The Hillside Strangler finally died? He should have been given the death penalty a long time ago. Marijuana should be legalized in all 50 states, along with gambling and prostitution. Women control their own lives and bodies and therefore it’s their right to be pro-choice. Get Bush out of office, he’s worthless.

You may not agree with those statements but you have to admit, they have a right to be said. It’s part of being an American, part of living in this society, knowing that you, as a citizen, have the right to express your opinions without fear of government retaliation. Thanks to the First Amendment.

The First Amendment, which guarantees us freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition, is something that should be valued by every American. However, it isn’t being held in the same high esteem that it once was.

According to the annual State of the First Amendment survey, 49 percent of Americans surveyed said the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. This 10-percentage point increase from 2001 is apparently a product of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The people surveyed felt that the freedoms the First Amendment grants us are possible obstacles in the war on terrorism. About half feel that the media has been too aggressive in asking government officials for information about it. Almost half of those surveyed said the press has too much freedom.

These people surveyed, who most likely think they have America’s best interest in mind, are sadly confused. In light of recent attacks on our nation, the best solution to fighting terrorists isn’t to limit the amount of information we can receive about possible threats. That would just keep us in the dark and unprepared for possible future attacks, thus aiding them.

The people surveyed probably never even stopped to think that they were utilizing the liberties granted to them through the amendment by criticizing it in the first place. Without freedom of speech, these people wouldn’t be able to verbalize that they don’t like the amendment. And what are these people going to do to change the amendment if they really don’t like it? Probably petition and assemble. The answers given to the survey are full of hypocrisy.

To fight terrorism we need to unite as a country. To do that, we need to be able to gather as much information as possible and arm ourselves with knowledge. We need to be able to pass that knowledge along to others and add our own opinions. We need to embrace and employ our civil liberties. Instead of arguing amongst ourselves about whether we have too much freedom, we need to use those freedoms to unite and strengthen our nation.