Taking the High Road

Over the last decade, virtually every Terrorist plot aimed at the U.S. -- whether successful or failed -- has provoked greater security and surveillance measures. Within a matter of mere weeks, the 9/11 attacks infamously spawned a vast new surveillance statute (the Patriot Act), a secretly implemented warrantless eavesdropping program in violation of the law, an explosion of domestic surveillance contracts, a vastly fortified secrecy regime, and endless wars in multiple countries. As it turned out, that massive over-reaction was not a crisis-driven anomaly but rather the template for future actions. [What's most striking, and ironic, is that the Norwegian response to the Oslo attack is so glaringly un-American even though its core premise -- a brave refusal to sacrifice liberty and transparency in the name of fear and security -- was once the political value Americans boasted of exhibiting most.]

The failed Christmas Day bombing over Detroit led to an erosion of Miranda rights and judge-free detentions as well as a due-process free assassination program aimed at an Muslim American preacher whose message allegedly "inspired" the attacker. The failed Times Square bombing was repeatedly cited to justify reform-free extension of the Patriot Act along with a slew of measures to maximize government scrutiny of the Internet. That failed plot, along with Nidal Hasan's shooting at Fort Hood, provoked McCarthyite Congressional hearings into American Muslims and helped sustain a shockingly broad interpretation of "material support for Terrorism" that criminalizes free speech. In sum, every Terrorist plot is immediately exploited as a pretext for expanding America's Security State; the response to every plot: we need to sacrifice more liberties, increase secrecy, and further empower the government.

The reaction to the heinous Oslo attack by Norway's political class has been exactly the opposite: a steadfast refusal to succumb to hysteria and a security-über-alles mentality. The day after the attack -- one which, per capita, was as significant for Norway as 9/11 was for the U.S. -- Oslo Mayor Fabian Stang, when asked whether greater security measures were needed, sternly rejected that notion: "I don't think security can solve problems. We need to teach greater respect." It is simply inconceivable that any significant U.S. politician -- the day after an attack of that magnitude -- would publicly reject calls for greater security measures.
~ from On Not Freaking Out With Fear: An Un-American Response to the Oslo Attack by Glenn Greenwald ~

One point that has been made by many over and over again is that, when we curtail liberty as a response to terrorist attacks, the terrorists have already won. Another way of stating this is to say that, if we meet hate with our own version of hate, love loses.

I often find it surprising that a nation which supposedly is infused with Christian values doesn't want to understand that the only means of combating hate is with love. Wasn't that the ultimate message of their savior? You know, that message that one should love your enemies?

If we look at all the major belief systems in the world -- Taoism included -- we find the same kind of message. Two negatives added together do not equal a positive. No, two negatives only create a deeper malevolence.

I certainly applaud Oslo's mayor. He understands that the way to defeat hate is by embracing multiculturalism and endeavoring to teach people to respect each other. Let's face it. Respect is not that different than love. When we honor others for their humanity -- regardless of whether or not we personally like them or agree with every aspect about them -- we are expressing a compassionate form of love for them as unique individuals.

On the other hand, if we choose to hate those who we believe hate us, we are no better than those we criticize. Even worse, if we pass laws and regulations to stifle the inherent human ability toward compassion, we end up multiplying suspicion and hate to a far greater degree than those who attack us.