America's Moral High Ground

There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. While we want to make it clear that Freedom's Defenders agrees with the use of some of these techniques (for example: Waterboarding), we do have questions about some of them. 

The fact that we may disagree with the use of some of these tactics does not destroy our faith in our country as other authors have stated that it should. Instead we merely use this to again recognize that our Country is made up of fallible humans. A species with a great propensity for mistakes and illogical actions. In fact our if you follow Freedom's Defenders at all you will realize that while we celebrate America, and claim she is the greatest country in history of mankind, we believe that abortion is a terrible mistake on the part of this nation.

One thing sets America apart from the nations around the world. The United States has a set of values we pursue, something no other nation has. As G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed." He goes on, "It [is] that all men are equal in their claim to justice that governments exist to give them that justice and that their authority is for that reason just." These principles drive the US to pursue something higher than material goods. The United States pursues the triumph of good over evil. Throughout history the United States has been on the right side and still is today.


There is just one problem: the United States is run by finite, fallible, fallen and sometimes illogical human beings; not angels, thus It is easy to get carried away and forget that the battle between good and evil is on two levels, the Physical and the Spiritual. When we see the absolute evil that caused the destruction of the Twin Towers, that caused 3000 fellow Americans to be burned to death, when we see the tear stained faces of the children who will never see their mother or father again because of some senseless act of violence against a civilian population, it is easy to stoop to a level to try and overcome the physical aspect of the struggle, while forgetting the spiritual aspect and forgetting what sets us apart. 


If forget what sets us apart it is easy to stoop to the level of those we are fighting. Although we may conquer in the Physical arena, we have failed to live up to our standards and have lost the battle in the Spiritual arena - The more important of the two. In other words we may have won the battle but in stooping toward their tactics (although not quite so low as theirs) we have lost the war.


As one former CIA operative stated, "Once we resort to using the inhuman tactics of our enemies, we have granted them their greatest victory." If we stoop to their level we lose the distinction between us and them. We become what we are fighting to eradicate. Our enemies fight us because we are good, if we cease to be so they have won.

“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville

Thus let us cling to our principles and remember that even the worst of terrorists are still created equal, regardless of the evil, pain, and suffering they have purposefully cause. America must always be a city on a hill. America must always pursue the triumph of good over evil. We must never succumb to the temptation to stoop to our opponents level -whoever they may be. America has a standard to live up to, and that standard is what makes us the greatest nation in the world.

As a reminder Freedom's Defenders does not oppose all of the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. Freedom's Defenders does agree that terrorists should be interrogated and tried in a military setting. Freedom's Defenders fully supports the war against terrorism and the use of Waterboarding to obtain information from high profile terrorists.