ELLINWOOD — Tuesday night, St. Joseph Catholic School student Ava Thill competed in and won the annual Diocesan Oration Contest. Due to the state-wide school shutdown, the contest was held virtually over the internet.
According to SJCS Principal Marlene Clayton, while the contest was unique because of the platform, it was also familiar in many respects. She shared her impressions with the media.
“As with most contests, the contestants trickled in, one by one. Some with parents in tow, others with a teacher as their sponsor. They arrived in the waiting room and gathered until the meeting room was opened for them. Once all the contestants had arrived, and the judges were in place, the annual Diocese of Dodge City Oration Contest began. But wait, something was a bit different than contests in the past. We weren’t gathered in St. Joseph Parish Center, as would be the norm. No, we were gathered via Zoom, the new normal.
“Although St. Joseph Catholic School was the host for this year’s Diocesan Oration Contest, because of COVID-19 and Kansas’ stay-at-home order, this year’s contest was held via Zoom, an online meeting forum. The six finalists to participate in the contest were: Saida Ramos, St. Mary Catholic School, Garden City; Sienna Brenner, Sacred Heart Catholic School, Ness City; Vivian Nguyen, Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic School, Dodge City; Jacob Pammenter, St. Dominic Catholic School, Garden City; and Ava Thill, St. Joseph Catholic School, Ellinwood.
“Each contestant presented their memorized, three-five minute speech on the topic “What Freedom Means to Me”. Judging this year’s contest were Mike Westerman, Hannah Billinger, and Stephanie Joiner. The judges selected the top three finishers. Earning third place was Vivian Nguyen, Dodge City. Second place went to Jacob Pammenter, Garden City. First place was awarded to Ava Thill, daughter of Mike and Ginger of Ellinwood.”
Clayton shared a transcript of Thill’s speech:
What Freedom Means to Me
BY: Ava G. Thill
The United States is land of the free, home of the brave. Let freedom ring, rockin’ in the free world. You see its words printed in red, white, and blue, its concepts peppered into speeches and social media posts, even its definition debated in politics, yet how often do we truly take time to reflect on what “freedom” really means to us? Freedom is personal, defined only by the carrier and what side that carrier is standing on, like the freedom of religion. Our country is founded on principles of liberty, and each of us have been tasked today of relaying what exactly that means to us as individuals. Today, I will discuss the history of freedom, how our freedoms differ from other countries around the globe, and the freedoms I find most valuable in my life are what true freedom consists of to me.
The Oxford dictionary defines freedom as; “The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” Not all of us will agree on how the dictionary defines it because I feel as if we all have our own definition of freedom. For me, I agree with the dictionary definition partially, but I think that freedom is a gift from God. Some people feel as if faith takes away our freedom, but actually faith brings true freedom just as faith brings true happiness. The choices we make either bring us closer to true freedom or not. Like I said, freedom is precious and hopefully a top priority, but think of all the freedoms we have!
The highest law in our land is the U.S. Constitution, which has amendments known as The Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights guarantees that the government can never deprive people in the U.S. of certain fundamental rights, including the right to religious freedom, which is one of the most important freedoms to me. Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right that protects the conscience of all people and it allows us to think, express, and act upon what we deeply believe. Imagine what it would be like without freedom of religion. All that many of us, practicers of the Catholic religion, couldn’t do; for example, going to church on Sunday. It would really change your life and how you live it. According to the ACLU, within the First Amendment, the Free Exercise Clause gives us all “the right to worship or
not as you choose”. Our country’s founders - all of different religious backgrounds - decided that the best way to maintain religious freedom for people in the U.S. was to simply keep the government out of religion.
Over the years, the United States Supreme Court has ruled inconsistently on matters of religious freedom, but we need to remember that some countries do not support religious freedom at all. China is one country that doesn’t fully support religious freedom. They allow “normal religious activities,” but do not actually specify what “normal” means. As a country under communist rule, language or publications criticizing Chinese rule are highly discouraged for Chinese citizens and travelers.
Internet and media censorship have also found their way into Chinese culture. My sister Abby recently traveled to China for business and got to experience firsthand the lack of a free and open society. When you arrive in China, many websites and news channels, social media outlets, and messaging services are blocked by the Chinese government. She couldn’t receive messages from anything but an Iphone, she couldn’t facetime, or use social media. Right before her trip to China, she traveled to Japan to visit my other sister Lauren. She said that the people in Japan were so welcoming, and you had all the freedoms on your device. As for China, not so much. And it’s not just China that censors its civilians, over 20 countries ranked in the “not free” category, including Iran, Syria, and even Vietnam.
Even though sometimes we might not agree with what the government is doing or how the presidential election turns out, we really do live in a wonderful country with mountains of freedoms. I hope that I have encouraged you to think about what freedom means to you. Extoll your freedom because there is nothing in the world like it. Freedom is precious.
Cites: https://www.aclu.org/other/your-right-religious-freedom
https://freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-net
newsroom.churchofchrist.org/official-statement/religious-freedom
