Not all are guaranteed right to free speech

Regarding Bob Elliott's May 8 guest column 'Religious extremists threaten democracy”:

While the Statue of Liberty may be the most 'widely recognized” symbol of the United States, I believe the most widely revered symbols of America are the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

The founders of this republic believed that the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness came from their creator and not from some tyrannical minority in the executive branch of government. They also believed that a government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed as represented by the legislative branch.

The First Amendment to the Constitution says, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

I take this to mean that Congress shall not establish a national religion nor prohibit the free exercise of religion across the many states. America, unlike many countries in the world today, passes those religious tests.

The second part of the First Amendment dealing with free speech is a different story. For instance, tolerance and civil debate proponents of traditional marriage are victims of an orchestrated campaign. They are marginalized, ostracized, intimidated, boycotted, fired or worse at the hands of militant homosexuals and their sympathizers.

I guess I'm a religious extremist who is also worried about the dangers of our increasingly radical politics.

Gene R. Brodrecht

Marion