Name Withheld By Request
The theme of the movie
The
Siege is terrorism and
focuses the viewer on the difficulty of dealing with terrorists. The movie
opens with President Clinton speaking in a news conference. He is describing
the bombing of the U.S. Military Compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in which 14
military personal were killed. The bombing, while serious, was far less
damaging than the October 23, l983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.
Lebanon which cost the lives of 263
Marines.
For several decades now citizens of the world have been victimized by this form of political action. Many of our leaders have classified acts of terrorism as examples of cowardice. A terrorist is a coward because he or she acts with anonymity. Victims do not know who their attackers are, often they are targeted indiscriminately and find themselves simply guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In Presidents Clinton's news clip featured in the movie, he closes by stating, "America takes care of its own."
It is that statement which I have been reflecting upon. In a society we take care of each other. That is the purpose of a society; it is formed for the protection of the individual.
The human body is composed of millions of individual cells. The body's purpose is to take care of the individual cells, to protect them. The body takes care of its own. I draw this comparison so that we can think of the importance of the individual unit and the need to have the larger system which allows for the welfare of the individual.
You and I as members of society are like individual cells in our respective bodies; left to exist on our own we would be much more vulnerable to the world about us. Try to imagine living with no one else in you world. Imagine the dangers which you would encounter, the attacks upon you from all parts of your environment. You would live in a violent world. As humans we have eliminated many of the risks of life by forming societies which give us the ability to live our daily life with some assurance that we can go about freely and safely. However, with the increase of terrorism that assurance has been eroded across the earth. While we tend to think of terrorists as being from some place else, Oklahoma City has caused us to rethink that assumption.
Terrorists tell us that they are simply trying to make things better. They have a political agenda and they are trying to get the rest of us to understand the need for change. Their mode of seeking improvement is to instill fear in our minds. They attack us anonymously. With enough fear, they believe we will accept their political position. You never know when you will be attacked and you never know by whom. That is their mode of operation. Anonymity.
Anonymity is also used when people write letters of negative content to newspapers and hide their identity behind a rather curious signature: Name Withheld By Request. With that phrase they are able to attack their fellow citizens.
Referring back to our comparison above of the individual cells of the body to the individual citizen in the society, you recall that the body and the society exist to protect the individual. I can not imagine that they exist to hurt the cell or the citizen. Never. Only when diseased cells become too numerous do they finally destroy the body. Likewise only when diseased minds become so plentiful can they destroy the society.
While the body has an immune system to destroy diseased cells, society also has checks and balances to protect itself. In some ways, however, it is more difficult for society to protect itself than for the body to do so, therefore, we must be ever-vigilant to attack.
I have considered for over twenty years the "Name Withheld By Request" policy of some newspapers. I myself have written such a letter many years ago. I know circumstances that evolved which gave me the "encouragement" to write that letter and make that "request".
Today I firmly believe that that type of letter is a form of terrorism. The writer is allowed a venue to anonymously attack a fellow member of the society. Societies are meant to protect the individual members, but when one member attacks another anonymously protection is denied.
Mahatma Gandhi wrote numerous letters to newspapers promoting social reform. It is ludicrous to think of him requesting that his name be withheld. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote and spoke for social reform. I cannot imagine him requesting that his name be kept secret.
Those in a society--local, state or national--who seek reform should do so proudly with their names attached. I would be ashamed as a member of the media if I encouraged my fellow citizens to attack one another by promising to withhold their names.
TRUE REFORM DOES NOT OCCUR THROUGH FEAR.
(note: This was written just prior to Tuesday, September 11, 2001.)
For several decades now citizens of the world have been victimized by this form of political action. Many of our leaders have classified acts of terrorism as examples of cowardice. A terrorist is a coward because he or she acts with anonymity. Victims do not know who their attackers are, often they are targeted indiscriminately and find themselves simply guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In Presidents Clinton's news clip featured in the movie, he closes by stating, "America takes care of its own."
It is that statement which I have been reflecting upon. In a society we take care of each other. That is the purpose of a society; it is formed for the protection of the individual.
The human body is composed of millions of individual cells. The body's purpose is to take care of the individual cells, to protect them. The body takes care of its own. I draw this comparison so that we can think of the importance of the individual unit and the need to have the larger system which allows for the welfare of the individual.
You and I as members of society are like individual cells in our respective bodies; left to exist on our own we would be much more vulnerable to the world about us. Try to imagine living with no one else in you world. Imagine the dangers which you would encounter, the attacks upon you from all parts of your environment. You would live in a violent world. As humans we have eliminated many of the risks of life by forming societies which give us the ability to live our daily life with some assurance that we can go about freely and safely. However, with the increase of terrorism that assurance has been eroded across the earth. While we tend to think of terrorists as being from some place else, Oklahoma City has caused us to rethink that assumption.
Terrorists tell us that they are simply trying to make things better. They have a political agenda and they are trying to get the rest of us to understand the need for change. Their mode of seeking improvement is to instill fear in our minds. They attack us anonymously. With enough fear, they believe we will accept their political position. You never know when you will be attacked and you never know by whom. That is their mode of operation. Anonymity.
Anonymity is also used when people write letters of negative content to newspapers and hide their identity behind a rather curious signature: Name Withheld By Request. With that phrase they are able to attack their fellow citizens.
Referring back to our comparison above of the individual cells of the body to the individual citizen in the society, you recall that the body and the society exist to protect the individual. I can not imagine that they exist to hurt the cell or the citizen. Never. Only when diseased cells become too numerous do they finally destroy the body. Likewise only when diseased minds become so plentiful can they destroy the society.
While the body has an immune system to destroy diseased cells, society also has checks and balances to protect itself. In some ways, however, it is more difficult for society to protect itself than for the body to do so, therefore, we must be ever-vigilant to attack.
I have considered for over twenty years the "Name Withheld By Request" policy of some newspapers. I myself have written such a letter many years ago. I know circumstances that evolved which gave me the "encouragement" to write that letter and make that "request".
Today I firmly believe that that type of letter is a form of terrorism. The writer is allowed a venue to anonymously attack a fellow member of the society. Societies are meant to protect the individual members, but when one member attacks another anonymously protection is denied.
Mahatma Gandhi wrote numerous letters to newspapers promoting social reform. It is ludicrous to think of him requesting that his name be withheld. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote and spoke for social reform. I cannot imagine him requesting that his name be kept secret.
Those in a society--local, state or national--who seek reform should do so proudly with their names attached. I would be ashamed as a member of the media if I encouraged my fellow citizens to attack one another by promising to withhold their names.
TRUE REFORM DOES NOT OCCUR THROUGH FEAR.
(note: This was written just prior to Tuesday, September 11, 2001.)
Posted: Sat - January 14, 2006 at 09:14 AM
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"Chance favors only the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur
"Art arises from basic needs-a strong need to express and celebrate our everyday events.
In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
"Art arises from basic needs-a strong need to express and celebrate our everyday events.
In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
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Published On: Jan 15, 2006 09:15 AM
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Published On: Jan 15, 2006 09:15 AM