1st Amendment

"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."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

The above is the First Amendment to the Unitied States' Constituition. It garuntees rights we so often take for granted. Most people today don't know what it says, or what it really means, or how lucky they are it exsists, but they do know they are entitled to their opinion. I think it's so important for people to be able to say their opinion without fear of being thrown in jail or gotten rid of.

"In my opinion, those are the 45 most important words ever written by any American. That sentence is what gives me the ability to write this column and the ability for you to read it - without risking any kind of backlash from the government.

That's a powerful thing - more powerful than most people I've encountered seem to understand.

America's undoubtedly got its problems, but the government has guaranteed us five fundamental rights that I believe give us the ability to fix just about anything."

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/06/06-28-06tdc/06-28-06dops-column-01.asp

A person using their freedome of speech to explain just how important freedom of speech is is a very beautiful thing. That exerpt from a letter to the editor in a college newspaper expalins just how important the first amendment is.Those rights gauranteed in the first commandment really do give us the right to so many other thigs. Our opinions and beliefs are a huge part of us, and the abiltiy to express those opinions and beliefs is an invaluable part of self-expression. For summer reading I read two books, and each of them dealt with infringements of the 1st Amendment. They showed what happened when the government took over the media and relgion and therefore people's opinions. One book showed Hitler's Germany,  and the other showed a disturbing distopia-like future. I don't want to live in either of those worlds, so I think it's so important for people to realize they have these rights, and it's more important for them to put those rights into action.