Madeleine+R’s+Final+AmEx+2014+Speech

=Title of Speech=

=Text of Speech=

 Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Protection against unwarranted search and seizure, a person’s right not to bear witness against themselves. Protection of life, liberty and property which cannot be taken away without due process of law. All sound familiar, right? These important ideals are stipulated in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. “Compromise, Compromise, Compromise, it gets us through the day” as Geib has quoted. During late May and all through mid-September 1787, fifty-five delegates wrangled over ideas for a new federal government. They had to agree to disagree, put aside personal differences and first and foremost respect each other in order to create a new government.  Respect, that thing that Aretha Franklin sang about. You know, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out what it means to me”. I feel respect is lacking in today’s society. Respect is defined as “acknowledging the basic integrity or worthiness of; to show consideration for; and to treat with deference.” It is the ability to find something to respect in another person, even if it is only that they too are part of the human race and therefore deserve to be treated as such. And what if we encounter an individual whom we absolutely cannot find anything redeeming about –it is at such times that we must muster the courage to treat that individual as we would wish to be treated. Yes, the golden rule is still the gold standard when it comes to respect.  Our founding Fathers had to spend months in a hot, sweaty room, without air conditioning, and had to compromise in order to create our constitution. With heat flying and wearing the uncomfortable clothing of the period, I’m quite certain they had to exercise tolerance. Tolerance is “a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc. differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry.” Tolerance is the act of putting up with someone’s attitude and never being impolite to the person; the true definition of a lady and a gentleman. Tolerance is still exercised in our American culture, but there are many times where I’ve seen intolerance. We do have freedom of religion, but now it is all based on being politically correct...So now, everyone has to apologize before stating what they believe In the beginning our founding fathers were speaking to the open flow of ideas and beliefs; it was one of the things they fought the Revolution for.  During those summer days when our founding fathers created what is considered to be the best framework for a government ever to be written, there were many differing opinions. However, even though these gentlemen were not of one mind, they persevered and managed to maintain a civil exchange of ideas, with the ultimate goal of creating a document that would survive the test of time. Once the Constitution was written, they realized there was still a need to clearly set forth individual rights. It is the first amendment that speaks to freedom of speech that guaranteed our 21st century American Studies class the right to exchange ideas on a variety of subjects in our weekly blogs. The founding fathers wanted a strong central government, at the same time, they wanted to protect minority and individual liberty.  In the future, I want to continue to have the right to express our individual opinions without censorship and hopefully our children will feel less need to apologize for their minority beliefs, and our nation will swing back to the practice of respecting and tolerating both the majority and minority opinion, knowing that the answers and the truth probably lie somewhere in the debate that comes from opposing opinions.  The first ten amendments to the Constitution were added to safeguard principles that were precious to the American people. With freedom of press comes the responsibility to report news in an unbiased way. Too often today our press makes the mistake of slanting news as opposed to reporting it. Opinions belong on the opinion page, not in a news article. We need unbiased information in order to be able to form an opinion. We need unfiltered news and information—cliché as it may be we need to be wary of “Newspeak.” The writers must respect the power that they wield.  I want to see more respect—more open-mindedness—in the generations to come; I want my children not to be terrified to comment on a blog, always worrying that someone is going to attack them for just saying what they believe. I want them to have a Socratic seminar where they are not fearful that the students or the teacher will completely degrade them, pushing them aside as if they have no right to speak or that their opinion is less than. We all recognize the danger of being bullied—think it is rare; forget it! Both my brother and I have been bullied. This is the ultimate example of the respect ethic gone awry.  The founding fathers were very moral people. They all believed in morality, even though they ran the gamut from Christian to Atheist. Their morality established an American culture which is sadly becoming extinct. A solid foundation in morality is what we lack and may even be the reason so many senseless massacres have occurred in the last few decades. So what does morality have to do with respect and tolerance? It is the solid anchor that both protects our individual liberty, but also that of our democracy. If you want respect, be the first to show it. If you want tolerance, be tolerant. Ronald Reagan famously said, “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”  I would like to conclude by sharing a wonderful example of these principles. I had the good fortune to be a cast member in a new play titled //Under Fire//. It was written and directed by Cal Lutheran Professor Michael J. Arndt and produced by the City of Ventura as part of the Big Read this year (Book: //The Things They Carried//). This play/performance piece was about the experience of being a soldier. It was not about glorifying war, but about sharing what it is to be a soldier or on the home front during war. The play repeats one line, “We were young. We served our country.” It is an emotional piece written by a Vietnam Vet. What I want to share with you is what happened after the performance. Each night there was an opportunity for the audience to share their thoughts, feelings, questions about the play following the performance. Freedom of speech in action. The cast and director stayed onstage and the house lights came up. Many expressed their gratitude for the play; both vets and relatives of soldiers. But, there was one former Vet who spoke at length. He thanked the cast and director for the play. He appreciated that it did not glorify war, but shared the experience. The remainder of what must have been at least a ten minute statement was about the importance of peace and for us to never forget that every human life is of value. I kept expecting the director to somehow move the discussion along. He did not. He listened respectfully and thanked the gentleman when he finally concluded. And then a most amazing thing happened in the aftermath. A high school student who was helping film the production and whom I knew from middle school, broke down in uncontrollable grief and tears. He had experienced what is called a catharsis. The definition of a catharsis in Greek tragedy is “purging of the soul through pity and fear”. Because the director was respectful a powerful message about peace was delivered and a young man was forever changed by the experience. In the America that I wish to grow old in, I want to see us embrace the values of our founding fathers. We cannot underestimate the power of the simple act of respect, tolerance, and morality.

=Cite Your Sources= The History Textbook Dictionary.com Ronald Reagan