Today, KSL featured a story in which a teenaged Jewish boy was praying using boxes that contained scrolls while on an airplane. This caused anxiety on the part of the captain and crew, and the plane was diverted to Philadelphia where the FBI was waiting with bomb sniffing dogs. Eventually, the boy and his sister were cleared and allowed to resume their travels.
This story reminds me of the aftermath of school shootings when children would get into trouble for bringing toy guns to school. When a major tragedy happens, sometimes, we allow fear of its repetition to take control over our daily activities. We seem to live in a climate of fear which is harmful to the freedom of our nation. The knowledge of a terrorist attack causes us to be more suspicious of people. On the other hand, there is the other extreme of being unaware of situations that can cause harm or threaten lives. At some point, we need to ask ourselves if our fear is inhibiting our freedom.
The constitution is an example of this. There is a risk for some of the rights it provides. The freedom of speech carries with it the fear that someone may say something that is offensive. Thus, people may work to inhibit that freedom. The right to bare arms carries with it the fear that people will kill each other with those weapons. The signers of the Declaration of Independence took the risk of being ostracized and possibly hanged for treason. In some of the cases listed above, these fears were well founded. Yet, we don’t advocate throwing out the constitution, and the signers of the Declaration of Independence are remembered as heroes.
It has been my experience that fear stifles freedom. Fear can immobilize people. It can cause them to not want to leave the house. It can prevent them from expressing an opinion. It can prevent people from making friends, or applying for a new job, or moving to a new place. In effect, it can keep someone from living a fulfilling life. They thus become its prisoners. They are not free to make choices that involve some risk because they might fail or be hurt by that choice even if the choice has the potential of making their circumstances better.
I am concerned that as we allow fear to become a part of our culture, our freedom will be limited. We may find that there is an abridgement of the basic freedoms of speech and of religion. We may find ourselves shackled with excessive laws and unnecessary regulations. Even as fear can immobilize an individual, it can inhibit the freedom of a nation.