The choice to fight is ours

To the editor:

“Freedom isn't free” is an oft-cited declaration of patriotism by both the right as well as the left.

We are, as a nation, reminded of such a truism by Dec. 7, 1941, as well as the more poignant recall of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

One person's freedom can be another person's prison or, sadly, another person's death.

Just over 3,000 lives were lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack. To date, 656,000 lives have been lost to a pandemic.

Both the events of Sept. 11 as well as the pandemic can be rightly viewed as assaults upon our democracy and our freedoms.

One of those events united the nation, one of them, divided it.

No one is “free” until all of us are “free.”

With one event, the enemy was clearly seen. With the other, it is unseen.

Some choose to stand and fight in the name of freedom. Some choose to surrender in the name of freedom.

“United we stand, divided we fall.” The choice is ours to make. We have the freedom to do so.

Michael Kinser

Portland