Nobody likes a leak do they? Typically a leak is seen as a source of messy and unwanted contamination. But imagine being in a land of famine and drought. Imagine digging for an underground well, hoping, praying for just one tiny leak… a leak that could mean a new lease on life.
Take the following two situations for moral analysis.
Scenario ONE for your consideration: A government agent has spilled the beans regarding top methods of surveillance used in his country, thus hindering the work of national security. This man has been charged with espionage and theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information, and willful communication of classified intelligence to an unauthorized person. He has fled his land with a warrant on his head. Despised by his homeland. A globe trotter welcome to no land, wanted only for incarceration. A traitor. A criminal fleeing the penance of his crime.
Scenario TWO for your consideration: The citizens of a free nation are in jeopardy because their overwhelmingly powerful and demanding government has gained access to the private details of everyone’s lives. The mostly unsuspecting population doesn’t know that every email, chat room conversation, video, photo, stored data, file transfer, video conference, social networking detail, and every web login has been stored for scrutiny by the government. Finally a government insider goes public with this info stating that, “I can’t in good conscience allow the government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building,” further telling us that “they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behavior in the world known to them.” In fewer words: “this is blatantly wrong, and it must be stopped.”
Instant hero, right?
Wrong.
Flashback to scenario ONE, because that is the true aftermath of scenario TWO.
By this point you may have recognized the plight of Edward Snowden. In the spring of 2013, Edward Joseph Snowden, a tech contractor for the US National Security Agency notoriously leaked details of top secret US and British government mass surveillance programs to the press because he saw them as a threat to free society. The “Snowden Leaks” involving programs such as PRISIM, NSA call database, Boundless Informant, and Tempora have been highly controversial. Many people refer to his deeds as heroic, and as that of a whistleblower, while the others insist that he is a threat to the War on Terror and a traitor to our great land. Unfortunately those who are eager to condemn him conveniently overlook the fact that the NSA has violated federal law. There is no statute that explicitly authorizes mass surveillance, and certainly no place in the constitution to justify this type of control. Before releasing his knowledge to the press, Snowden said, “I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, and that the return of this information to the public marks my end.” And in another statement, “You can’t come up against the worlds most powerful intelligence agencies and not accept the risk…I believe that at this point in history, the greatest danger to our freedom and way of life comes from the reasonable fear of omniscient State powers kept in check by nothing more than policy documents.”
In times past, we understood government for the people, and by the people, wherein the general population would decide what was morally right. Back when the people actually had power to influence the government because the voice of the people held great value. In remembrance of these times, Truth Hack conducted a series of random interviews to understand how most of the population regard Edward Snowden. “I think he is a hero,” Yareli* stated. “It doesn’t surprise me that they do that, (mass surveillance) but the government has no right to knowing everything about us.”
In respect to our interviews we discovered that an overwhelming portion of the general population feels that Snowden’s actions were not at all traitorous but heroic, and the government has long overstepped it’s bounds. “I think if the government keeps following the way that it’s been going, eventually we’re going to move into become more of a communist than a capitalist country.” Valeria explained to Truth Hack.
The grounds for which the NSA has justified mass surveillance can be found in the Patriot Act that was passed under the Bush administration. In Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the FBI is allowed to obtain court orders demanding that a person or company produce “tangible things” upon showing reasonable grounds that the things sought after are “relevant’ to an authorized foreign intelligence investigation. By the NSA’s interpretation of this document ‘tangible things’ would include no less than… every conversation, every web search, every message, from everyone, everywhere, meaning that EVRYTHING and EVERYONE is relevant to a foreign intelligence investigation. With the actual writing of the Patriot Act at face value, the answers to these questions seem simple:
Q: Is it possible that everyone’s conversation is relevant to a foreign intelligence investigation?
A: No.
Q: Therefore, doesn’t this prove that the NSA is guilty of violating civil rights?
A: Yes.
Q: But is anyone really doing anything about it?
A: Nope.
And now for the most important question of all- why isn’t anyone really doing anything about this massive and grotesque government that has clearly overstepped it’s bounds yet again??? Sadly, it’s because the greatest fear of our founding fathers, the fear of an all powerful and overwhelming central government is actually being made manifest right before our eyes. Even though the average citizen is in disagreement with the government, there is no longer a balancing force strong enough to keep the government fair and balanced on this issue.
Beyond a shadow of doubt, one of the greatest quotations of United States history is none other than the classic words uttered by Patrick Henry: “Give me liberty or give me death!”
These words echo an attitude that reflects upon one of the very cornerstones that has founded this country: Freedom.
Remember freedom anybody? Remember the right to privacy and the undisputed right to bear arms, and the sweet simplicity of remaining innocent until proven guilty?
Remember the days before surveillance cameras recorded every movement upon every corner, in every store? Before satellites hovered over the earth and recorded images of everything below? Before the declared legality of random police checkpoints, and video enforced intersections? Before airports were allowed to stereotype and discriminate without probable cause, and the word ‘socialism’ was a distant fear existing in a land far far away rather than a reality pressing to unhinge our own precious democracy?
Benjamin Franklin once said “Any society that would give up just a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
Needless to say, Americans have lost a lot of liberty in the name of security. Ever since 9/11, we've been having our rights stripped away in rapid succession. It all seems to be for a good cause, but the result is that we find our country has never been more vulnerable. In the essence of terror and danger, the relinquishing of just a little more freedom might almost seem reasonable. But the Bible cautions us that “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit.” In other words, it is wise to look for ulterior motives. Even though the NSA and our current leaders may try to justify their spying in the name of safety, they’ll actually fail us, even turn on us in the end. The reason for this is clear and simple: our leaders are humans that have turned away from the strength of God in favor of self sufficiency and selfish pursuits. Inevitably, selfish human nature that finds itself in power will become abusive.
So who is Edward Snowden? A traitor? A hero? A whistle blower to wake us all from our spectators stagnated state of watching the world turn darker? Or is he just another useless headline to skim past during our morning coffee? In his own words, Snowden said, “The great fear that I have regarding the outcome for America of these disclosures is that nothing will change. People wont be willing to take the risks necessary to stand up and fight to change things… And in the months ahead, the years ahead it’s only going to get worse. The NSA will say that because of the crisis, the dangers that we face in the world, some new and unpredicted threat, we need more authority, we need more power, and there will be nothing that the people can do at that point to oppose it. And it will be turnkey tyranny.”
Even if Snowden’s greatest fear is played out, we are still blessed with the hope and freedom that is extended beyond this country, beyond this earth, even beyond this life. Psalm 121:1-2 says “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD which made heaven and earth.” Let us not forget that even when we feel oppressed by the world that we live in, God will always be our ultimate source of freedom, peace of mind and restoration. But in the meantime- use your voice to stand up for your rights. It’s not too late to save America. The citizens of the United States need to take the Snowden Leak for what it is- a drop of resistance in the midst of drought and famine. Where there is resistance there is life, and where there is life there is hope. Maybe there are still those out there who aren't afraid to fight for what’s right.
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