There’s been a lot said these recent years about our First Amendment rights, especially from the left. They want to convince us that they somehow have the corner on rational free speech. Meanwhile, they are the ones demanding censorship of free speech coming from conservatives, Catholics, people who choose life, those who challenge the push in public education to indoctrinate our children on all issues of sexual identity, and open-choice bathrooms.

It’s no wonder, then, that our country remains hopelessly divided. Somehow, someway, we must reevaluate how our First Amendment serves a more intellectual and civil society. It begins with our personal perception of one another. If we see our neighbor as less than we are, then we’ll treat them accordingly.

However, if we acknowledge them as God does — the “Imago Dei,” made in God’s image — then everything changes. Our First Amendment right of expression, as my friend Jeff Kemp would describe it, alters dramatically from a “consumer to an investment” expression. It’s no longer about being right for argument’s sake; it’s about service and expanding each other’s understanding. This is what idea sharing can produce.

But there’s no sharing and only loss when we refuse to be civil and respectful. And here’s where our political interaction has become unhinged. Our candidates and political parties’ example is the worst of civility and respect. They promote this idea of consumerism, just chewing up one another.

And what do we do? We find ourselves talking and becoming like them. And then we wonder why communication is cut off and only find comfort with the likeminded — all siloed together, limited by our own thinking and ideas.

Flowing from the Top

Last week, I brought this up to point out the libelous rhetoric that is being tossed about from our political candidates. What happened to mature debate about policy and vision for our country? That was nowhere to be seen on June 27. It seems that political rhetoric has always been there, but somehow it seems worse now than ever. But can’t you see how it is poisoning the electorate?

Imagine if there was a law that protected candidates against libelous speech. The concept of a public figure not being protected is consumeristic and destructive. All people, including politicians and public figures, must be respected. All people, including politicians, must be held legally liable for what they say.

If there’s going to be a change in the public square of political ideas, this raw and uncivil so-called free speech must be called out for what it is: It is cheap, fake, and destructive. It gnaws at the very roots of our First Amendment and democratic republic. We can’t move forward without respect for each other and honoring the basis of our Constitution, which is that ALL men are created equal … including our politicians.

Bill Martinez is an award-winning marketing and broadcast journalist, former Marine, and host of the nationally syndicated TV and radio show, The Bill Martinez Show. Find out more at billmartinezshow.com.