Safety at the Cost of Freedom?

I was listening to NPR on my way home from work earlier this evening and I heard this story of a family of Muslim travelers who were taken off an AirTran flight because another passenger on the flight misconstrued the conversation they overheard between a man and his sister-in-law about the safest seats on a plane.

One of the most disturbing aspect of this incident is the suggestion the Air Marshall made to the man when interviewing him that he shouldn't be discussing these sorts of things on a plane.  What makes it positively scary is that so many listeners of the broadcast fed back similar views on the story's website.

Are we ready to give up the real freedom of (reasonable) speech for an illusion of safety?  Are we prepared to be subjected to an unreasonable invasion of our person because of the paranoid delusions of someone else?  Do we all now need to be cautious about what we say and where we say it for fear that someone would turn us in and we might be rendered and tortured someplace for views we hold or express?

I choose not to give in to such fears.  I shall carry on reasonable conversations in public.  I will not leap to conclusions based on my biased perceptions.  If anything, I will engage any and all of my fellow travelers to make connections and build bonds.  It is only in this way that I earn trust, trust in return and feel secure.

Happy 2009

Wednesday was a wonderful end to a year that had tested me in many ways.  I could not have asked for a better way to say goodbye to the past and hello to the future than in the midst of steady old friends & budding new friendships.

I start again.  A new reference.  Challenging goals.  365 days before re-evaluation.