Civics: The Bill of Rights, The Community Center, Wednesday Evening

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Alex had made sure to arrive early, this evening, in case there was anything which she needed to do before class. One of the rooms had been turned into a makeshift classroom, with chairs and desks. There was a long table by the side wall with moddable light snacks, along with a pot or two of coffee and hot water for tea. She also had written a rather lengthy sentence on the dry-erase board, and had made herself some tea while waiting for everyone else to arrive.

"Good evening," she said, once it looked like they had everyone. "My name is Alex Cabot, and this class is called Civics: The Bill of Rights. Since attendance might fluctuate, we're not going to do anything like introduce ourselves or talk about why you're here; we've only got seven weeks, and ten Amendments, so we're going to dive right in, if that's all right with everybody."

She sipped her tea, then set her mug down again. "Some of you might be wondering what the Bill of Rights is, so first, some background. When Fandom Island isn't in a remote Viking fishing village, it's connected to Maryland, which is one state within the country known as the United States of America. The United States is a relatively young country: just over two hundred years. The leaders decided to make its constitution a living document, one that could be amended as time passed and the needs of the people changed. But they also found that there were certain rights and responsibilities so important that they needed to be specifically laid out, as bullet-point addendums to the document they had just finished. Those ten Amendments were known as the Bill of Rights. There are currently twenty-seven Amendments, but in this class, we are just focusing on those first ten."

So far, so good.

"The text of the First Amendment is behind me," she said, gesturing to the board, "and as you can see, this one's loaded up with a few issues packed into one."

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

She was going to take a moment to sip her tea in case anyone wanted to write that down.

"Let's take that first clause first. This first statement guarantees that there will never be an official State religion. Ideally, this clause separates the church as an entity from having a role in governmental matters, while also allowing citizens to worship any faith they see fit -- or none at all, if they prefer. And I say 'ideally' because the actuality doesn't always match the ideals set forth, here, but it's useful to remember the intent."

"The next clause mentions both speech and the press. Speech is important on a personal level: no one can be arrested and locked up for saying that they disagree with the government, or the President, or for voicing dissent. Press is that same right applied to the news. If you've ever lived in an environment where the news is sanitized by the government to be propaganda, you know why this clause is important.

"Lastly, the right of free assembly. You can take to the streets to protest -- sometimes, you need a permit, depending on where, but that's mostly a matter of paperwork. As an outrider to this, you also have the right of free association, which means, to be a part of any group you want. To use an unpleasant example, the Ku Klux Klan. This is a group of white supremacists who target minorities. They're considered to be what's known as a hate group. But any person can legally go join the Ku Klux Klan without being arrested, because the right of free assembly means you can't be thrown in jail just for joining a group the government doesn't like, or people disapprove of."

Alex dunked her tea bag into her mug again, thoughtfully, and hoped she wasn't drowning everyone in a flood of words.

"Essentially, this first amendment is about expression -- the right of people to express themselves, religiously, verbally, or via organizations -- and defining the roles of both church and press. I want to stress here that none of these rights are what you would call absolute. For example, if your religion demands human sacrifice, you'll still go to jail for killing all of your neighbors. Speech can be limited in dire situations -- the famous example being the right to shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theater, one that, needless to say, isn't burning. That prank could cause injury or other serious harm to come to people who are trampled on their way towards the exits. The press can't announce on page one that the President has been secretly murdering newborns and drinking their blood except for the very unfortunate circumstance where that happens to be true."

She waved a hand easily. "There are plenty of more examples. Let's talk about what these rights mean."

(Just a reminder that anyone is free to attend the adult classes at the community center, so please, hop right in! And I apologize so much for the tl;dr.)

Comments

Arrive and Mingle - CIV01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Since there's no set attendance, I decided against a Sign-In thread -- so if you want to arrive here, go right ahead, and you can chat with other peeps before the class starts, or get some snacks, or whatever.

Re: Arrive and Mingle - CIV01

[raspberryturk]

Begin from... well, not around here, and planning on being around here for quite some time, Reno was kind of interested in what there was to be said, here. He'd had some interesting conversations with the instructor of this course in the past, even while he was still a student, and figured that if there was anywhere to go in order to learn about the government of this place where he'd wound up, this would be it.

Plus, snacks.

Re: Arrive and Mingle - CIV01

[just-add-starch.livejournal.com]

Despite being from Canada, Fraser thought he had a fairly good grip on America's Bill of Rights but that didn't mean he knew it intricately and he knew he could always know more.

This class seemed like just the thing to help him with that. As he arrived, he poured himself a cup of coffee to combat the chill and found a place to sit, pleased that these classes were now being offered.

Re: Arrive and Mingle - CIV01

[politely-terse.livejournal.com]

Rude was interested to hear what Ms. Cabot might have to say. He'd lived his whole life in a corporatocracy, after all.

He took a cup of coffee and sipped at it slowly, watching everyone else.

Re: Arrive and Mingle - CIV01

[laceycantlie.livejournal.com]

Lacey had heard 'civics,' and being, well, Lacey (by which we meant overly enthusiastic about being a good citizen if a failure at paying attention to certain details sometimes) that had been enough reason for her to hurry down to the community center, because yay, personal advancement opportunity!

And then she, um.

Decided she'd take a lot of notes anyway, in the interest of at least being able to sound knowledgeable about American politics?

Re: Arrive and Mingle - CIV01

[smartestone]

Hermione had been thrilled to find out there were still classes available for her to take, and she didn't know much about this subject. Yet, anyway.

She would just be over here, showing off what a geek she was by taking a seat and preparing, with her notebook out to write everything down.

Re: Arrive and Mingle - CIV01

[likethegun]

Oh, like Sam wasn't going to take the opportunity to take classes over the summer. Sure, he already knew about the Bill of Rights, but it was possible that Ms. Cabot had insights he hadn't thought of, and he couldn't say no to learning what those might be.

During the Lecture - CIV01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Whereas this thread is more for taking notes, raising your hand to ask questions, and so forth.

Re: During the Lecture - CIV01

[raspberryturk]

Reno wasn't really taking notes, because... Well, Reno knew full well that he'd look at them later and not be able to decipher his own writing, anyhow. But he was paying pretty close attention. For all that he played stupid around here, he was absorbing far more than anyone would probably give him credit for.

Re: During the Lecture - CIV01

[just-add-starch.livejournal.com]

Fraser was taking detailed notes because that was just how he was. He didn't write everything Miss Cabot said down onto his notebook but he did want to get as much as he could so he could look over them at his leisure later on.

Re: During the Lecture - CIV01

[rivaini-pirate.livejournal.com]

Isabela was not so much taking notes or asking questions. She sat in a chair to the back of the room, her feet propped up on the chair in front of her and she was cleaning one of her knives as she listened.

She hadn't known what to expect of this, but so far it was actually helping her get to know more about this place she landed up in. Except for the parts where she had her eyes closed. Sorry, Alex.

Re: During the Lecture - CIV01

[politely-terse.livejournal.com]

Rude took careful notes, in case any of this might be useful to Reeve. Without Shinra Corporation, the planet would probably just fall apart again unless someone set up some sort of government.

Discussion #1 - The Bill of Rights and Other Equivalencies - CIV01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

If you're not from the United States: does your home government have any of these clauses within it? Are there similar rules, but with different restrictions? Are there omissions, or, conversely, has this Amendment failed to address another relevant matter that your home government does?

If you are from the United States: which, if any, of these rights have you personally exercised in your life, or seen exercised by others?

(Please feel free to ping one another and make things messy, zomg.)

Re: Discussion #1 - The Bill of Rights and Other Equivalencies - CIV01

[raspberryturk]

Reno quirked a little smile.

"Where I'm from, they're still tryin' to set up a new government after the last one went ass-up," he shared. "The last one... wasn't so big on freedom of speech, yo. Hard to say where Reeve'll take the new one, once he's finished worryin' about things like where people are gonna sleep at night, and how the hell to feed everyone again. Wouldn't mind seein' it take a direction not too different from this one, though."

Re: Discussion #1 - The Bill of Rights and Other Equivalencies - CIV01

[just-add-starch.livejournal.com]

"The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that everyone has the fundamental freedoms of thought, belief, opinion and expression," Fraser said, recalling his own civics lessons. "

"Freedom of the press is included in that guarantee. However, Canada also employs a limitation clause which means the freedoms are not absolute and can be restricted under certain conditions."

After a pause, he continued, "And the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms also includes the freedom of religion and conscience. So, Canada sounds fairly similar to the United States in respect to these freedoms."

Re: Discussion #1 - The Bill of Rights and Other Equivalencies - CIV01

[politely-terse.livejournal.com]

"I'm with him," Rude answered, pointing at Reno.

Re: Discussion #1 - The Bill of Rights and Other Equivalencies - CIV01

[rivaini-pirate.livejournal.com]

Isabela was being rather useful and was mostly chuckling to herself. "I'd love to see someone trying to get the Chantry to listen to that."

Oh wait, they didn't know what the Chantry was. She waved her hand vaguely in the air. "Religious institution who have an obsession with making mages behave themselves."

Re: Discussion #1 - The Bill of Rights and Other Equivalencies - CIV01

[likethegun]

"I'll just say it's really amazing to me the number of things people think they can do in the United States in the name of their religion," Sam said. "And it's not just one religion. They've all got their own whackjobs."

Discussion #2 - Exceptions - CIV01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

There are plenty of exemptions to these three clauses, like the ones mentioned above. Please list one thing that you feel should be an exception, to one of these rights -- or, conversely, one thing that you believe absolutely shouldn't.

E.g., if you think the right of free speech shouldn't include the right to burn a flag, that would go here. If you think the freedom of the press should grant the right for the press to accuse the president of drinking the blood of toddlers, even if it isn't true, that goes here, too.

(once more, messy is what we aim for -- ping off anyone you like!)

Re: Discussion #2 - Exceptions - CIV01

[just-add-starch.livejournal.com]

"Under the heading of freedom of speech, while it's quite all right to disagree and express dissent with the leader of your nation, verbally expressing a desire to kill that person seems to be stepping over a line and should be punished," Fraser stated carefully. "There are ways to disagree without resorting to aggression."

Re: Discussion #2 - Exceptions - CIV01

[politely-terse.livejournal.com]

"If you allow dissent, how do you control people?" Rude asked. "What is there to stop them from... rioting in the streets?"

Discussion #3 - General Discussion - CIV01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

If there's any other point you'd like to raise, or ask about, or issue you'd like to argue? This is totally a free thread for that.

(and yet again, please make it messy -- ping off anyone you like)

Talk to Alex - CIV01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

She's around.

OOC - CIV01

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if I did this right. Hopefully, it all works out anyway? ♥

Re: OOC - CIV01

[raspberryturk]

Adult things! \o/ *Squishes*