Freedom and Liberty
One of my professors mentioned Ben Franklin's famous quote about liberty and safety. Here's my response:
I agree entirely with Mr. Franklin's sentiments: I have been saying since shortly after 9/11 that I would literally rather die in a terrorist attack than have my little girl grow up in an America that has given up its freedoms in search of (illusory, temporary) safety. If, as some people say, we are "at war," then we need to understand that there may be casualties. We will work vigorously to minimize those casualties in a manner consistent with the freedoms and principles enshrined in our Constitution.. If we surrender our principles *coughAbuGhraibcough* *coughwaterboardingcough* *coughJohnYoocough* (sorry--something stuck in my craw there) in order to defeat our enemy, what have we won?
American isn't its citizens or its territory: those same people in that same territory living under a dictatorship (extreme example) isn't America. America is an idea, a set of principles, and we are at war, but it's a war of ideas: we need to be able to stand up tall and steadfast and say "We believe in these principles. You cannot frighten us into giving them up. We will live by these principles because we believe they are the route to a fair, free, just society. We hold these truths to be self-evident, dammit, and to this we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Those men in Philadelphia in the Winter and Spring of 1776 call out to us from their graves and expect us to do no less than they did: they did not shirk at the prospect of a certain and particularly horrible death if they failed, so we must not shirk at the microscopic possibility of something bad happening to us because we stuck to our principles.
Almost two hundred years after that summer in 1776, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said
/rant
Best regards
Rob
I agree entirely with Mr. Franklin's sentiments: I have been saying since shortly after 9/11 that I would literally rather die in a terrorist attack than have my little girl grow up in an America that has given up its freedoms in search of (illusory, temporary) safety. If, as some people say, we are "at war," then we need to understand that there may be casualties. We will work vigorously to minimize those casualties in a manner consistent with the freedoms and principles enshrined in our Constitution.. If we surrender our principles *coughAbuGhraibcough* *coughwaterboardingcough* *coughJohnYoocough* (sorry--something stuck in my craw there) in order to defeat our enemy, what have we won?
American isn't its citizens or its territory: those same people in that same territory living under a dictatorship (extreme example) isn't America. America is an idea, a set of principles, and we are at war, but it's a war of ideas: we need to be able to stand up tall and steadfast and say "We believe in these principles. You cannot frighten us into giving them up. We will live by these principles because we believe they are the route to a fair, free, just society. We hold these truths to be self-evident, dammit, and to this we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Those men in Philadelphia in the Winter and Spring of 1776 call out to us from their graves and expect us to do no less than they did: they did not shirk at the prospect of a certain and particularly horrible death if they failed, so we must not shirk at the microscopic possibility of something bad happening to us because we stuck to our principles.
Almost two hundred years after that summer in 1776, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said
- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
- A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
- Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
- Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people; but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people."
- On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.
- Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.
/rant
Best regards
Rob