NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As we celebrate the 4th of July, we are celebrating the idea of our country- The one encapsulating sentence in the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These words are the building blocks of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Director of the Free Speech Center at MTSU Ken Paulson says, "Think about this, a nation that said to its people, you can say whatever you want, you can pray freely, you can write whatever you want, and other things." But today Paulson says we are not the perfect union first generation Americans strived for. "Our nation is not in a harmonious place right now, but if we embrace true liberty, true listening, true free speech, if we embrace these principles for real without the hypocrisy that is so common, we get fixed."
Paulson says today's use and view of Free Speech has become "Free speech for me, but not for thee." He says , "the documents are still there, we just forgot how to use it. "
