Are patriotism and dissent opposing concepts? Are there, in fact, limits to free speech in modern-day America? If so, who determines these limits? And what is the role of the press in these discussions and what, if any, is the role of faith-based communities? These are just some of the questions Kevin Bean, Vicar of St. Bart’s Cathedral in New York, raises in his introduction to the forum discussion, “Patriotism and Dissent,” the fourth in a series, “A Moral Nation,” sponsored by the Center for Religious Inquiry.

The forum, says Bean, was put together with the goal of “coming to a greater understanding of freedom of speech in this democratic society.” The two speakers for the evening included Richard Brookhiser and Rabbi David Saperstein.

Brookhiser, a journalist, biographer and historian, is senior editor of the National Review and a columnist for the New York Observer. He is most widely known for a series of biographies of America’s founders, including Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. His most recent book is entitled, What Would the Founders Do?: Our Questions, Their Answers. Rabbi Saperstein, an attorney and a Rabbi, is the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C. He is also the author of the book, Jewish Dimensions of Social Justice: Tough Moral Choices of Our Time.

Brookhiser takes as his point of departure the question of how the founding fathers, were they to return to the modern world, could handle today’s media culture with its 24/7 news coverage, proliferation of television channels, the internet, blogging and so on. He goes on to point out, however, that many of the founding fathers were themselves journalists, from Benjamin Franklin, to Alexander Hamilton to Samuel Adams, and would therefore probably do quite well and get it.

But the question of dissent as it relates to patriotism remains a salient one.

“Dissent is the greatest form of patriotism,” says Rabbi Saperstein, quoting Thomas Jefferson.

“The best patriots,” says Bean, quoting the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., “are not uncritical lovers of their country any more than they are the loveless critics of it. True patriots carry on a lover’s quarrel with their country.”

What are your thoughts? Sound off below…