The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Thomas Jefferson

I find several things in the news today rather disturbing, indicative of the the gradual erosion of our rights and liberties, most given up without the merest whimper on our part. First is the Orthodox Jewish man removed from a flight for not taking his seat when requested to, since he was praying the Amidah, a prayer that is supposed to be said three times a day, not interrupted, and is only 3-4 minutes long. My understanding from the various articles I have read is that this incident took place during boarding, the man apologized at the end of his prayer, and that even with the time it took to remove the man from the flight, it arrived on time.

My problem here is not with removing passengers for failing to comply with flight attendants instructions, but in my frequent experience passengers often stand in the aisles or in the back of the plane for various reasons, presumably thinking that they are 'out of the way'. I have never seen a businessman on his cell phone asked to sit while standing back near the lavatories during boarding, and it is very hit or miss whether or not a person standing in the aisle talking with friends before take off will be asked to sit down, as I have been forced to squeeze past them on many occasions. This appears to me to be a selective enforcement of the rules which is a dangerous step down the road to tyranny. You can stand up so long as you look 'normal' and aren't acting 'weird'. What has not been reported in the accounts is how close to take-off the flight actually was, as this could have transpired anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour prior to the closing of the doors.

Undoubtedly, the orthodox practice of praying the Amidah, which means 'standing prayer' was probably an unfamiliar act to the crew involved, one must wonder if an Irish Roman Catholic priest standing in the back of the plane reciting the rosary would have been interrupted. There is a good description of the Amidah here: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/amidah.html

Have we become so intolerant that we can not accommodate the simplest of requests? Has religion become such an 'anti-social' politically incorrect behavior as to be banished from public sight? Or has fear become the overriding concern in this post 9/11 era. Has the herd mentality become so predominant that we viciously attack anything that is different? I participated in an online chat last night on this very subject and there seemed to be three predominant schools of thought.

1. The guy was a religious nut forcing his religion on everyone else, that he did this on purpose to either make a statement or force the airline to remove him in order to pursue legal action. And that religious expression has no place on an airplane or in any public place.

2. That everyone must follow the rules, no matter what, and that in this post 9/11 world blind obedience is a prerequisite to order. That even if singled out, one must comply for the sake of the public good. I suppose, by that logic, that we ought to resume payment of the tea tax to the British.

3. That the airline and/or the crew were completely wrong, that the man was out of the way, harming no one, and that the crew had been told he would be done in 1 or 2 minutes. They were on a power trip, forcing this poor man to comply for nothing more than their own egos.

I would venture that the man's activities were unfamiliar to the crew involved and made them nervous. Not sure of what he was doing or why, they requested the man take his seat, and when he did not comply it turned into something of a 'power' issue for them. I find it odd that the crew summoned a customer service agent to remover the man, and not the Port Authority or TSA. If he was such a risk, and this was such a significant incident the airline was derelict in it's duty by not involving the proper authorities.

Of curious note, this is not the first time that this has happened. This also occurred on 1 September 2006 when Air Canada removed a Hasidic Jew began praying in his seat while rocking back and forth, an activity called ’shokeling’, as the plane began its roll out to the runway. The flight attendant told him that he was making the other passengers nervous and would have to leave, and had the gall to announce to the other passengers 'that it was all right, he wasn't Muslim'. The airlines response was to offer crews 'sensitivity training'.

The evolving issue in Texas is also of some concern, the latest seems to be that the phone call prompting the raid was the result of a 'hoax' phone call from a woman in Colorado. I haven't seen it in the national news, but the local Colorado news is reporting that the call was actually traced to the woman by the FBI. Regardless of our personal feelings on the religious beliefs of these people, I am astounded that the authorities rounded up all the children from the 'ranch' which is larger in population than many Texas towns. I could understand removing the children from the household of the alleged threat, but imagine if the police in your town received an anonymous call about abuse... would they round up everyone in the neighborhood if they could not determine which house it was occurring in?

What is most disturbing is how the public at large readily accepts such incidents and the official explanations for them at face value. What would our founding fathers have to say? The state psychiatrist Dr Bruce Perry testified that " the girls he interviewed said they freely chose to marry young. But he said those choices were based on lessons drilled into them from birth." Well DUH? Can't that be said of anyone? Is not the fact that good Catholic, or Jewish, or Amish girls marry within their faith due to lessons drilled into them from birth. As long as the girls are over 16 and marry with the consent of their parents Dr Perry's personal beliefs are irrelevant. I am not saying that I agree with the Texas law, only that that is what it is... if the parents are okay with their 16 year olds marrying 49, 59, or even 69 year olds the states position outside the law is completely irrelevant as well. I firmly believe that any violations of Texas law should be prosecuted, but that outside the law the personal beliefs of the sheriff, social workers, or any expert witnesses they care to produce are meaningless.

One must question what the underlying motivations of the authorities in Texas are... are they really concerned about the children, or is this a convenient time and excuse to rid their community of an embarrassment, a religious community that exists in violation of their own beliefs? As one must question the motives of the airline in removing the praying man from he plane. I was amazed at how often people quoted Matthew 6:6 'that condemns people who pray only so that people might see them do so', in association with this incident. It would be funny if they weren't so darn serious, really... quoting the New Testament as an example of behavior for a Jew to follow. Are we so narrow minded?

It is amazing how willing we are give up our hard earned freedoms, be it for the sake of political correctness or for the false illusion of security. I heard repeatedly that while the man had the right to pray, we must give that right up in this post 9/11 world in order to obtain security. Might I offer the advice of a few of our founding fathers on this subject:

THOMAS JEFFERSON: I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

JOHN ADAMS: But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

JAMES MADISON: I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

And while he is not considered one of our founding fathers, his advice is certainly appropriate:

JUDGE GIDEON J. TUCKER: No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.


Just food for thought, and the advice to defend your rights and liberties vehemently and without pause.

~Finntann~