That's Un-American!

By Brian Fisher, Christian Post Guest Columnist Tuesday, September 16, 2008

As we have been exploring over the past several weeks, the Media of Mass Deception (MMD), as I've labeled it, negatively affect the core values of the American people through a variety of savvy tactics.

One of the MMD's most powerful tools is something that plays to our ingrained sense of freedom and choice. "That's Un-American" is what I call its shrewd scheme that exaggerates the accurate understanding of our rights and convinces us that those rights are in danger of being lost or limited.

For instance, when someone objects to another's "right," such as the dubious right to publish pornography, the MMD is quick to weigh in, citing free speech and freedom of the press—taking what was originally intended to give us a freedom with proper boundaries and turning it into unbridled license.

Let's take a look at freedom of speech. The text of the First Amendment of the Constitution reads: "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."

The amendment clearly provides for a number of freedoms, not the least of which is the freedom to criticize the government. This is a reasonable interpretation, especially since the founding fathers had just helped free America from a country that did not allow such criticism.

However, the freedom of speech, for which our founders bled and died, did not mean the removal of all decency and civility. As the founders noted in numerous letters and documents, basic morality must be the bedrock of civilization

The conservative weekly Human Events observed: "For the last half century, the Supreme Court has consistently broadened protections for pornographers and child molesters. In 2002, the Supreme Court construed the First Amendment to protect virtual child pornography … child pornography produced utilizing computer-generated minors."

We must be careful to remember that "freedom" does not equal "unbridled license," something which actually connotes an abuse of freedom. Freedoms are never free, and by definition, they are never without boundaries. Indeed, freedom without responsibility will always degenerate into license. . Don't be fooled by the MMD – America was founded on principles with walls. Any other interpretation is, well, Un-American!