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6.1 Importance Of Freedom Of Speech And Expression The importance of free speech as a basic and valuable characteristic of western society cannot be underestimated. As well as emphasizing the value of free speech, it is proposed to make an evaluation of some of the traditional restrictions on what may be freely said or published, such as the defamation laws, contempt of court, national security and so on.

Importance Of Freedom Of Speech And Expression The importance of free speech as a basic and valuable characteristic of western society cannot be underestimated. As well as emphasizing the value of free speech, it is proposed to make an evaluation of some of the traditional restrictions on what may be freely said or published, such as the defamation laws, contempt of court, national security and so on.

Dignity 2012 cleared the biggest hurdle in the process at the end of 2011, gathering 84,713 signatures, of which 79,626 were qualified and certified. All initiatives in the Commonwealth originate in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for their journey through the State House. The initiative was introduced as H.3884 and assigned to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Over the next few months, legislators will discuss the initiative and consider one of the following steps: The General Court can pass the initiative as it's written. (This rarely happens.) The Judiciary Committee can make a formal recommendation of Support, Do Not Support, or Neutral. The Legislature can put its own version of the initiative on the ballot. (Again, this is rare.) If the legislature doesn't pass the initiative as it's written, the next step for Dignity 2012 will be another phase of signature gathering in the beginning of May. This next signature gathering phase would be smaller than the one which took place in the fall; the campaign would need to collect 11,485 qualified voter signatures between the beginning of May and July 3rd to be considered for the November ballot. Voters who signed the petition during the first signature gathering phase cannot sign the second petition.

An explanation of what freedom of religion means. It also provides some history about religion.

Alatavista (Original) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, defines freedom of religion and belief as follows: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes the freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. (Article 18) (Paraphrased) In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly clearly stated in Article 108 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: that every person has the right to their freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This extends to a community as well as the individual and encompasses practice, teaching, worship, and observance.

The subject of the child obesity epidemic has been high in the last 4 years. Did the government have to right to force what is or isnt allowed to be served, sold, and purchased on school campuses? This artical has it all explained pretty well.

New York City Mayor is trying to ban sugar drinks that are larger than 16 ounces because it is one of the main causes of obesity. People argue that although they agree with the fact that soft drinks are indeed unhealthy, the government should protect the freedom of the people.

taking away the drinks are going too far but the idea is right, obesity is a huge problem in the US and although it is an argument of freedom to eat, drink etc whatever you may please but when it comes to health that is a whole differnt concern.

(Original) "The religious persecution that drove settlers from Europe to the British North American colonies sprang from the conviction, held by Protestants and Catholics alike, that uniformity of religion must exist in any given society. This conviction rested on the belief that there was one true religion and that it was the duty of the civil authorities to impose it, forcibly if necessary, in the interest of saving the souls of all citizens" (Paraphrased) Fleeing the oppression of a state sponsored religion, both Protestant and Catholic, those souls who risked everything to cross the Atlantic came to the American Colonies with the express purpose to be able to practice their religious beliefs as they saw fit without the forced philosophies of a government sponsored religion being forced upon them.

This talks about the first amendment, freedom of speech. It tells about how the government intervenes and disrupts this freedom.

Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition -- this set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom."

This is a great little article showing how important freedom of speech is. It shows how without have our freedom of speech people couldn't fight for all their other freedoms. 

"The general rule of thumb regarding college studying is, and has been for a long time, that for each class, students should spend approximately 2-3 of study time for each hour that they spend in class.  Many students carry a course load of 15 credits, or approximately 15 hours of class time each week.  Doing some simple math indicates that your student should be spending roughly 30 hours of study time and 15 hours in class.  This 45 hours is the equivalent of a full time job - the reason that your student is called a full time student.  For many students, this number is a surprise. "

The article discusses the rights of married couples that are denied to gay couples as a result of illegal gay marriage. Some of the denied rights include tax benefits and the right to be notified as next of kin in case of death of a spouse

THe US government reiterates the importance of freedom of expression as well as the freedom of internet through the Twitter censor policy. While many see it as a bad move, many also see it as a good move to help make freedom of expression fair for all users. Until the policy takes effect, the government cannot see how it works, and decide how to take action, if at all.

This article discusses the ethics of stem cell research and the effectiveness of "Induced pluripotent stem cells"-reprogramming of adult human cells-vs. the use of embryonic stem cells. The article also discusses the ethics of destroying human embryos. 

This article talks about Oregon's Death with Dignity Act passed in 1997. It reviews your personal freedom to die at a time & place of your choice if your facing a terminal illness.

This is surprising to see in the way that it has been kept underground and has had successful results. Although it is not surprising that many terminally ill patients would opt for this.

This article is a tough one. I agree with everything everyone is saying, but initially it is about the person who is suffering. If one of my family members were suffering with an illness that unfortunately ended with an early death and they were in horrible pain, I would rather tem be at peace and end their suffering if it is what they wanted.

Individuals are finding another way to educate their children. As each state has an education law that requires children to but in school. With home education children have the ability to learn and embrace their interests.

In this article, the author talks about the public schooling system as a forced act on our society that actually makes the future of education worse for us. Instead of letting our children think for themselves, learn the trades they wish to learn, and force them to attend for a certain amount of time, we are taking away their personal freedoms of education. Many people are pushed to thinking that a set school rubric will help every child to get the education they need for their future, but according to the views of the author, they don't. The author's view is that society should be looking more into home schooling and trade schooling to help the United States grow to be more productive for the future. Every generation, school is seen more as a prison; molding our future to think as the way the government wants them to think. But if we were to give freedom to complete schooling outside of force, children will regain their excitement for learning and pursue to better our nation on their own free will.

An interesting article on the state of our education system and how the direction we have gone with it seems to be lacking. Lending itself to breaking the ideas that people have about how a child "must" learn, the article offers up that those ideas are not often the case.

Naming your child after the "Messiah" should be a parents personal & religious freedom, but a Tennessee judge is forcing a mother to change her son's name to Martin. Religious freedom is for those who choose religion and those who oppose religion. How do we find a fair and equal balance for all.

Very interesting topic. I am religious and find this to be ridiculous. I understand the judge may find it to infringe on a person's religious beliefs, but come on, seriously?! I think a parent should be able to name their kid whatever they want.

A couple should be allowed to name their child whatever they want, the court should have no say in it. A name is not breaking any laws.

Site is more of a question and answer type of format. Gives the opinions of the people but a lot analyzes some of the more crucial points of the Second Amendment.

The right to bear arms should be important, but times have changed and people are taking more and more situations into their own hands with weapons. It should be important to us, but we have police officers and trained professionals who are able to protect us.

Yes, the right to bear arms is important, but they are harming many people.

as part of our personal freedoms women should be allowed to have an abortion, or as many as they want.Many American believe abortion freedom is as important as the right to free speech, and the right to vote.

This topic is a difficult one to discuss. I feel as if birth and pregnancy is a miracle and its such a beautiful thing. Women able to be pregnant should be proud and feel blessed as some women aren't as grateful. I feel as if their is no excuse to take an infants life for the mothers fault. The only time i feel that there should be a debate about it is if the woman was raped.

The right for a women to get an abortion or even several abortions is ultimately one of her personal freedoms. There are many different scenarios that happen that lead to an abortion and who are we to questions anyone about to get one? Its a woman's private decision and freedom and should be left that way.

This article explains how the balancing of personal freedoms works into the government and the workplace of citizens today. A big example this article touches on is how online activity can be monitored. What is really private today?

Technology is advancing faster and faster every minute and privacy is something known of the past now in my opinion. One of my teachers told the class that everything you learn about computers during your freshman and sophomore years of college will most likely be outdated by your junior year - just to help realize how fast technology is actually growing. Anything online can affect you now-a-days it seems. On the news the other day, there was a story about Facebook Friends and your credit. People are actually being denied car loans or things of that sort because of the friends they have on Facebook because if their friends seem unreliable and have bad scores, then the company will assume you do too. It's getting ridiculous to be honest.

These days employers monitor and know everything you are doing. Knowing this, I feel like if you are acting in a way that is respectable both at work and in your personal life, you will have nothing to worry about. I do not see this issue of lack of privacy changing, I see it increasing as time goes on.

Article written by Terence Clark. The following quote is an example of the lack of discussion reference premarital sex. According to Clark, apparently the only choice is safe sex or unsafe sex; no sex is not an option. Add to that the last phrase about taking care of them and you have an example of entitlement: "Women's rights and the alarming speed with which the world's population is growing make access to birth control a necessity, not a sin. The Church -- and its supporters in some government circles in Washington -- would have all those children be born willy nilly, yet seem to care very little about supporting them once they are born."

Provides a general picture of marriage apart from how we view it today. Marriage was a means of economic progression for a great number of years in various ancient societies. Some continue this tradition today. While the Western view has adopted to see marriage a consensual a agreement of love and commitment between two people.

Unbeknownst to the general public, our diet has been infiltrated with genetically modified (GM) foods and organisms. The majority of food items that we consider mainstream have some component that is either directly or indirectly from a GM food item because of the consolidation of ingredients done by companies in the name of efficiency.

Unbeknownst to the general public, our diet has been infiltrated with genetically modified (GM) foods and organisms. The majority of food items that we consider mainstream have some component that is either directly or indirectly from a GM food item because of the consolidation of ingredients done by companies in the name of efficiency.

This site gives a perspective and the heritage of the right to have a firearm and the assembly of a militia. It reviews some of the more important aspects that constitute what is considered to be the correct interpretation of the second amendment.