I wrote a few weeks ago about a survey suggesting many Americans can name more judges on American Idol than rights guaranteed under the First Amendment. Well, the First Amendment Center has released its annual "State of the First Amendment" report, and the results paint a similar picture.
The survey (available here) started by asking participants to name specific rights protected by the First Amendment. The most common one people named was "freedom of speech," which 64% identified. It goes downhill quickly from there:
- 19% - Freedom of religion
- 16% - Freedom of the press
- 16% - Right to assemble.
- 3% - Right to petition the government for redress of grievances
To be honest, I probably wouldn't have gotten all five if put on the spot (I probably would have lumped the right to assemble and the right to petition the government together). But 3% on the last one? That's lower than the report's margin of error.
And that's just the first question in the report. Later questions moved beyond basic knowledge and measured respondents' opinions about various rights. The most widely reported finding was that the majority of Americans (55%) believe the Constitution establishes a Christian nation. Half also say teachers should be allowed to use the Bible as a factual text in a history or social studies class.
Thirty-seven percent also think the media shouldn't be allowed to "freely criticize the U.S. military about its strategy and performance." Other notable findings:
- 28% believe the freedom to worship granted by the Constitution does not apply to fringe or extreme groups.
- 58% believe teachers should be allowed to lead prayers in public school, down from a high of 65% in 1999.
- 60% believe that people should be allowed to say things in public which may offend religious groups, up from 46% in 2000.
- 41% believe people should be allowed to say things in public which may offend racial groups, up from 23% in 1997.
- 25% believe the First Amendment goes too far in granting rights, that is down from 39% in 2001.
That last point is interesting. The good news is that the public is backing away from restrictive attitudes that followed 9/11. But it's strange that 25% think the First Amendment goes too far, when the first question suggests that many of those people don't even know what rights are protected under it.
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Comments (5)
A good way to remember the freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment:
SPARP
Freedom of SPEECH
Freedom of the PRESS
Freedom to ASSEMBLE
Freedom of RELIGION
Freedom to PETION the government
Posted by SurferGurl | September 12, 2007 4:02 PM
The really scary thing is, these people are allowed to vote no matter how stupid they are, but they don't even know it.
Posted by moskaudancer | September 12, 2007 9:37 PM
Well irrespective of a person's intelligence the only way for democratic process to be effective is when it is MORE inclusive, not less.
It is the responsibility of the individual, the union, and society to try and ensure that a government "by the people" is comprised of people who are fit to govern.
Simply excluding people based on creed, race, intellect, etc. creates rule by homogenous aristocracy, which certainly has its appeal for those who could join that class but, is antithetical to the purpose and function of a democratic process.
Posted by Nathan_A | September 13, 2007 1:01 PM
"Congress shall make no law"
Obviously the executive branch has found the way to subvert this with 'executive orders', and especially under this administration, 'emergency war powers' and 'homeland security presidential directives'.
With a hand picked Supreme Court likely to back this scheme,the First Amendment will quickly become an anachronism.
You can't really fault people for not recognizing something they rarely see in practice.
Posted by James | September 17, 2007 2:05 PM
What is even scarier than any of that is the fact that people don't know what freedom of speech actually is. Far too many people think it means they have a right to say what they want in any forum they choose and suffer no reprisals for their comments. Even college professors, when being booed or heckled during a speech, claim that they are being denied their right to free speech. Wrong! Your right to free speech doesn't come with a right to be listened to, or a right not to be heckled or booed (which is also free speech), or a right not to be fired for exercising your right to free speech.
Posted by Greg B | September 18, 2007 12:58 PM