From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Oct 06 2002 - 19:43:04 BST
Steve, Erin and all freedom lovers:
On the wave of patriotism that followed the 9/11 attacks,
Steve said:
I had a hard time explaining it to her. My first thought was that freedom
doesnıt really mean anything specific. It is more of a reference to our
sacred story of the American Revolution that defines the American religion.
Freedom means George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the stars and stripes,
and the Declaration of Independence though not literally freedom from the
tyranny of kings. (Freedom from tyranny is an interesting ideal for the
most powerful country in the world.) Saying that the 9/11 attack was an
attack on freedom is just another way of saying it is an attack on America
but with religious undertones.
DMB says:
I think you're quite right. The nation seemed to respond to the grief, shock
and horror by rallying around that vaugue, inarticulated national religion.
Bush's statements about how the "evildoers" hate freedom has a powerful
emotional appeal, but does nothing to address the real issues. I should add
here that Erin's claims are totally obvious to anyone except a flag-waving,
Bush-loving Conservative. Bush ain't the sharpest tool in the shed and the
wave of patriotism that swept the nation stiffled dissent on campus, in the
media, on capitol hill and everywhere else. I could site a dozen expamples,
but anyone who has been payiing attention already knows. Its true that
Islamic fundamentalism favors virtue over the principles of democracy and
individual rights and has little respect for the seperation of church and
state, but one can say the same about Christian fundamentalism, which is one
of Bush's largest constituents. No Republican can win an election without
them. Ralph Reed is the head of the Virginia Republican party and sat on the
board of Enron, for god's sake. So the problem with the administrations
response is that it frames 9/11 as a conflict between religions and
cultures, with our fundamentalists against their fundamentalists. No matter
who wins that war, we all lose in either case. The policy they're adopted is
basically a gentler version of Ann Coulter's idea, which is to "invade their
counties, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity".
Steve Said:
Personal freedom in the Libertarian sense is important to Americans along
with the ³your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose² adage, but I
donıt think our ideal of freedom is merely about being able to do whatever
you want. The child that tries the ³itıs a free country² argument when her
parents order her to make her bed doesnıt really understand the ideal of
freedom. Some restrictions on personal freedom exist to increase freedom in
another sense. So my question is, how would you characterize this ideal of
freedom? The more cynical among us roll their eyes at the sound of the word
because they think that it doesnıt mean anything or that we are hypocrites,
but I think there is something to it, though I donıt know how to describe
it. I would say that itıs a freedom to be all you can be sort of thing, but
Iım hoping that someone can clarify it for me. The discussion of morals
suggests that a morality might be built on the idea of freedom.
DMB says:
Exactly. There a huge difference between freedom as an intellectual pattern
and the kind of childish freedom that only means doing whatever you like.
And yes, freedom and rights both represent a moral principle too. If the
measure of a culture or an idea is its contribution to the ongoing evolution
of life, then freedom isn't just something we want for ourselves, its a
sacred principle that needs to be protected for the benefit of something
much larger than ourselves. Freedom protects the whole evolutionary process,
the whole shebang. It protects those dynamic regenerative individuals who
push the edge of things. That's how the moral issue is built into the
concept of freedom.
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