Are You Big On Freedom? If So, You May Be Out of Touch With Your Fellow Americans!
I was only mildly surprised to learn of a recent survey by the Harris polling organization that found about half of all Americans seem opposed to the US Constitution, or at least critical parts of it-like the First Amendment. This conclusion, that so many Americans are not big on freedom,is based on findings from the annual "State of the First Amendment" survey.
The survey is a product of an organization called the First Amendment Center, which has conducted this survey annually for about twenty years.This non-profit group, dedicated to preserving and protecting First Amendment freedoms through information and education, has concluded that fewer Americans support basic constitutional guarantees than at any time since the polling began.
Would you agree with any of the following statements? (The number listed at the end of each statement is the percentage of Americans who do.)
* The First Amendment "goes too far in the rights it guarantees."
____________ (49%)
* Do you think the press has too much freedom to do what it wants?
____________ (42%)
* Do you believe the American press has been too aggressive in
asking
government officials for information about the war on terrorism?
_____________ (50%)
* Would you limit the academic freedom of professors and bar criticism
of
government military policy? _____________ (40%)
* Should government be able to monitor religious groups in the
interest of
national security, even if that means infringing upon religious freedom?
_____________ (50%)
* Should the government have greater power to monitor the activities
of
Muslims living in the United States than it does other religious groups?
_____________ (40%)
I suspect the people who contributed to these percentages are patriotic, flag-waving stout-hearts who consider themselves loyal and good Americans, which in many ways they probably are. Few among them, I suspect, would hesitate to paste "God Bless America" stickers on their autos, to raise their hands to swear to defend the Constitution, to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (proudly proclaiming the "under God" phrase) or to sing "America the Beautiful." No worries there.
Yet, they are not so keen, it seems, on the very freedoms that once made the USA an admired model for the rest of the democratic world. The irony is that this survey signals yet another not-so-small victory for the totalitarian fundamentalists who perpetrated the crimes of 9/11 in part because they so abhorred such freedoms.
The survey also found, as in previous years, that many Americans can't even name the five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. The percentages of those responding who were able to identify these five individual freedoms are as follows:
* Freedom of speech _____ 58%
* Freedom of religion _____ 18%
* Freedom of the press _____ 14%
* Freedom of assembly/association _____ 10%
* Freedom of petition _____ 2%
Oddly, the man who selected John Ashcroft for Attorney General, who signed the Patriot Act and who has led a government campaign of secrecy and restricted liberties in order to promote added security once warned against the loss of such freedoms. Shortly after the attacks on 9/11, President Bush said, "freedom and fear are at war" in an address to the nation. He also pointed out that the terrorists targeted the United States because we embrace liberty. "The terrorists hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other," he told us.
All the more reason, as Ken Paulson, executive director of the First Amendment Center advised, for us to "truly embrace the freedoms of the First Amendment and show just how strong we really are. The stakes have risen for the First Amendment in the wake of 9/11. The results of our 2002 survey suggest that many Americans view these fundamental freedoms as possible obstacles in the war on terrorism." He might have added, "that is, when they understand the First Amendment in the first place."
Michael Pheneger, a former U.S. Army Colonel, a Republican and the current treasurer of the ACLU in Florida, was interviewed in the St. Petersburg Times (November 30, 2002) about the current threats to civil rights. He explained the ACLU's image problem as a consequence of the fact that "we tend to take the words of the first 10 amendments of the constitution fairly literally." Asked "What is the most destructive force to America's democracy right now?" Pheneger replied: "Fear. Unreasoning fear. We have good reason to be afraid. What we're afraid of is that we will be attacked and we'll ultimately lose our way of life. But our way of life is distinguished not by how well we live, but by the fact that we are, as human beings in this country, freer than anybody else in the world. We need to spend a lot more time worrying about what it is we're trying to defend and what we're afraid of losing. The danger is not just that the terrorists will blow up the plane, but it's somehow, along the line, that we will depart from the way that we live and the freedom in which we live."
Do your part to keep America on track—be protective of the free way in which we live. Look after those freedoms by speaking out, as appropriate and helpful. As often noted in this space, freedom is as much a part of a wellness lifestyle as is exercise, nutrition and all the other self-management skill areas. It must not be surrendered, lightly or otherwise. Be well—and always look on the bright side of life.
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ARDELL WELLNESS REPORT
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