The Flag That Burns in the Night.

I wrote a poem about how the flag is symbolic and represents our great country, even though it is not always honored and respected the way it should be.

What speaks to me is not new,
It has been around since the beginning of our land.
"God bless America,"
They all spit the words out of their mouths
What does it really mean to them anyway?

People in the streets yelling and screaming,
they see the fires and the war running the town.
Hate is filling America and is spreading to the world.
"In God We Trust"
They say it loud.
But what are they really saying?

They drag it on the ground, they spit on it.
They throw it around like a toy.
The stripes of of blood, the blue of war
"Whose broad stripes and bright stars"
Its nothing to them.
They feel nothing, it's nothing to them.
It's just a thing that can burn.

And so yet again it is burned.
Burned in hate and war.
But somehow looking at it burst into flames speaks to me.
This is my country going down the drain.
We can change it, we can pour the water on it like before.
The image will still be in my heart.

The flag that stands tall, whether new, old or burnt,
It means only one thing.
America is here.
No matter how many flags are burned, it will be in my heart forever.
"My country tis of thee."
"The home of the brave."
America is still here.

The flag that burns in the night, is shining in the sun of a new day.

-Leslie

Does the Westboro Baptist Church really deserve their rights?

I actually watched the whole documentary of the most hated family in america and I was apalled that there were people out there that actually belived in something so horrible. Because of the First Amendment, you have the right to say and protest what you want as long as it doesnt harm others, as well as the right to believe in whatever religion you want to believe in. I just think it is absolutely terrible to say that God hates people who have a certian sexuality. On top of that they believe that jews and all people that dont believe in God will go to hell. All people that are acceptant of homosexuals will also go to hell. So to sum it all up, anyone that doesn't believe in the Westboro Baptist Church (which is the whole world pretty much...) is going to go to hell. Because of the law, they can say or believe whatever they want. In fact, all of the police officers that have wanted to arrest them for protesting are actually violating the churches first amendment rights. They haven't harmed anyone, they are just protesting like any other group would (They can legally protest at funerals of soldiers if the state doesn't ban them). The only thing we can do is to just ignore them, we must let them know that their religion means nothing to us. Their religion is just a religion of hate, and it really isn't "Christ-like" if you think "God hates America," or if you call God "America's Terrorist." We can stop this hateful church and their First Amendment rights really aren't going to get in our way. God doesn't hate America...he LOVES America!
-Leslie

Rastafarians and marijuana. It seems to be an on going battle. Should Rastafarians be legally allowed to use marijuana because it is part of their religion? They use it, many times referred to as ganja, to spiritually get closer to Jah (God) as well as to cleanse themselves. They justify using ganja from scriptures such as Genesis 1:29, "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." and Psalms 104:14 "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man."

I asked many adults if they believe Rastas should be allowed to use marijuana. Their first thought was no. But once I gave them more information and they thought about it, it was about half and half. Half the people believe that freedom of religion should give people the right to do whatever their religion requires. The other half believed that it should be illegal. The argument is that if someones religion required them to murder another person, it would still be illegal.

Here is what the law says. It is illegal to use marijuana. This does inclued Rastafarians. What they generally do though, is take it on a case by case basis. However, in the most recent case, a Rastafarian was caught with marijuana and the judge said, "the law is the law". Of coarse there are places where Rastafarians are free to use marijuana whenever they like, in places like Amsterdam where it is legal for anyone. But it is still a battle in the US.

- Kayleigh

A Day Without Civil Liberties

I decided to do a piece of visual art to depict a day without our civil liberties. In this picture I have a person with their mouth taped closed. This person has lost their freedom of speech. Then I have a petition. But none of the names on it matter because we have lost our right to petition. The next to pictures are people holding signs like one would when people assemble and petition against something together. Unfortunately, without our civil liberties, we do not have to freedom assemble. We would stand alone and have no voice. I also have a picture of someone throwing out a bible. We would not have freedom of religion. Finally, I have a picture of the first amendment ripped up and forgotten. I took this picture because if we lost our civil liberties the first amendment would mean nothing and be destroyed.

- Kayleigh

The First Amendment Test

Together, we answered 80% of our questions correctly. That turned out to be 16 correct and 4 incorrect. The questions we had trouble with were the ones that were "it depends". For example, one question asked if it was constitutional for a teacher to tell a student not to wear an article of clothing that showed his or her religious views. The answer was "it depends" because we also have to account for schools that force students to wear uniforms. Overall, we learned that maybe we do not have quite as much freedom as we would like to think after reading the First Amendment. Many times rules can over power some of our rights. Most of the time these rules our set in place for public safety reasons for they are school rules. What ever the case may be, you always have to remember, there could be an "it depends" attached to our rights and freedoms.

- Leslie and Kayleigh