I completely agree that Daesh is a threat. I agree we need to protect ourselves. I support all the (current) amendments of the US Constitution even though I don't agree with the language of some. In fact, I'm a little like Superman. I believe in Truth, Justice and the American Way.
Well.... that last part is getting a little murky and we really need to pick a direction.
Without being an expert on anything but my own point of view, let me explain.
It's a basic human survival technique to have an immediate reaction of "how does this affect me" even if those words never form in our consciousness. It's impossible to avoid and it really doesn't need to be avoided. The important part is to actually recognize that it is, in fact, the reaction we have.
We have a strong reaction to the terrorist attacks in Paris for several reasons. What happened in Paris can easily happen in any of our cities. 14 years later, anyone who was in lower Manhattan or on the west side of the Pentagon knows somewhere in their bodies are tiny particles of those who had died simply because the air around them was inhaled. We react more to Paris than Beirut because we identify more with Parisians. Our cultures are similar. Any one of the victims is someone we can point to and say they are just like us. But the Lebanese are viewed as different. They aren't like us. They live in a part of the world where bombings are not news. We're callous about it. We accept their deaths in the same way we shake our heads at American towns torn up by tornadoes or flooded by hurricanes. Maybe those of us in the Northeast are a little more sympathetic to hurricane victims after Sandy battered us, but, in general, we still see it as something that doesn't really happen to us. That's what happens when you live there.
The American Way is traditionally defined as our national ethos of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Quick social studies reminder here: that's not from our constitution. Thomas Jefferson put those words into our Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.Such a powerful statement.
Of the three unalienable rights explicitly named in the Declaration of Independence, which is the most important? All are.... but... without defending Life, there is no reason to defend the others. Basic blanket statement here is if you're not alive, then all other rights are irrelevant. Right? Can we agree on that? Doesn't matter if we have Liberty if we're dead. We want to wage war against Daesh because they are a threat to our lives. I can't really argue against that. I don't plan to. I don't believe in war but I also don't believe in shrugging my shoulders while waiting to be attacked. Yes, I know the statistics. I know my personal chance of being killed by Daesh is a fraction of a percent. I'm more likely to be killed by my cat tripping me. Yet I still support protecting us. I think most people would err on the side of protection versus harm. Life=good. Death=bad. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Less than a week after the Paris attacks, 31 states have declared they do not want Syrian refugees within their borders. Thirty-one. That is 62% of our country rejecting Emma Lazarus's poem engraved on our gift from France to protect our Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness against a possible Daesh attack. Whether you agree with those governors or not, it's an impressive show of solidarity in an effort to protect our Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness.
A video labeled as an "amazing response" to "not all Muslims" was posted on Facebook this morning. I can't stand videos but I watched it because I am interested in hearing what people think and it was posted by someone I respect. I thought there was some decent logic so I found a transcript (same link) to share with you:
“We portray Islam and all Muslims as bad, but there’s 1.8 billion followers of Islam,” American University law student Saba Ahmed said.
Gabriel replied that “of course not all of them are radical,” before comparing Islamic extremists to other groups in world history, noting how the peaceful majority were irrelevant in each instance.
“When you look throughout history, most Germans were peaceful, yet the Nazis drove the agenda and, as a result, 60 million died,” she said. “Almost 14 million in concentration camps — 6 million were Jews. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.”
“On Sept. 11, we had 2.3 million Arab Muslims in the United States. It took 19 hijackers, 19 radicals, to bring the United States to its knees … the peaceful majority were [sic] irrelevant,” she added. “So for all our powers of reasons and us talking about moderate and peaceful Muslims, I’m glad you’re here. But where are the others speaking out?”It's a little hard to disagree with that, up until her very last sentence; a person with any type of news outlet can find the others speaking out without much effort at all. There is a case for the peaceful majority being irrelevant when preserving our Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Let's stick with that idea for a moment.
Some Americans are willing to call the peaceful majority irrelevant to keep us safe. Some are also completely fine with losing some of our Liberty to preserve Life. None of us likes to go through TSA checks but we've all heard "hey... if it keeps us safe....." Some of us don't believe these checks do very much. Some of us do. Some support the PATRIOT Act. Some cover the webcam on our computers to grasp the little bit of the privacy we have left.
Another phrase we've all heard is "well... if it prevents even one terrorist attack, it's worth it."
Ok. I'll go with that.
Why does this acceptance only apply to protecting us from jihadist terrorism?
Why are we not consistent in protecting our Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? Why is the peaceful majority given center-stage priority after each mass shooting in our schools? Why does Liberty suddenly take precedence over Life when citizens are slaughtered in churches, movie theaters, shopping malls, first grade classrooms? Why is Liberty more important than the Life of someone seeking healthcare or shelter or food?
The death of (currently) 129 people in Paris has prompted America to band together against the Enemy. It's a natural reaction. Is it an overreaction? Maybe. I don't know. It's not black or white. There are Americans fighting for legislation to keep refugees out, documenting Muslims in our country, demanding that we stand up to fundamentalism.... And only a handful of states have taken domestic terrorism seriously.
If we're going to go to extremes protect our Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, can we please do it across the board?
