Learning to Speak Up
by Nyanda Walker-Potts, FAV Communications Intern It is common to see the news full of protesters and activists who stand up and speak out, and it seems like it is easy for them. They are full of passion and the desire to make a change. It is inspiring and impressive...
The Importance of Religious Diversity in Healing the Nation
by Rev. Dr. Paul McCullough I am a Christian man. I’ve believed in God for as long as I can possibly remember and I can’t imagine my life without God in the middle of it. This is never something I wanted to hide, but my religious persuasion is now abundantly...
Listen Intentionally, Disagree Compassionately: How Do We Talk About Politics?
The American political sphere in recent years feels bleak and disjointed, novel in its disunion. Political debates seem to have deteriorated for the vast majority of Americans, and we can feel the deep permeations of our division far beyond policy preferences and...
“Women, Life, Freedom”: The Mahsa Amini Protests in Iran
On September 14, 2022, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman by the name of Mahsa Amini was imprisoned by Iran’s morality police for “improper hijab.” Two days later, she was pronounced dead while still in police custody. In this blog post, we’re going to examine how...
Vet The Vote: How Veterans are Choosing to Serve their Country, Again
Vet The Vote: How Veterans and Families are Choosing to Serve their Country, Again First Amendment Voice recently partnered with Vet The Vote and nearly twenty other organizations—including the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, NFL, National Military Family...
First Amendment & Social Media Censorship: Breaking Down NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton
Social media platforms have become some of the most prominent arenas for debates over freedom of speech in recent years. While the First Amendment is intended to protect citizens from the government’s infringement of our rights to freedom of speech, the law is less...
Voter Suppression, Voter Fraud: What These Phenomena Mean for Our First Amendment Freedoms
Much of the hyper-polarized rhetoric in the U.S. in recent years has swirled around the issue of voting, such as the Electoral College’s capacity to override the popular vote in deciding the next president, the potential benefits of rank-choice voting, alarm over...
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Implications for Essential Democratic Freedoms Worldwide
If you’ve watched or read the news lately, then you know it’s next to impossible to check on what’s happening in the world without coming across a story or video about Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine. As many as 6.5 million Ukrainians have been displaced so far in...
Want to Get More Involved in Your Community? Start with These Volunteering Resources
We know there are many research-backed benefits to volunteering, but it can be challenging to find new ways to get more involved in our communities while balancing other personal and professional obligations. In the spirit of our upcoming Edward D. Lowry Memorial...
Religious Freedom in a Post-Pandemic World
As FAV draws closer to the religious freedom panels beginning on Friday, let's review the evolution of our perspectives on religious freedom over the last two years. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, First Amendment Voice examined how religious institutions...
Research-Backed Benefits of Volunteering
Most of us know that volunteering is essential for meaningful participation in civic life, but did you also know that there are several benefits of volunteering for those who get involved in community service? With the 2022 Edward D. Lowry Memorial Award for...
The State of Free Speech in 2022
The First Amendment’s role in our lives continues to evolve year after year, and there are some intriguing possibilities on the horizon in regards to freedom of speech specifically. In this post, we’ll explore three free speech cases that will be decided by the Supreme Court this year, in addition to the latest research on Americans’ perceptions and feelings about the state of freedom of speech in the U.S.