9/11, Liberty and Life

Important words to remember this September 11, are these:

"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time," wrote Thomas Jefferson. "The hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them."

On September 11, 2001, the hand of force destroyed 2,974 lives. The hand of force did not destroy our liberty.

Today, as we focus on our safety and preventing another 9/11 -- or worse -- we can't forget the life's conjoined twin: liberty. For Jefferson is right -- force cannot seperate liberty from life. But we can choose to give up our liberty in the name of saving lives.

Encroachments on liberty in the name of life -- suspension of habeas corpus, illegal wiretaps, renditions -- have become too common in the past seven years in the service of life saving. Anything can be justified in the name of safety...for in a dangerous world complete safety can never be achieved and if that is our only goal as a society we will slowly surrender our liberties for the sake or a strong paternal government bent on keeping us safe.

James Madison warned us against "evil lurking under plausible disguises and growing up from small beginnings. " At some point, the chipping away at the connection between life and liberty in the name of safety changes from right and proper to an evil lurking as a plausible disguise.

Knowing the difference is a tricky business, one that requires serious, thoughtful leadership.

Today we again remember and honor the lives of those lost. But to do more than mourn, to preserve their legacy, we must re-dedicate ourselves to protect the liberty they enjoyed in their lives. We must carefully choose a future that honors both life AND liberty.

Force cannot destroy the connection between life and liberty. We can only render the connection ourselves