Freedom and Democracy—which comes first?

Lee Ellis

Strident debate seems to rage today about freedom versus democracy. Some seem to think America should be striving for freedom in the Middle East, especially Iraq, rather than trying to establish democracies

To me, freedom is simply the result one can gain from a Democracy or a Republic. There has never been much freedom granted under any other type of government.

If we fight against a democracy for any country, we also deny it any opportunity to gain freedom in the future. Without a democracy of some type, only tyranny in the form of a dictatorship or a ruling class will take its place.

A democracy or a republic is simply the gateway to freedom; it never guaranties freedom, but no other form of government offers such an entry. Whether people choose to use the gateway depends on their own personal will and desire for freedom. It is a choice people make as did the founding fathers of this country.

Yes, democracy in Iraq will not be comparable to democracy here in the USA, but it will be a beginning AND it will include the monumental improvement of women actively involved in government there.

When our American democracy was founded, no women had the privilege of voting for over 100 years. Women were denied the vote in the United States until the required number of states ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. Should we have forgotten the idea of becoming a democracy back in the late 1700s or early 1800s because our women were not free? I do believe that it is democracy that brought women the freedom to vote, not vice versa! Without the beginning of democracy in 1776, freedom might have never been realized on this continent!

Amy Kellogg of Fox News reported from Iran, that people under 30 in Iran are already expressing the need for democracy and freedom. As they take over the future, the Iranian government will be changed and freedom as well as democracy will flourish there, too.

I think that as the desire for both democracy and freedom grow in Iraq and Iran, other Middle East countries are going to see the necessary changes that we saw in the growth of American liberty. All of this will have been ignited from the spark that set Iraq free, thanks to the Bush doctrine.

The only thing that will stop both democracy and freedom from developing in the Middle East will be the encouragement that Zarqawi and his Islamic terrorists keep getting from our main-line media and the Left Wing of the Democrat party. With this kind of Vietnamization of this war, we can not only lose all chance of seeing freedom and democracy in the Middle East , we might even see it lost here in America with our country becoming, in the future, another European Socialist one with the same Islamic problems as suffered by France and Spain.

Not all people like a democracy or the potential freedom offered by such, because it can deny power to those leaders who are corrupt and who look at any form of government as their own private enterprise designed just to give them immense wealth. We see this happening in many countries today. History will show this going back to the Roman Empire. One can even point out that some of the religious Christian leaders in the Crusades took over countries and enslaved their people just for this two-fold purpose of power and wealth, thus betraying their original quest.

Freedom takes time to grow. A democracy or a republic simply provides the fertile ground for the seed of freedom to flourish and sprout. Even after it takes root and spreads rapidly, there are still many willing to stomp it back into the ground.

We see this happening in this country today where some American leaders put power, ego and wealth above what is best for America. After the President gave an inspiring speech assuring our nation that we would prevail in defeating the terrorism that would once again threaten us, Kerry, Pelosi, Murtha and Reid were quickly delivering their words of defeat to the world on national television, giving hope, once again, to those who want to see America's freedom replaced by either Socialism or the Islamic religion.

Just as we cannot plant a tree and see it grow towards the sky without the correct soil, weather and nourishment from Man and God, we cannot plant a tree of democracy and freedom in the Middle East unless our own country maintains its role as a model of success and freedom for all to observe and copy. When democracies die, so does freedom. We had better fully plant and nurture this Tree of Democracy in Iraq. Our lives and those of our grand children may depend on it.

###

Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and narrator, formerly with both CBS and Gannett (USA Weekend). He was also a combat veteran of WWII, having fought in the South Pacific invasions. He had the pleasure of interviewing Ronald Reagan as an actor and then later working to help him become Governor of California. At the age of 80, he is keeping busy writing and doing free lance narrations for radio and television. He is an active member of Rotary and the VFW.

indiolee@dc.rr.com