The first amendment of the United States Constitution specifically states that “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.”

In other words, this amendment declares that American Citizens have the right to maintain their freedom of religion and bans anyone to prohibit a person from practicing whatever their religion may be. It also gives citizens the right to maintain their freedom of speech and press, which is why I am able to share my opinions here on Odyssey, and it gives citizens the right to maintain their freedom to peacefully assemble and protest, as well as to petition against the government.

All of these components are extremely important, or should be extremely important, to the United States Citizen; however, many of these are at jeopardy today, particularly the freedom of speech.

When it comes to the uproar involving our freedom of speech in today’s time, it seems that one of the biggest issues is that, for one, people are unwilling to listen to or accept the opinions of those who may think or believe differently than they themselves do. They are unwilling to accept that people have different ideas and/or ways of thinking then they do, and anything other than what they think is considered to be “stupid” or “wrong” or “disrespectful”. From what I have noticed by being active on my social media accounts, there are so many people in this world who are more than ready to shoot down the words of anyone who is brave enough to share what they think about certain topics on facebook, twitter, or even by word of mouth. They are not only disrespecting that person’s right to freedom of speech, they are lowering that person’s confidence in their ideas and, frankly, are making themselves look like a complete jerk.

I recently read something on Facebook that stated that whoever didn’t think a certain, traditional way is “un-American”, simply because they didn’t support something that is an enforced tradition in this country-standing up, facing the flag, and placing one’s hand over their heart when the National Anthem is being played. Yes, it’s an honorable thing to do. No, I don’t personally think it’s a good gesture. And yes, I am aware of the sacrifices that the veterans have made to give us the rights and freedoms that we as American citizens have today, and I am so incredibly thankful for them. But I do NOT support bashing others and labelling them as “unworthy” or “disgraces to the country”, simply because they do not think about things the same way as the rest of us do. Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet about things, no matter how much we disagree with them, because, to be frank, it doesn’t do any good- people are going to think how they want to regardless, and it saves time, energy, and turmoil if we can all respect our differences and move on. If the whole country not only lived by their own ideas and opinions, but respected the ideas and opinions of others as well without raising cain about it, I feel that the country would be in much better shape than what it’s in now. We have all been granted the right to think and share the ideas that we have, and, whether those ideas are agreeable or not, we should be able to do so freely. Because, after all, this is America. And if no one supports anything else about this country, they can at least feel proud to say that, because they are citizens here, they have the right to free speech.

I understand that my words may be crossing a line for most people in this article, and I apologize if I lose any friends because of this. But what is written above is MY opinion, and, like everyone else, I am entitled to share it.