For more than two years, I’ve felt that any small coalition of people, be it two or twenty, can wreak havoc if they are willing to die for their cause. It used to be that hijacking meant robbery. The culprits wanted something in return for setting the plane down safely again. That’s not the case now. When someone is willing to die for their cause, there isn’t a lot that you can do to stop them.
The ones who would give up their boxcutters in line are generally the ones who wouldn’t bring them anyway. If they did, it was an oversight and they’d likely never use them. As long as someone is willing to die for their beliefs, then any weapon at all – keys, pens, even a plastic fork – can be used to threaten someone. Taking away corkscrews or nail files isn’t going to help that.
True safety comes from the realization that you aren’t going to let that happen. Take a look at flight 93. Apparently the people aboard weren’t going to let their craft be used as a weapon, and they did something about it – even though the TSA didn’t take away the boxcutters of the hijackers. These passengers died in the process, but the hijackers didn’t win.
An example like this illustrates that there will be instances where people are going to die in the pursuit of liberty. The answer is not to take away more liberties, but to revel in the idea that liberty is a pursuit for which we should be willing to die. Nothing is more sacred, yet we are content to hide that liberty under a bushel instead of wearing it proudly. And all the while, people still die in its name. Where is the sense in that?