Much of society is based on opinions given by someone of a higher authority. These people may range from supervisors to the presidents of colleges to the president of the United States; at any rate, these people tend to impose their opinions and label them as rules. What many of them tend to do is create rules based upon a specific class, such as upscale America, which may affect people who do not meet the same qualifications or fit the same standards of that small class. As a result, in the Bill of Right, the United States gave all citizens and residents the right to freedom of speech. This right is significant because it gives people the right to voice opinions whether they agree or disagree, supposedly without being punished.
By my definition freedom of speech gives an individual the right to speak for what they believe in. Furthermore, it frees a citizen from the decisions of others. For example, if a citizen does not agree with something going on in their community; they have the legal right to either sign a petition or right a proposal to argue their case. This Amendment is important to me because by legal right if a citizen does not agree with something or someone of any authority that same citizen may debate the person or situation. On the contrary, the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights simply states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging freedom of speech or of press- In all respect the latter part of this statement is a mere contradiction of itself. The word abridges means to shorten, condense, or reduce. Considering the definition of this word, if I, a regular citizen, were to publicly say I saw the President of the United States smoke marijuana I would probably be arrested for false claims and scandal; especially, if this particular President was a republican and liked by many other citizens.