Press Release

Fear and Freedom

(Washington - September 19, 2001) People everywhere are stunned by the recent acts of violence in our nation. The unprecedented tragedies last week, and the recent crimes of hate resulting in domestic homicides are simply too much for our staggered imagination to absorb. Over the weekend two innocent Americans were killed based solely on their race, and hundreds nationwide have reported harassment since the terrorist hijackings. The attacks on America are a disaster we are not yet ready to face, yet confront them we must if our nation's compassionate perspective is not to be overwhelmed by fear and irrational vengeance. In the emotional atmosphere of retaliation we must not lash out against others because of belief or ethnicity.

In reacting to the recent tragedy Tony Hileman, executive director of the American Humanist Association (AHA) said: "Freedom itself has come under attack and our collective anger is understandable and justified. But reason, not anger, must be our guide and we must take care not to tear down the components of freedom in our effort to secure it. Our civil liberties and rights, and our open society, must not be compromised in the defense of freedom. Governments and guns alone cannot maintain freedom. Nor can the tactics of terrorists destroy it. Only we, the citizens of the world, can choose to do either.

"The truest defense of a civilized society is a compassionate culture that respects the worth and dignity of each person while taking into consideration the needs of all. The reasoned principles of consideration and compromise are anathema to those of absolutist views, yet we must coexist harmoniously with those unlike ourselves if we are to preserve hope for a better world."

Many relate last week's attack to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. We must learn from our past and not repeat domestic hate. Japanese internment camps were the government's inhumane and inherently un-American way of controlling fear after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Today, we must not be a country that seeks solace through acts of violence against our fellow Americans. The AHA implores all those living in America to control their fear and anger and use it as motivation to rise above the situation.

The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity.

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