BY RUSSELL TURNER
TWO EDGED SWORD
One of the greatest things about our Constitution is that it guarantees the right of free speech. We Americans need to remind ourselves that the First Amendment can be a two edged sword. There will always be someone that has an opposing view than the majority of the people prescribe too. Our system guarantees that at one time or the other you will be offended by someone or some group. This past weekend the violence that was displayed in Virginia is a classic example.
I have come to the conclusion that there are people that do not look at life as I do and no amount of trying to convince them otherwise works; by the same token they will not be able to convince me of their point of view. I do not support the goals and beliefs of the white supremacists, but under our Constitution they do have their right to their beliefs. The opposition protesters also have their right to have their beliefs as well. Neither side has the right to incite violence in the name of their causes. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that when you get two diametrically opposed groups in close contact violence will break out.
There are groups that I disagree with, but I have enough sense to stay away from their meetings; it makes no sense to get into a conflict with a group that will never see life as I do. I will spend my time talking to people that are more open minded whose opinion I might be able to sway. If there hadn’t been two groups going at each other the police would have been able to maintain order and prevented the death and destruction that we witnessed. I have heard that the supremacists did have a permit for their demonstration, I have not heard if the opposing protesters had one as well. If the city of Charlottesville issued two permits that would have been very foolish; if there wasn’t another permit issued someone was looking for a conflict.
Since the incident I have heard reports of groups tearing down statues of Confederate Soldiers that had been in place for over one hundred years. No group has the right to destroy public property. These actions remind me of the ISIS group in Iraq that is destroying ancient archaeology sites if they don’t praise Mohammed. Before we start jumping on any bandwagon of any group we need to remember that the First Amendment can cut both ways.
All that has been on the mainstream media is someone talking about some hate group. One of the biggest hate groups currently in this nation is the mainstream media itself. No matter what president Trump says or does he comes under constant attack; at least the media has given the Russia witch hunt a rest for a few days
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