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Some people never understands Patrick Henry’s cry for “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”.

There have been a lot of talks lately whether water boarding is torture or not. Water boarding is indeed a safe method in putting someone in the most miserable condition in a short amount of time to get his cooperation on a manner. It does not require any expensive chemicals or medical equipments to put the subject in the state of misery while keeping him alive. You basically need some type of restraint for the subject, a flowing water faucet, and a towel to perform this effective maneuver. There is no question that at a utility standpoint that this method is one of the most effective means to break the person’s will.

But then we live in a country called the United States of America, and we have a moral standard for the government and the people to follow. The government is bound to not to injustice against anyone, and the people are somehow obliged to respect the state by either being happy with the condition or being vocal for change. There might be more conditions in these areas and the examples that I just provided might not be universally applicable, but it is clear that there is some type of standard for any entity or being to follow in this country. One of these is torture.

The government and the citizens of the United States of America are bound by either human laws or implicit moral laws to not torture any beings. If this is not the case, then the fabric of this country is endangered. Our freedoms spelled by the Bills of Rights become a fictional idealism, and we will be living in fear of others, including the government and other citizens, of being tortured. Being under torture is agreeably an unpleasant experience to anyone who never was in that condition. Torture is immoral in any conditions because it introduces inhumane acts to a civilized society. Civility and torture are incompatible, and we should not tolerate it in our time.

President Bush continually says that our government does not torture, and that brings a relief to us that our government still maintains its dignity and principles even during the darkest times. But it brings shame to hear that our government is still debating whether water boarding is torture. The reasons for performing torture and water boarding are virtually the same, and both can bring crucial intelligence to the government under an immediate terror situation. The government truly does not want to ban itself in performing torture because of its valuable utility during the time of crisis.

This is truly sick. The government can justify with the best of persuasion that water boarding is a necessity to security. Many defenders have argued that it is our interest to bring a secure future for our children.

My simple reply is this. I would rather live in the most miserable condition, living in fear, and still maintain our American values of liberty, a fair trial, and intolerance to torture then live in comfort with an idea that torture is acceptable. I accuse the defenders of torture and water boarding of trying to tear away our morals in exchange of some cheap safety against terrorism. I would be proud to show our future generations a land of devastation with American ideals still intact then a land of happiness with our morals burned down years ago.

Let me put in another way. Should our forefathers abandon the concept of liberty and instead plead with the British crown for amnesty so that we can live a comforting life under the protection of a strong European country? It could be argued that life could have been better for the colonists if they surrendered and burned the Declaration of Independence for the exchange of safety and mercy. I dare accuse that the defenders of torture and water boarding would have supported such a proposition to our forefathers. These defenders are somehow desperate enough to sell their own souls and integrity for safety and victory against terrorism. The scary truth is that some of these defenders swore an oath to uphold our Constitution.

Times have not changed. People selling our ideals in exchange for security or other valuable conditions will never understand Patrick Henry’s cry for “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”. I would rather suffer the consequences of terrorism than sacrifice morality.