Do You Understand the First Amendment? — Transcript

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1. 0:01Do you like being able to speak your mind freely or practice
2. 0:04whatever religion you want?
3. 0:05People in America take these rights for granted,
4. 0:07but these rights only exist because of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
5. 0:11The First Amendment states,
6. 0:13"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
7. 0:18thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press;
8. 0:21or the right of the people peacefully [sic] to assemble,
9. 0:24and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
10. 0:27America is the most free and most prosperous country in the world.
11. 0:31But why is America different and why should we preserve these values?
12. 0:34Let's take a look.
13. 0:36One:
14. 0:37The First Amendment protects the free exercise of religion.
15. 0:40If you are a Muslim, a Christian, an atheist,
16. 0:42you can freely practice your beliefs in America.
17. 0:44The founders did not believe that religion should be divorced from politics,
18. 0:48but they prohibited the government from establishing a national church.
19. 0:51You see, Liberty can only be kept if Americans remain a good and moral people,
20. 0:55and the Constitution promotes the free exercise of religion and doesn't eliminate religion.
21. 1:00Two:
22. 1:01Freedom of speech is one of the most important rights in our Constitution.
23. 1:05It allows Americans to speak their opinions without fear of punishment or regulation.
24. 1:09This means the First Amendment not only protects speech that is widely accepted;
25. 1:13it also protects speech that isn't popular.
26. 1:15In fact, freedom of speech would be meaningless if it only protected speech that we all liked.
27. 1:20Three:
28. 1:21I'm sure you've heard all about fake news in the media recently,
29. 1:24but what if that fake news was coming directly from your government?
30. 1:27This is why we have a free and independent press.
31. 1:29The press searches for truth and promotes virtue and unity.
32. 1:32The press is also a check on the government and helps to advance American values.
33. 1:37Four:
34. 1:38the First Amendment also protects the right for people to gather peacefully.
35. 1:41It guarantees the right for citizens to petition the government to protest
36. 1:45or give an opinion on an issue.
37. 1:46So all these people you see marching in the streets with picket signs for God knows what
38. 1:50are only able to do so because of the First Amendment.
39. 1:53America is a country where citizens can practice their faiths and speak and gather freely without government intervention
40. 1:59These freedoms, guaranteed under the First Amendment, are critical,
41. 2:03and we must preserve them at any cost.
42. 2:05I'm Will Witt.
43. 2:08Thank you guys so much for watching.
44. 2:09If you want to see us continue to make videos on every amendment in the Bill of Rights,
45. 2:13and answer other civics questions,
46. 2:14please consider making a tax-deductible donation to PragerU today.