Gratitude Monday: The First Amendment

One of the ways I know it's November (other than, say, looking at a calendar or paying my bills) is that my online reading starts getting heavy on gratitude. Some bloggers I read have even undertaken to write about their gratitude every day -- a thing I won't be trying any time soon, not least because I can imagine how peculiar things might get toward the end of the month -- but I do think this week lends itself to writing about a thing a day.

So here you go. Day one. Today's thing: The First Amendment, and those who strive to protect it.

The First Amendment is a little thing. One sentence, albeit a mighty one at more than 40 words in length and containing not one but two semicolons. In that tiny space it enshrines the rights of citizens to assemble, to petition, to exercise their religion freely under a secular government, to have an unencumbered press, and to have free speech. In describing it, I've actually taken up more space than the thing itself, which reads:

"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."

Loving the First Amendment is an experience in alloyed joy. It's easy to take for granted, in part because if your identifying features place you into more than a couple of majority or privileged groups, you probably won't even notice that you use it all that often.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I took some time on Sunday march with NOW in the local holiday parade. We had a banner and a rich supply of round signs, which were shared among the group. By coincidence -- or at least I think it was coincidence -- my two signs ended up being the LGBTQ-specific ones ("Equal Marriage" and "Lesbian Rights"). Aside from some last-minute work on the banner, and an awkward moment during which I wondered what a decidedly unshaven guy in a hoodie wearing a sign that said "Lesbian Rights" might look like to the casual onlooker, this all went off more or less without a hitch.

And yet, as simple as that action was -- show up, put my signs on, stand around in the cold, parade, go home -- it's not something I could do as easily, for example, in Russia, where the government is undertaking moves to make speaking publicly about LGBTQ issues illegal.

Still, it's wise not to get complacent in these rights. One only has to look at recent crackdowns on the Occupy movement to remember that when the powers that be disagree or get frightened, peaceable assembly can be met by disproportionately vicious police action. This is happening right now in places like Oakland, Seattle, Davis, and NYC. It's terrifying and should make us question not just the issues at hand, but what it means for those sworn to serve and protect the community to have these kinds of tools at their disposal and call it routine.

Which we can, because of our freedom of speech and of the press means we're able to transmit these ideas and images to one another, and to discuss them. Reporters, writers, bloggers, and newscasters are empowered by the First Amendment to tell us about things like, say, this memo from a lobby group to the American Bankers Association recommending shady practices aimed at discrediting the Occupy movement. (No really, go read this.) They can tell us that we're using tools designed for military application against protesters.

As a pagan, I'm also grateful that the First Amendment enables me to defend my right to free exercise of my beliefs, to seek protections against discrimination, and to ensure that I can exist in the public square. It isn't perfect -- the battles to make real the rights to which people like me are entitled are ongoing -- but people like Patrick McCollum and groups like Lady Liberty League are helping to make it happen.

And that's the thing one has to remember. As the ACLU so succinctly puts it on their website, "freedom can't protect itself." The First Amendment is a human invention that requires maintenance and attention. We have to take responsibility for this thing, as inexpertly applied as it sometimes is, use it wisely, and be vigorous in defending it.

We can do that as individuals by standing up for the rights of persons -- ourselves or others -- when they're infringed upon. That can be anything from speaking up in the face of discrimination to supporting groups like the ACLU, the EFF, the CBLDF, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

These rights will always be a work in progress, but it makes me proud and hopeful to know that they exist.

This post has been mirrored from Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com

Delicious linky goodness.

Because if I don't close some tabs, my netbook is going to slit my throat while I sleep.

- The amazing Cat Rambo is offering some online writing workshops in December. There's a discount for early registration, so if you're looking for something like this, go do the thing!

- The CBLDF is raising funds with personalized gifts of comics and books. Because I am a grown-up I will resist the urge to buy myself a signed copy of Good Omens instead of spending that money on the last few shiny things for my mom and roommate, but the temptation is surely there.

- A member of the House Judiciary Committee, Ted Deutch (D-FL) has just introduced a possible amendment to ban corporate personhood and regulate campaign funding. I veritably tingle in support for this.

- A really excellent piece on the issue of reburying the remains of the long-dead who have been unearthed in the name of archaeology. I'm still making my mind up on this, and it was interesting to see it in the press.

- Hint to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB): refusing to give you public funds because you're denying certain reproductive health services to trafficking victims on account of your religious beliefs isn't anti-Catholic bias. It's expecting you to use public funds to aid the public appropriately (i.e. without enforcing your religion, even if you think it is a very good religion).

- Via several folks, how to support Occupy, even if you can't go camp.

This post has been mirrored from Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com