Ten years ago, I was working my first job out of law school in a tall building in downtown Miami. As I scanned my list of tasks for the day, I heard people in the hall talking about a commercial jet plane that had crashed into a building in New York. I followed them to the conference room and watched as the spectacle unfolded on the large-screen television there; before long, we all decided it was wise to go home, and soon I joined an exodus of cars flooding down through the parking garage.
I can only imagine what it must have been like for the terrified souls in New York that day, whether they were within the towers or merely within sight of them. My heart goes out to the living and the dead.
The challenge, as always, is to find meaning and purpose amidst the tragedy. Politicians exhort us to conclude that the tragedy occurred because terrorists hate us for being free, and that we must become less free in order to defeat them. As usual, I dissent. I'm an American, and as such, I reject any suggestion that I must surrender my liberty in order to protect my life -- I would much sooner lay down my life, as my ancestors believed when founding this country.
Otherwise stated, a terrorist might take my life, but the federal government is taking my liberty, which is far worse. To argue that liberty must yield represents abject surrender and disgraces every noble impulse undergirding America. If this argument prevails, the terrorists will have succeeded in bringing down much more than a few buildings.
I can only imagine what it must have been like for the terrified souls in New York that day, whether they were within the towers or merely within sight of them. My heart goes out to the living and the dead.
The challenge, as always, is to find meaning and purpose amidst the tragedy. Politicians exhort us to conclude that the tragedy occurred because terrorists hate us for being free, and that we must become less free in order to defeat them. As usual, I dissent. I'm an American, and as such, I reject any suggestion that I must surrender my liberty in order to protect my life -- I would much sooner lay down my life, as my ancestors believed when founding this country.
Otherwise stated, a terrorist might take my life, but the federal government is taking my liberty, which is far worse. To argue that liberty must yield represents abject surrender and disgraces every noble impulse undergirding America. If this argument prevails, the terrorists will have succeeded in bringing down much more than a few buildings.
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