Memorial Day Thoughts on Sacrificing Life for Liberty

The purpose of the observation of the federal and state holiday of Memorial Day is to remember with gratitude the sacrifice of United States military servicemen of their lives in wartime service to America. Note this commemoration is an observation, not a “celebration,” despite, as I have posted, its popular treatment as a typical holiday, but instead is intended as a day of mourning and appreciation. Those who gave the ultimate sacrifice loved not only their country, i.e. the land and its people, but especially the freedom upon which America is based. There are two thoughts that arise, therefore, on this day. The first is that there are currently serious threats to liberty and the second is that there is a disturbing contradiction in too many Americans’ appreciation of sacrificing, or at least risking, life for liberty. A growing autocracy, threats to the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and to the rule of law directly threaten the freedom of everyone. But if anyone’s liberty is threatened, then everyone’s is. The current harsh policies toward migrants and especially toward refugees seeking asylum from persecution abroad are an example, because U.S. citizens, legal residents and those with protected status have been arrested and detained or even faced deportations without adequate due process. This violation of the human rights of migrants and refugees exposes the contradictory attitude of nativism and xenophobia in the name of American patriotism, not only because it violates the American Creed that holds that every human is created equal and thus has a birthright of freedom, but because of a broader hostility toward those who migrate to America, even as refugees fleeing persecution and death. Those who do are regarded with suspicion, if not prejudged as criminals, terrorists, or subversives. Even when they are obviously fleeing oppression, many Americans scold them for risking their lives for liberty, despite the slogan from the American Revolutionary period of “Give me Liberty or give me Death,” and the purpose of Memorial Day to remember gratefully those who sacrificed their lives for freedom. Parents who risk their lives and even die while bringing their families to safety and liberty, for example, should be no less regarded. Although it is prudent to encourage safer means of migration and to make such means more accessible, it is immoral and un-American to raise a wall to people who have no other means of escape from persecution. If Americans truly believe that liberty is worth risking or sacrificing life for, then they should admire, instead of despise, refugees who are proving by their flight from tyranny their belief in freedom and the American Creed. Let us recall and be grateful to those servicemen who gave their lives to America, without resentment to others who similarly demonstrate similar willingness. May God bless America.