May 29th, 2021: Please Pipe Down, My Prince

 


The first step in attaining wisdom is learning how to keep our mouths shut when someone asks us to comment on a topic we don't really know anything about. Prince Harry revealed his lack of wisdom when he decided to comment on the First Amendment. He called it "bonkers". It means silly and stupid in British English.


Here is the definition of the First Amendment.


The First Amendment protects several basic freedoms in the United States including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and the right to petition the government. It was part of the Bill of Rights that was added to the Constitution on December 15, 1791.


So what part of this amendment is silly and stupid?


a) Freedom of Religion: He would not be a prince if God doesn't exist. When we shut down religions, we deny took a way people's freedom to express their commitment to God.


b) Freedom of speech: although his statement was unthoughtful, he was allowed to express his uneducated opinion. That is the essential meaning of it. We disagree with him but we won't take away his freedom to speak.


c) Right to assemble: that is how we build our communities, ideas are shared, discussions are taking place, and more. Only dictators and tyrants resend people's right to assemble.


d) The right to petition the government: people tell our governments what to do. We have the right to call elected officials to accountability. We call it democracy. He failed to understand that people have to be elected to hold a public office in the US. He is not.


Prince Harry would be better off if he stopped after the first part of his comment:


"I don't want to start sort of going down a First Amendment route because that's a huge subject and one I don't understand because I've only been here for a short period of time."


The First Amendment has been under attack for a while now. People who claim to fight against it are those who claim to fight against injustice and hate. That is a mere smoking screen. The desire here is to shut other people up, people who happen to disagree with their social, political, and sexual agenda. We have to protect it because everyone needs to have their voice to raise their concerns and disagreements. I don't support hatred in how we use our language as much as I don't support the idea of labeling our moral convictions as practicing hatred. 


So please pipe down, my Prince. Take this quote from "Mrs. Goose, Her Book" by Maurice Switzer to heart:

"It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool than to talk and remove all doubt of it."


Proverbs 18: 12

"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."

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