THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280015
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
No act of terror, no matter how vicious, how incomprehensible, is worth the loss of a single civil liberty. If the people give up their rights and liberties, the terrorists win.
The senseless loss of life in Oklahoma City is indeed a terrible thing in a land that places great value on individual life. However, a free people must not forget that freedom has its costs. Plenty of wrong-minded people wish to make us pay for it.
If we give up our freedoms hoping for security, we still will not prevent violent people from carrying out their evil acts. A worse terror is the possibility of loosing ourselves to a powerful security apparatus and those who control it.
Americans must expect, and see, that the law is observed when the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City bombing are apprehended. We must, however, avoid giving in to fear and anger, returning instead to the hard work that only a free people do best: seeking liberty and justice for all.
KENNETH J. ORR
Norfolk, April 24, 1995 by CNB