left don’t know what prayer actually is, but I’m not sure that’s the case. There are plenty of Leftists who are religious, pray, and just believe the government is the solution to everything. There also plenty of Leftists who are anti-theist, and want to shut up anyone who dares mention, "God," unless it’s used in a slur. There are plenty of people on the Right who are atheist or agnostic, but don’t care at all if someone invokes the name of God in a prayer. I spent my Thanksgiving with an atheist who didn’t care when everyone in her family bowed to pray. It’s a respect thing and being willing not to shove faith (or un-faith) down the throats of others. It’s something which is sorely lacking at times on both sides of the religious spectrum.

But one thing Noonan is spot on is that the First Amendment is under attack. AP noted yesterday how vague Attorney General Loretta Lynch was on her "we will take action" if anti-Muslim rhetoric "edges towards violence." Jessica Valenti at The Guardian demanded a stop to "violent radical language" about abortion and blamed some pro-lifers for daring to protest against what they think it’s wrong. The people who created the CNN documentary "The Hunting Ground" told The Harvard Crimson the professors who disagreed with the film "contributes to a hostile climate at Harvard Law." People went after Memories Pizza and Sweet Cakes. Conservatives and libertarians are hunted down and declared “unworthy” of being in certain entertainment industries. The Obama Administration, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders are against the Citizens United decision. Critics of feminism are uninvited to speak at colleges, and trigger warnings are becoming normal at some universities. A cheerleader was banned from cheering due to a political remark. These examples are all evidence about the war against the First Amendment. It’s complete madness and a rejection of one of the key reasons why the 13 colonies rebelled against British rule.

Yet it’s something the U.S. seems to forget time and time again. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts which tamped down on anti-Federalist political speech. Federal, state, and local governments have banned books for a variety of reasons. The Supreme Court ruled in 1915 the First Amendment didn’t cover films (this was later overturned). Communists were prosecuted in the U.S for being communists, not whether they were actually trying to overthrow the government. Federal agencies refuse to release information and the White House got rid of its regulations on Freedom of Information Acts. These are violations of the First Amendment and free speech, and something which the both the people and government forget on a regular basis. It’s a truly horrific situation.

Noonan raises a few questions on what Republicans can do if they really are willing to fight for free speech.

Why doesn't some thoughtful candidate on the Republican side address the issue of shaming and silencing? Why doesn't someone give a deep and complete speech on what the First Amendment means, how it must be protected, how we pay a daily price for it in terms of anger, hurt, misunderstandings and crudity, but it's worth it. Why doesn't someone note that you fight bad speech with better speech, you don't try to tape up the mouths of an entire country.

This means conservatives and Republicans need to stand for free speech, whether they agree with it or not. This doesn’t mean people have to like what everyone else is saying or have to invite political opponents into their homes. But people have the right to speak their opinion whether it’s popular or not. Noonan is right, "you don’t try to tape up the mouths of an entire country." National Review’s Kevin D. Williamson is also right.

The First Amendment is a guarantor of our basic civil liberties, assuming that Anthony Kennedy feels it to be so on any given Monday.

The failsafe is the next amendment.

It’d be nice if more people were willing to admit this.Those who don’t are putting the entire nation at risk of falling into tyranny. The right to speak one’s mind is an important foundation of being free men and women. For us to forget that, just shows how far we’ve fallen in the eyes of the Founders.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: 0bama; firstamendment; freespeech; hillaryclinton; leftwing; religiousfreedom

1 posted on 12/05/2015 2:43:04 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

They need to pray for the whole Constitution as well as our nation.


2 posted on 12/05/2015 2:47:58 PM PST by Parmy
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To: Kaslin

Praying is good.

However, I have no use for anyone who will not use the second amendment to secure the first amendment.


3 posted on 12/05/2015 2:53:54 PM PST by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: Kaslin
Noonan: America should pray for the First Amendment

Peggy Noonan should just get down on her knees and beg us all to forget how she didn't attack the man who brought us these disasters, when she had the chance.

Every word she wrote about Palin was far more true of President evil idiot.

4 posted on 12/05/2015 2:59:37 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: MrEdd

Noonan could have aided the 1st Amendment by NOT fawning all over Obama 8 years ago. Miss Intelligent should have known how all this would play out. We knew.


5 posted on 12/05/2015 3:02:19 PM PST by taterjay
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To: Kaslin

Relax Peggy, we, the well-armed American militia will protect it with the help of the Almighty. You may have just come to the realization, but we’ve known all along that freedom is not free, and rights given to us by our Creator must still be defended.

So, the Second Amendment itself will ensure that the Second Amendment is safe. Our forefathers wisely foresaw this day, and we heard the call early.

We are ready. We are always ready.


6 posted on 12/05/2015 3:08:35 PM PST by Tzfat
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To: Kaslin

We are one supreme court justice away from losing the bill of rights.


7 posted on 12/05/2015 3:25:04 PM PST by stinkerpot65 (Global warming is a Marxist lie.)
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To: DiogenesLamp
Much worse, Noonan wrote glowing things about the disaster currently crouching in the White House.

I lost all respect for her back then.

8 posted on 12/05/2015 3:50:44 PM PST by skeeter
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Americans should pray. "America" doesn't, at this moment, have a great deal of cred with God.
9 posted on 12/05/2015 4:27:45 PM PST by o_1_2_3__ (Obama lied, people died - Holiday Edition)
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To: skeeter

Same here. Her column used to be one of my “must reads”. After she drank the hopenchange kool-aid, she’s no longer relevant.


10 posted on 12/05/2015 5:20:18 PM PST by wny
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To: skeeter
I thought so, but that's been awhile and I couldn't remember for sure.

No, we certainly don't need to be hearing Peggy Noonan wail about the consequences of electing the man she pushed.

This is what you wanted Peggy! Get your fill of it!

The rest of us recognized that this guy was all con and no competence, but that snake oil salesman really fooled Peggy, didn't he?

11 posted on 12/05/2015 6:21:24 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Kaslin

America better pray for a missive blood letting that returns America to Americans. There is no other option.


12 posted on 12/05/2015 6:27:11 PM PST by The Toll
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