“Do it! It’s A Free Country!”

The First Amendment Right allows freedom of speech!

I remember flippantly saying this statement growing up. Not having any understanding of what it even meant. My friends and I would say, “Go ahead and do it, it’s a free country!” Have you ever said that?

What I love about America, and what I will fight for, is the right we all have for free speech and free beliefs. We live in a country that allows us to do this. I’m thankful for the First Amendment and I don’t ever want it taken from me…or from you!

If you’re like me, you like seeing posts from passionate people from either side of the fence. Passionate people at least stand for something. They don’t ride the fence. They know what they believe and are not ashamed of it. Do I like what they are passionate about? Not always. I’m not a complete idiot so I know a lot of people don’t like what I’m passionate about either, but the point is that we have the freedom to believe whatever we choose.

I think it’s fine that someone can express how they agree OR disagree with me personally or with businesses that publicly take a stand regarding political issues. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Hobby Lobby are 2 examples of businesses with 2 different opinions. I’m thankful that when I start a business, I will have the same right and voice to express my personal beliefs and the foundational beliefs that I am building my business on.

Don’t be mad if someone doesn’t believe how you believe or choose what you think they should choose even if it hurts your heart, and I promise, it probably will hurt. Be thankful you have the same right they have. Freedom to believe and choose and speak. It’s everyone’s Right as an American citizen.

The problem comes when the federal government, big corporations, mainstream media, and social media use their power to stop our voice from being heard and don’t allow us to exercise our Right to free speech. When they try to stop the voices of one particular belief or choice, that becomes the problem!

Hopefully this post encourages you to get off the fence, make an informed choice for your beliefs, and stop fearing your voice being heard. I believe there is a silent majority somewhere out there who should be heard. Is that you? Be bold and courageous!

Go ahead, use your voice! Let people know what you believe about God, the Bible, guns, abortion, or anything else if you want. But let me use my voice to do that also. And at the same time, let us both ask God if there is anything we are not seeing correctly and be open to changing how we see things. Our beliefs, choices, and voices should be based on TRUTH. Go ahead, change the channel. Listen and hear something outside of your circle, but then, see if it genuinely lines up with God’s Word and His true nature. We might think we have all the info we need to make a sound decision, but can we at least be open to the idea that maybe we are missing something?

The bottom line is that God wants us to have free choice for our own lives and things we own. He allows us to hear both sides and then choose. It’s not His will that we make bad choices led by a destructive influence, but at the same time, He doesn’t step in every time you start to make a bad choice. He lets us choose every single day. What we eat for breakfast (good or bad) and what we want to do all day or night (good or bad). Just like God, I can’t make someone believe or choose how I think they should believe or choose, and vice versa. People can’t make me believe and choose what they want me to believe and choose.

In the Bible Scripture Deuteronomy 30:19, God tells us to choose this day LIFE OR DEATH. That tells us that God is letting us choose. He also gives us the answer that He knows is the best answer. He says, “Choose life.” Why? Because HE is life.

It’s a good thing to stand for the truth you know. I personally stand for my choice to choose LIFE OR DEATH for myself. I also know and understand that if what I am doing will cause harm or death to someone else, that’s when somebody should step in and stop me from harming another human life. That seems like a no-brainer to me.

(Let me clarify my stance by saying I believe we have a choice regarding our OWN human life, but when we allow ourselves to make a new human life by becoming pregnant or by getting a woman pregnant, this is a different human life. Since you don’t have the right to choose for someone else, I don’t believe you should choose death for that human life you made. No matter how much you wish you could. Even if your choice seems unselfish to you and you think your choice for abortion is based on what quality of life you think that human life will have, that’s you trying to play God. Your choice was made when you decided to have unprotected sex and take the chance of creating a new human life. That’s the responsibility you took on when you had sex. Sex between a man and a woman can make another human life if you have not taken precautions BEFORE you had sexual intercourse. #Sex101, #Biology101)

I’m thankful I get to choose what I believe and say, even if it means I’m persecuted for it. Even if it means my family, friends, or even my children disagree with me. I’m not ashamed of the choices I’ve made in my life, BUT I have learned along my journey that maybe, just maybe, I made a few bad choices because I did not have enough info and I probably based those choices off hyped-up emotions and wrong teachings that created a wrong belief system in me. Are you open to the idea that maybe you, like myself, have also developed your beliefs from wrong or not enough information, whether it was Biblical or political or other?

Thank God we still live in a country that gives us the Right to free speech! Stop riding the fence and choose what side of the fence you are on. Don’t be ashamed of your belief but be willing to gather more information just in case there’s a possibility you aren’t seeing something as clear as you could.

It’s ok to make a public stand for what you believe. Embrace and exercise your Right to free speech!

Dana Marie Ecklund