Rights or privileges?

The ACLU has been known to take firm stances on hot issues, and two issues it sent press releases on last Friday are no different. As mentioned in the blog below, ACLU is known for its strong position on protecting rights of citizens. That being said, it is of no surprise that they had a lot to say about the FISA Amendments Act that was signed by President Bush this summer and also the new FBI guidelines to investigations.

ACLU is concerned and actively opposing the FISA Amendments Act due to their belief that it completely infringes on the rights of every American to privacy. They are against the Bush Administrations policy and belief that sometimes privacy must be taken away to ensure safety. ACLU filed a lawsuit against the FISA Acts on behalf of people who have "to engage in sensitive and sometimes privileged telephone and email communications with colleagues, clients, journalistic sources, witnesses, experts, foreign government officials and victims of human rights abuses located outside the United States."

While I do understand this stance that ACLU takes and that their ultimate goal is to protect the rights of citizens, I do believe that sometimes we forget how privileged we are to live in a country where we have so many freedoms. In light of 9/11, I believe our government must take action to protect our citizens, even if it means us forgoing some of our freedoms.