It was like something out of an Allen Drury novel—not to mention a passing whiff of an erstwhile lamb’s dragon breath!

The attempt this week by the current President of the United States to ban from the White House certain media outlets whose coverage he doesn’t happen to like, has been documented—despite the claims of certain ones—as an act unprecedented in the history of the American republic [1]. Lovers of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment cannot be silent at moments such as these. What follows is not a political screed, but a salute to freedom’s holy light.

Freedom’s Risks

Liberty can be messy, as the controversy between good and evil has made evident for these past six millennia. When the designers of the American experiment wrote the First Amendment to our Constitution, they anticipated the kind of crazy things that would be done in the name of religion, the unruly rants that would be heard in the name of free speech, and the danger that an unregulated press could pose to societal stability. But they chose to take these risks in the name of freedom. And millions continue to seek the shores of this land in pursuit of that sacred joy.

Years ago, in a critique of a former U.S. administration’s war on pornography, one author wrote as follows regarding the protections of the First Amendment:

The First Amendment contains no requirement that the speech it protects be harmless. On the contrary, speech that somebody thinks is harmful is the only kind that needs protecting [##2|Hendrik Hertzberg, “Ed Meese and His Pornography Commission,” The New Republic, July 14/21, 1986, p. 24.##].

But few could objectively agree that media reporting is harmful to the country merely because persons in powerful positions don’t like what is being said about them or their actions. That makes no more sense than to forbid the practice of religious beliefs that a majority of the public happen to find offensive. No matter how lofty or influential one’s position, in a free country such a one is never beyond criticism. Dictators and tyrants—or wannabe dictators and tyrants—may wish otherwise, but America operates on different principles.

Some may urge regulation of particular media outlets because of their alleged ideological bias. Many who make such allegations are quite biased themselves. And that is their right, as is the right of the outlets they criticize. That, pure and simply, is the price of freedom.

“Every Principle of Its Constitution”

According to writings held sacred by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, it won’t only be religious liberty that will be sacrificed during the final crisis of the ages. The following Ellen White statement is far more comprehensive when speaking of the future collapse of American freedom:

When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near [##3|Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 451.##].

“Every principle” includes freedom of the press and freedom of speech as well as freedom of religion—not to mention a host of other rights and privileges. What we saw this week was a passing glimpse of how the most basic of liberties can be assaulted by the powerful, and for the breathtaking reason that certain ones in power just don’t like what is being said and written about them. We can praise God that the courts of our land stood resolutely against this assault, and that the rights of the media outlets in question to visit the White House and question its top officials have thus far been protected. (Let it be always remembered that in America the White House is the people’s house, not the private preserve of its current occupant.)

Conclusion: Freedom’s Holy Light

In a notable American patriotic hymn, the final stanza reads:

Our fathers’ God, to Thee

Author of liberty

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright

With freedom’s holy light

Protect us by Thy might

Great God our King [4].

For now, despite continued challenges which will certainly worsen, that light continues to burn in the United States of America. One day overwhelming crisis and the resulting popular demand will extinguish that light. Until then, may the remnant people of God proclaim without fear or favor the divine imperative of this liberty and the holiness of heart and life it makes possible in the lives of God’s creatures.

REFERENCES

1. Lori Robertson, Robert Farley, and D’Angelo Gore, “Trump’s Ban of News Organizations Goes Beyond Obama, Biden Actions,” FactCheck.org, Sept. 23, 2026 https://www.factcheck.org/2026/09/trumps-ban-of-news-organizations-goes-beyond-obama-biden-actions/

2. Hendrik Hertzberg, “Ed Meese and His Pornography Commission,” The New Republic, July 14/21, 1986, p. 24.

3. Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 451.

4. Samuel Francis Smith, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Country,_%27Tis_of_Thee