Walking the Tightrope

Of all the circus acts I saw as a kid, the one that always amazed me was the tightrope walker. It took courage enough to walk across a skinny piece of string connecting points A and B…but to do it carrying a partner, sitting on a chair halfway across or doing a little dance to mark the occasion always struck me as two toes over the edge of insanity.

We won’t even begin to broach the subject of the falling Wallenda family, other than to mention that too many of them gave up life and limb for "the biz" and I’d be surprised to learn whether their show is, indeed, still going on.

It occurred to me this weekend that the U.S. government is walking its own tightrope, of sorts, these days…trying on one hand to protect the American people from terrorists clinging to a Satanically charged ideology…while not running totally roughshod over the Constitution.

I know it’s easier to criticize decisions than to make them.

That said, I must express my own concerns over the loss of liberties we’ve taken for granted in the wake of the 9-11 attacks.

The one that drew gasps from my corner of the circus gallery this week was a Justice Department request that would allow the FBI to eavesdrop on private conversations between those accused of crimes and their legal counsel. The attorney/client privilege has a long and storied history in these United States. We have labored under the presumption that even a guilty man should have access to the most spirited defense possible and that a man is innocent until he is PROVEN guilty.

We can only presume that information taken from such wiretaps could eventually work its way directly or indirectly into a prosecutor’s trick bag, enabling the State to use the efforts of a defense team against their own client.

We’re also catching wind of "star chamber" trials…secret hearings that will allow the accused to be convicted and locked away with society at large none the wiser.

Sedition laws are being enforced allowing hundreds of suspected terrorist sympathizers to be locked up for weeks.

And in a move that can influence the lives of all Americans, the government is being given authority to eavesdrop on any of our conversations or online messaging.

That these Draconian measures could be requested, enacted and enforced while America has self-proclaimed "born-again Christians" heading both the Justice Department and the White House is all the more surprising and saddening.

For now, we’re being told these actions are merely to protect those of us considered to be good, law-abiding Americans.

But what happens in the future…when the laws change and the good can no longer obey them? What happens then?

Looks like those of us in the Christian community may need to practice a little tightrope walking of our own.

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