“For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” (The Song of Solomon)

To me, the voice of the turtle is symbolic of the power of a voice - any voice- so long as it bears an identity. Surely, if one of the creator’s smallest creatures can have no fear in speaking out, we humans, creatures of the highest order, should be willing to do no less. And yet, we whisper our opinions, cloak our criticisms in a veil of anonymity and hope that no one will know who we are.

We must be vigilant in preserving our freedom and we can only do that if we speak up, stating our names and our beliefs in myriad ways and forums.

For example, the USA Patriot Act signed into law by George Bush on October 26, 2001, conferred sweeping powers on domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies, while reducing the system of checks and balances that were put in place to monitor these powers. An organization called Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has been working to preserve free speech on line, while trying to prevent internet censorship. They advocate the use of a blue ribbon on each web site to protect the human right of free speech, a fundamental building block of free society, affirmed by the United States Bill of Rights in 1971 and by the United Nations declaration of human rights in 1948. We wear yellow ribbons in time of war to support our troops and red, white and blue ribbons in time of terrorism to support our country. We can do no less for our civil liberties. By displaying blue ribbons we show our support for the rights of the individual, the one belief that is shared only by countries of the free world.

During the McCarthy era in this country, there was a witch hunt for so called communists and many people, particularly in the world of entertainment, were black listed and unable to find work. Should those persons have hidden their identities behind the shield of anonymity and should we have to live in such a manner in a country, which celebrates in song, “the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

What has made this country remarkable is something called due process of law. Simply described, due process means the opportunity to be HEARD, and the right to defend ourselves in an orderly proceeding. No person’s life, liberty or property may be taken without due process of law. Further, due process involves what procedures the government must follow and what the government can’t do while it follows these proper procedures. Above all else, due process means fundamental fairness and substantial justice. Are these concepts important enough for us to safeguard? Without them, our whole legal system, based on American constitutional law, will erode. We must speak out whenever we feel these concepts are threatened and again, this is not the place to withhold identities. Who we are, adds power to what we believe.

Last month I wrote an article expressing my opinion and I received various emails from persons who did not agree with me as well as from those who supported what I wrote. I was delighted to hear from everyone who wrote but I was disturbed by several anonymous missives. Disturbed, because it contravenes all I believe about free speech and the rights of the individual. We must all protect that right by exercising it whenever the opportunity arises. We must assure that there are many voices raised and by tearing away the veil of anonymity we – like the turtle – are heard in the land.