In defense of the Constitution

Submitted by Mollie Brewsaugh (United States), Jan 4, 2005 at 22:29

As an American who was born and raised in this country, as a citizen of this country, I was taught since birth that we have inalienable rights, guaranteed by the constitution of the United States, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Liberty -- which equals the right to live as one chooses and pursue one's life, choice of job, place of residence, is guaranteed to every citizen. Along with these rights is the freedom of religion. If an American citizen, born and raised here, chooses to follow the religion of Islam, and does so, THIS DOES NOT MAKE THEM A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY.

A choice of religion has nothing to do with terrorism. The fact that some nut cases "call" themselves Muslim and do horrible things, does not mean that every Muslim on the planet is a threat, any more than it means every pedophile Catholic priest represents the entire Catholic faith! These random generalizations represent the kind of mentality that caused horrific things in our past like the holocaust!

I am sure that, regardless of how "Humane" the internment camps of the Japanese were, no person would have preferred that to their own home. How many innocent lives were irrevocably damaged because of that experience? How many businesses bankrupt? ... I doubt if anyone would choose life in an internment camp over their own free life which they currently live. It is my sincere hope that the promise of America and it's constitution never fails any of us.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".