For Security Reasons, Muslims Should Have Fewer Rights!
I hope they don't mind. Aren't you feeling safer already?
It's not only our elected government that wants to use broad strokes of security sweeps, but apparently many of our fellow Americans are willing to give up what we've been fighting for in the last 200 hundred years and change the nature of our free society. Should we be concerned about the spying on people simply because they are of a particular race, religion, or engage in a lawful political activity which is disliked by those in power?
Martin Luther King, to mention just one activist, was spied on by the FBI and got arrested for peaceful protests, while Nixon used the IRS to harass his political opponents. Is this the country we want? Are we that much afraid? Have we lost our sense and sensibilities regarding freedom and a democratic society? Benjamin Franklin said that if we were to sacrifice liberty for safety we don't deserve either!
Here's another depressing study by Cornell University that shows 44% of people favor curtailing some liberties for Muslim Americans! Just in time for holidays! Enjoy (for as long as you can). Happy Festivus! [they can't get me for that, can they?]
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Civil Liberties-Democracy
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4 comments:
I find this distressing that so many Americans are so afraid that they don't care if fundamental freedoms are trampled by the government....
But, like you've pointed out before, there are too many small-minded people, who have NO understanding of the fights for freedom and liberty to get where we are today. We have a long way to go, but unfortunately there are those who want to push us back to the Middle Ages.... Yet, again, this past election kind affirmed reactionary politics as manifested by the Bush White House.... It's sad.
Karen, Md
PS>I'm not really religious, but I happen to know a few Muslims, and they are all wonderful people, family-oriented and law-abiding....not to mention VERY patriotic!
First they came for the communists, I didn't say anything because I wasn't one of them. Then they came for the trade unionists, again, I didn't say anything because I didn't belong to a union. Then they came for the Jews, I didn't say anything because I wasn't Jewish. Then they came for the Catholics, I was a Protestand, so I said nothing. Then they came for ME. Nobody said anything, because there was nobody left!
Anne
I know that many terrorists are Muslims, but most Muslims are peaceful people, and I resent the attitude that supports curtailing our hard-won freedoms just because someone is a Muslim. I'm an Irish Catholic. God, we all know the savagery and the bloodshed as experienced in Northern Ireland, crimes perpetuated by ..Christians (Catholics and Protestands)!!!
Should I have to register with the local police and tell them what church and/or pub I go to? Ridiculous!
S.K.
Feeling safe(r) is a subjective thing, but we concentrate on the external threats. Domestic threats against our freedoms come from the super-anxious, the government, and those who want to impose a uniform set of beliefs and religious doctrines. These internal threats should be taken seriously. Otherwise, those who "hate us because of our democracy and freedom" (like Bush often says) will win. I also don't think we should turn like those who are fighting us. We should not separate freedoms and physical security. We need both, and it's a false dilemma if we are to chose lessening freedom in the name of security, especially when we're talking about FUNDAMENTAL freedoms.
Jake,
MO
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