Rights

The following is a poem written by a friend of mine. I thought it was excellent, and he has graciously given me permission to repost it here.

HOW FREE ARE WE

Freedom

or tolerance

five of them here for us

assembly, speech, press, religion

the right to petition the government

we really aren't totally free

simply tolerated

by what we call

freedom

The freedom to assemble

yes we can do this

with a permit of course

or at our own risk

Then there's that speech

we can say all as we want

long as we don't incite violence

or behind bars they may haunt

The freedom of press

what a joke that that is

as editors won't publish

if your opinion's not his

That freedom to worship

well that's guaranteed

only not by our society

if you ain't drinkin' what they feed

That thing called petition

redressing grievance we use

only puts it back in the hands

of the ones who abuse

So are we free or just tolerated

it's for each one of us to measure

I guess it comes down to

just what we do treasure

We'll always be subject

to the rules and laws of some others

trust me, it won't be so bad

if we would treat all like brothers

written by Brian McLaughlin