Will Grigg's Liberty Minute

November 1, 2007

When they arrived in Minnesota in early September for a brief tour, three of Finland's most popular musicians were detained by Homeland Security agents and subjected to more than two hours of interrogation.

The questioning was described by a Finnish diplomat as ?almost three hours of screaming, door-slamming and accusations....? Each of the musicians, who had visited the US on numerous occasions, was threatened with severe punishment for talking to the others. ?They tried to put you down mentally, to humiliate you,? recalled one of them later. Eventually they were released with no explanation or apology.

A few weeks later, Shahid Malik, Great Britain's minister for international development, was detained and searched at Washington's Dulles Airport. Ironically, Mr. Malik, a Muslim, was returning to England after a series of meetings with the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate counter-terrorism policies.

We face no threat from mild-mannered Finnish musicians and British cabinet officials. The same cannot be said of the Homeland Security apparatus.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.