Do we really have freedom of speech?

Due to the recent national attention Don Imus has received for calling the Rutgers Women’s basketball team “nappy headed hoes,” and then being fired, I question whether or not we truly have freedom of speech. In a recent debate with one of my close friends, he argued that we are free to say what we want to say by law, but we must be prepared to face the consequences of our words. Very true. On the other hand, I argued that we have the optical illusion of freedom of speech because consequences, even though they are not institutionalized by the government, for our words do exist. But then, I caught myself, because in public schools, freedom of speech is limited. Teachers, by law, are not allowed to talk about certain subjects in a way that may persuade students to change their political, religious, etc views. Also, at work, people are not allowed to say whatever they want to people in regards to topics related to sex (i.e. sexual harassment lawsuits).

And again, my friend argued that in other countries, the law states that people do not have freedom speech, that they will be punished by law for speaking out, for example, against the government. However, Bill Maher was fired from his show Politically Incorrect , after saying, “We have been the cowards, lobbing Cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, not cowardly" in regards to the actions of the terrorists of 9/11 (wish I had said it last night). While he wasn't arrested for his comments, he was deemed unpatriotic and lost his job.

With all of this said, do we truly have the freedom of speech? Is there a difference when a country has a law against freedom of speech and when a country doesn’t, yet in that same country people are held accountable for what they say? What are your thoughts?

Jesus rode a colt. I ride a stallion.

At church this past Sunday, Pastor’s sermon was entitled, “The Donkey, the Dignitary, and the Disciple”. While I’m not sure of the actual message, he did make me think about Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem. The sermon came from Matthew 21: 1-7 (I won’t include it here, but rather challenge you to read it for yourself).

As pastor was talking, he asked, “Why would Jesus choose a donkey to ride into Jerusalem?” I think he even mentioned the word “ass” a time or two. As he talked, I drifted in and out of my own thoughts. What he really got me thinking about was the fact that Jesus rode a donkey. And those thoughts propelled my mind into analyzing how I’m riding.

Recently I’ve been thinking about my truck. I drive a red, 2005 Ford Sport Trac with leather seats, sun roof, four wheel drive, V6 engine, basically fully loaded. I wanted that truck every since it came out. And once I finally got my job, I went out and bought me a brand spankin’ new one. About a week ago, I went to fill it up; it cost me $49 and the tank wasn’t empty. All of sudden, I began to think, “Why in the heck am I driving this gas guzzler?” I began to ponder why I bought my truck in the first place. I knew it was going to take a lot of gas--was very conscious of that--but once I started paying for it, the reality really hit.

So I started thinking, maybe I should trade my truck in for another car. I always liked the Toyota Camry. So I went to look at the new Camry (this is a long story but it has a good message). While at the dealership, I was looking at what I could trade my truck in for and not receive a higher payment. I would save on gas money, considering my truck gets about 14 miles to the gallon and a Camry gets about 24. But when I saw what I would get if I traded my car in, I noticed that in order to maintain the same payment, I would have to lose the leather seats and sun roof and get a pretty standard car. In my mind I’m thinking, I would be downgrading. Then I started to think about my values.

As I was leaving the dealership, the salesman working with us walked us to the car. He pointed to my husband’s ride and said, “Is this yours?” KB replied, “Yes, I love my Altima (2006).” The salesman then said, “Don’t love your car. It depreciates.” Again I thought about my values.

So fast-forward back to the church service on Sunday. Jesus rode a donkey. The donkey got him to where he needed to go. It got the job done. He chose a donkey when he could have chosen any “more important” animal to ride. To Him, it wasn’t about how he was riding, but more about His purpose in what he was doing.

I have put and continue to put a lot of money into my stallion. All I need to do is to be able to get to work, where I serve my purpose in life as a teacher, and get home. I just need a reliable car. Had I chosen a donkey to ride, I could have more money to put in my savings, or more money to put towards my home (a true investment), or more money to pay back my school loans. Just think about how much money people put into cars: rims, tent, stereo systems, televisions, etc. All that money slowly but surely loses value. I mean I do understand that driving a nice car is a reward, a small pleasure for all of the work we do, but . . .

Jesus rode a donkey. Just something to think about.

Man vs. Nature

For those that don’t know, I teach English I to 9^th graders. In class one day, we were reviewing literary elements for a big test. I divided the class into groups and each group received a literary element to which it had to act out. Meanwhile, the class had to guess the element being portrayed.

There was one group that I will never forget. It was three males. One male was standing tall, arms out like tree branches, head cocked to the side. So I figured he was a tree. One of the other group members walked up to the “tree” and went through the motions of unzipping his pants. I’m thinking, “What in the world is he doing? Should I stop this? What if he pulls his pants down?” Everything was just happening so fast, I couldn’t even speak. So the male student continued. He stood with his legs spread apart and began to urinate on the “tree”. Then the third group member walked onto to scene with an “axe” and chopped down the “tree”. The tree fell lifeless to the ground. Everyone in the class began to laugh. People started shouting out guesses.

“Setting!”

“Plot!”

“Imagery!”

The three boys shook their heads and the tree said, “Nope. Man vs. Nature.”

I almost died laughing.