Rights and Responsibilities, Part 1

The people assume a multitude of rights without question.  They seldom, if ever, ask what responsibilities accompany their rights.  This is one manifestation of entitlement.  In order to prevent this shameful state from becoming the norm, we must examine our Rights to discover what responsibilities they imply. 

We begin our examination with the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:

"First Amendment -  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This amendment outlines several points:

1. "...no law respecting an establishment of religion..." This means that the government cannot pass laws declaring a new or state-favored religion.
2.  "...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."  This means that the government does not have the right to prevent any citizen from exercising their religious preference or lack thereof.
3. "...or of the press..."  This means that the government does not have the right to interfere with lawful publishing in any form.
4. "...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble..."  This means that the people have the right to assemble for peaceful purposes.
5. "...and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  This means that the people have the right to assemble peacefully in order to make their wishes for change known to the Government.

Since every right is inextricably joined to an equivalent responsibility, we shall now outline these according to their respective points:

1. If citizens have the right to expect the Government not to form a state religion, they have a responsibility not to expect the Government to prohibit any religion. 
2. If citizens have a right to practice the religion or lack of religion of their choice, they also have a responsibility to respect the religious or non-religious choice of others. This means that citizens cannot forcibly convert others, harass those not of their faith, or in any way threaten or cajole other citizens of different faiths. This also means that atheists do not have the right to persecute religious believers in any way or vice versa.
3. The government cannot interfere with a free press. However, the Press (and media in general) have a responsibility, in the case of news publishing, to present the facts devoid of "spin" or bias, without trying to use the news to push a political agenda or to create division among the people or to manipulate their opinions.
4. The people have a right to assemble peacefully.  They also have a responsibility to apply for a permit to do so, to ensure that the Flag of the Nation is present at their gathering (preferably undamaged), and that they do not interfere with the legitimate comings and goings of the general public.  They have a responsibility to actually be peaceful and to disperse when ordered to do so without resorting to violence.  As soon as the people degenerate into a rioting, looting, murdering, raping mob they forfeit their right to peaceable assembly.
5. The people have a right to make their wishes for change known to the government. They have a responsibility to do so in a fair, calm, and professional manner, devoid of hysterics and hostility.  They also have a responsibility to realize that the Government does not have an obligation to grant every petition put to it, particularly if such petition represents aims that are unlawful, harmful to the public good, or that would cause a breach of the peace.

It has been said before, and will no doubt be repeated; that Freedom is a two-edged sword. One edge of that sword is liberty and the other is responsibility.  So long as the people demand their rights and never inquire as to their responsibilities, the resultant state is that of mob rule and totally unacceptable.