Thanks to new supporters who joined us in LA on June 15th to learn about First Amendment rights and explore ways to advocate in their local communities. We truly enjoyed the experience. We also sincerely appreciate our hosts, Bishop Mendez, for his sponsorship, Pastor Jackson, for the venue, Henry Lozano, David Hernandez and Benny Bernal for the work to bring in supporters.
Thank you to all FAV supporters who stand behind the principles of the First Amendment, which support individual rights to freely exercise religion, freely express ideas, support the right of the media to provide transparency, encourage the right to freely assemble, and to petition the government (at all levels) for grievance. We stand behind those principles, and we encourage others to stand behind those principles through education of the responsibilities that go hand in hand with liberty. As a result of this focus on First Amendment principles, we strive to never tell our supporters what to think; we simply hope that what we print and advocate causes you to think. If you want to be told what to think, we suggest that you enroll in some of America’s universities where freedom of expression seems to be under assault. Many students report that they are not comfortable expressing their opinions because of fear of retribution from their fellow students and from professors as well. If that is as shocking to you as it was to me, then I suggest you investigate more with a nonprofit called FIRE, or the Foundation of Individual Rights in Education. They annually rate college campuses with respect to freedom of expression and put out a top ten list for the least supportive of this ideal. See more on FIRE here.
Thus, we hope that our bi-monthly messages cause you to think, but the next step is to take action! That action could be to dissent. Maybe you take issue with something we print here. That is good. Please let us know. Unlike some of our prestigious universities, dissent is encouraged. Dissent is a fundamental ingredient our founders attempted to protect with the First Amendment. If our country ever gets to the point where dissent is not allowed, we have a problem. Some authors believe we already have a problem. Read Kirsten Powers, The Silencing, if you wish to think more on that topic. She makes some powerful arguments.
What can you do? – one of the simplest ways to make a difference is to share this content with others.
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