As a writer, and most readers who know me personally or pay close attention to my tweets and previous blog posts will already know this, I am very partial to the First Amendment. As far as I'm concerned if we all respect ours and our neighbors' First Amendment rights, there is hardly a need for the other ten. Just let me write, speak, express, worship and assemble what, whom, where, and with whomever I wish, and I will allow you the same.
Above and beyond all of the other rights in the Bill and the other wonderful things which we are afforded as free American citizens, those freedoms are of the utmost importance. They are some of the major differences between our system of government and even some of our closes allies in the world, and certainly a stark difference from those governments with which we are in conflict.
December 15 is not celebrated like Christmas, the Fourth of July, or even Memorial Day, but is just as important as our independence or remembrance. These ten amendments give us the freedoms to live our lives as we wish without fear of government or fellow citizen.
In 1941, FDR declared December 15 a federal holiday. At the time, he used this to mark the stark contrast between our country and our World War II enemies, namely Hitler, who squelched all of these rights and freedoms from his people. Roosevelt said, "No date in the long history of freedom means more to liberty-loving men in all liberty-loving countries than the 15th day of December, 1791."
So on this Bill of Rights Day, let us exercise our right consciously, remembering not only the men who wrote that precious document 219 years ago, but also those men and women protecting those rights around the world today, and also how truly blessed we are to be guaranteed protection from tyranny and the right to express ourselves.
For more information on the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment, check out 1forAll, a relatively new initiative of the First Amendment Center highlighting the importance of our rights.