YOU LIKE YOUR FREEDOM? THANK THE ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union, more commonly called the ACLU, was founded in 1920 "to defend and protect the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." That sounds like an organization that's not really needed since in its mission statement it says that these rights and liberties are already guaranteed by our constitution and our laws. That should be plenty, right? Well, yes, in a perfect nation. We're pretty good here, but far from perfect. America is as much a set of ideas and ideals as it is a nation, and the ACLU exists to keep us on the straight and narrow path towards our goal of living up to the high standards we set for ourselves.

Which is probably why they get a lot of criticism from people who would like to limit the freedom of Americans. People with that agenda usually refer to the ACLU with a sneer and have waged a not-so-subtle media campaign to associate the ACLU in the public's mind with communism, terrorism or whatever ism is the latest bogeyman is America. Most societies who have their rights systematically stripped lose them as the result of fear, usually one manufactured by the forces of repression. So they brand the ACLU as Liberals, which when you think about it is a badge of honor and not the denigrating label they think it is. America was founded by a bunch of Liberals who had faith that their fellow human beings could conduct their own affairs and so invented government of the people, by the people and for the people.

The ACLU, armed only with words, have beaten back those repressive forces within America time and time again, using only our lawful constitution and the statutes on our books that define America. That pisses off these would-be tyrants even more since they usually go to great lengths to pay shallow lip service to our Founding Fathers and their visionary form of equality-based and fair government and their Bill of Rights. In truth, they abhor the fact that we are a free people allowed to speak our minds and seek our happiness as we see fit, each according to his own light. They want people to shut up and toe the line, the line that they themselves would arbitrarily draw for their own enrichment or empowerment, usually both. When that line crosses the boundaries of American individual liberties, the ACLU steps in and fights the forces of oppression tooth and nail. They are the heroes here, not the villains. The villains are those who would restrict your human rights, for any reason.

While many of the cases they pursue may seem trivial or unpopular, there are no trivial human rights, and an individual's popularity or personal appeal have no bearing on whether or not they are allowed the same rights as every American. In a country founded on the proposal that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights, the ACLU has taken those words as literally and unambiguously as they were meant. They realize that the removal of any of our human rights is a travesty and that to deny even one man his rights is to open the doors for all of us to lose them. Nowhere in the Bill of Rights does it say: "Except in the case of an annoying person or somebody with unpopular political views or a criminal."

Indeed, our laws and our Constitution go to great lengths to protect the rights of accused criminals, by definition some of whom are guilty of heinous acts. A tremendous burden of proof is placed on the accuser, the government, before anyone can be searched, indicted, arrested or be brought to trial, and in that trial by a jury of one's peers the accused person's rights must still be scrupulously upheld in order to conduct a fair trial. Everyone accused of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty, and that proof must be, by American law and by our Constitution, beyond a reasonable doubt.

The ACLU didn't write any of these laws or guarantee any American citizen their civil rights. They are simply Americans who love America so much that they want it to continue as it was invented. They are in awe of the idea and ideals that our Founding Fathers left us, and the wise protections of the individual built into American government. What the ACLU does is to preserve and defend those ideals, those protections and those human rights from those who would make America less free, and there have been many such people and organizations and many more will arise. That is why the American Civil Liberties Union exists and why they are so very important.

They will protect and defend any American of any political persuasion when their rights are being threatened. And what they do costs money. So send them some if you can spare a donation for a great cause. It is our cause, every American. Insure your right to be as different as you please, to worship or live or speak as you please. Be a part of preserving the freedom and rights that make America a very special place on a very special journey. There is no other organization better at doing this necessary work.

Send them some dough today and consider it an investment in yourself. It's not always the other guy who's in danger of losing his rights and freedom. You could easily be the next target of would-be oppressors and might need somebody in your corner to help. If there was no ACLU, that help wouldn't be available and you might lose your precious human rights, and when one person loses one right, we all do. Usually forever. Support the ACLU.