Let's take the following premise as given: Most Americans will say "I support our troops, because they're willing to lay their life on the line -- and sometimes lay it down -- to protect our freedoms."
Or, as Patrick Henry put it when this country was fighting for independence from Great Britain: "Give me liberty or give me death!" [1]
These examples imply that most of us think of our freedoms as something that we won't automatically give up when the alternative is putting our lives on the line.
NB, I'm not saying we won't give up our freedoms when faced with an alternative of certain death. I'm saying most of us are willing to fight for our freedoms even if it means accepting a significant risk of death.
I speak only for the USA; the viewpoints of other countries and cultures may be quite different.
Let's take the following premise as given: Most Americans will say "I support our troops, because they're willing to lay their life on the line -- and sometimes lay it down -- to protect our freedoms."
Or, as Patrick Henry put it when this country was fighting for independence from Great Britain: "Give me liberty or give me death!" [1]
These examples imply that most of us think of our freedoms as something that we won't automatically give up when the alternative is putting our lives on the line.
NB, I'm not saying we won't give up our freedoms when faced with an alternative of certain death. I'm saying most of us are willing to fight for our freedoms even if it means accepting a significant risk of death.
I speak only for the USA; the viewpoints of other countries and cultures may be quite different.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_me_Liberty,_or_give_me_Dea...!