Civil Liberties and Free Speech

(Draft)
I love America. 

America is a multicultural nation that has an Official separation of Religion and State and Freedom of Religion for all.  I do not believe that every country in the world needs to be like America when it comes to the separation of Religion and State.  I believe in a World Full of Choices, where just about everyone can find a country with a national culture/religion which agreeable to them.  I do not believe that any adult should be forced to live in a country that they do not wish to live in.  Therefore, I have no problem with a country under Islamic law, Christian law, or Jewish law so long as it is desired by the majority of its citizens and basic civil liberties to all citizens and residents are protected. 

These basic civil liberties include:

1) The right to practice one’s individual religion in the privacy of his own home

2)  The right to assemble with like minded individuals and practice religion in a group

      and public setting  (with #2, you don’t actually need #1)

3)  The right to practice one’s own sexual orientation in the privacy of one’s own

      home 
    (I do not believe that a government should be forced to marry or recognize a marriage   
     that it does not morally or religiously agree to, but the government must allow for those people to  
     live together)

4)  The right not to be discriminated against with regards to education, employment,

      societal participation, and political participation on the basis of anything other than
      merit

5) The rights of free speech, assembly, and political dissent within appropriate environments

6)  The right to non-violent civil disobedience, so long as you are prepared to be

      arrested, and if you ae a non-citizen, deported

7)  The right to boycott, spend your money as you please, so long as you are prepared 

      for the government to call, but not demand, for an economic boycott of you

8)   The right to not be harassed or proselytized to with regards to one’s own private

       religion, belief system, or sexual orientation

9)  The right to fair, unbiased treatment under the law regardless of race, gender, sexual  

      orientation, or beliefs

10) The rights of parents to educate their own children, so long as the children are being  

       given basic literacy education in a national language, as well as a basic mathematical education

Israel, I believe has nine of the ten civil liberties I mentioned above.  They have recently failed with regards to their anti-boycott law which I oppose.

 
More on Freedom of Speech and Dissent Within One's Own Government:
I support free speech to the degree that any Government should Allow and Protect Hate Speech and Dissent to be lega,l but not Violently Threatening speech.  Freedom of speech should be limited when it comes to the Harassment of Individuals, especially the bullying of children.  When it comes to dissent of public policy, again I do think that a government has to allow its own citizens to be voices of non-violent dissent, but should not be obligated to allow non-citizens to enter its borders to voice Their opposition.