The Pen Gives Greater Strength in the Long-Run
It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword. Is that way of thinking evidenced by the ordering of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights? Or is it just coincidence? Consider the First and Second Amendments.
First Amendment – The Pen
Think it. Believe it.
The first right referenced in the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights addresses the individual’s right to think and believe as the individual may choose. Freedom of thought and belief are bound up in the First Amendment’s guarantee of the free exercise of religion and its prohibition on the establishment of a state religion.
Express it. Give it voice.
An idea never expressed is an idea destined to fail. The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment makes it possible to give voice and thus give life to one’s thoughts, ideas, and beliefs.
Publish it. Proclaim it.
The freedom to speak privately is important. But the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment provides an opportunity to speak publicly and to publish or proclaim one’s thoughts to anyone willing to listen or read.
Share it. Understand it.
The right to speak publicly is of limited worth if there is no one there to hear. The right to associate with others and the right to assemble peaceably both allow individuals to gather together to share ideas, to listen to the thoughts of others, and to seek to understand one another. This exchange of ideas can lead to the mutual understanding necessary to allow society to establish common goals and work together for the common good.
Get it right, or make it right.
Finally, the First Amendment guarantees the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. In other words, when the government gets it wrong, the First Amendment guarantees that there will be a process by which the people can speak to power, tell the government where it got it wrong, and require the government to make it right again.
Power of the Pen
Ideas, thoughts, beliefs, philosophies, goals, and aspirations may be best expressed through words, through speech, and through the power of the pen. It is those rights and freedoms most closely associated with the power of the pen that the drafters of the Bill of Rights chose to put in the First Amendment.
Second Amendment – The Sword
Power of the Sword
The Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms is important. The sword does have power to change the world, but in the long run its power comes in second to the power of the pen.
Conclusions
The specific ordering of rights and freedoms in the First Amendment and Second Amendment is likely not intentionally based on the idea of the pen being mightier than the sword. But even as a coincidence, it presents an opportunity to consider how these rights affect us and affect our society.
The power of the pen, the power of words and ideas, the power of beliefs and aspirations, the power of people to join together, to find common ground, to unite in building something better — these are the powers that create a society and a world worth preserving.