332 • Grateful for the First Amendment & Free Speech via /r/gratitude

The Charlie Kirk tragedy today is a frightening reminder that we all have the right in the US to free speech – but that not everyone in the world believes in it.

My sincere condolences for anyone experiencing his death. History will record him as another fallen hero, ranking most likely as high as Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln – I’m sure there are more – but the reality is when people have something very powerful to say, usually about human rights, they are at risk of the worst outcome, becoming a target of homicide. Losing our loved ones and leaders of free thought is unacceptable.

I hope and pray there will still be leaders to rise up, and say what needs to be said, snd that all people will someday feel absolute security – and ‘free enough’ to actually have true freedom of speech. Thankfully the First Amendment protects us to have this, and for that I am grateful. What it doesn’t do is protect us from being silenced, and that is the truest tragedy of all.