The people have spoken: freedom and separatism today

As a young woman, Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist, survived a gunshot wound to the head by Taliban members in 2012. This month, Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating women’s rights to pursue education in the Middle East. People like her are looking to turn the tide with their strong voices, but ISIS is determined to gag them.

ISIS is slaughtering those who don’t stand with them in their quest to establish a radical Islamic state spanning the whole Middle East. These extremists murder and rape. They steal cultural artifacts to make profit. They recruit journalists for propaganda and jihadists to carry out their genocide. They spare no time in proclaiming their hatred of what the modern west is all about: freedom.

Radical Islam mars the image of their faith and they have failed to place their religion in the right context of society. The West has evolved: While not displacing religion, we also do not allow any one religion to dominate society.

There are things wrong with western civilization, for sure. We have a long road of progress still ahead of us, but we should be grateful for the level of freedom we’ve achieved. Citizens in many countries want what we have and they are not silent anymore. From the peaceful yet paralyzing voices of Hong Kong, to the bloody feud for a renewed constitution in Ukraine, large parts of the world have been begging for democracy lately.

What sparked such uprisings? Is the U.S. government behind them?

In November 2013, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych promised to sign an accord with the European Union but decided instead to keep a stronger relationship with Russia. Needless to say, the Ukrainian people were outraged that overnight, their dreams of becoming more independent were shattered. That’s when protesters took to the streets of Kiev. Russian leader Vladimir Putin offered Ukraine cheaper gas supplies and $15 billion in loans, but the people saw it as manipulation. The protest quickly changed to battle, as police forces abducted and shot protesters.

Around the same time, Venezuelan youth demanded both social and economic security. Ignited by the outrage over prevalent crime, high food prices, and inflation, students were joined by government opposition groups in calling for change. Those protests also turned violent after police shot three protesters during a peaceful march.

There’s a growing concern that the United States government is promoting the rebellion against modern leaders. The U.S. has been criticized for lending money to Syrian rebels and other constituents fighting for democracy. While the U.S. certainly has influence over large parts of the world, it’s hard to believe that we are the one rallying all the protests. If the people didn’t want to speak out for democracy they wouldn’t be protesting and getting beaten , or worse, for doing so. Ultimately, no matter who is influencing the people, it’s their own voice that matters.

In democracy, government is supposed to represent the people – not rule over them. Whenever the government burdens the people so much that they feel their freedom is being compromised for the wealth of the government, the people fight back. The public reserves the right to fight tyranny. We have to keep in mind that this is something that people die for.

As far as America encouraging people to turn from their leaders, we shouldn’t push our way of life onto different cultures. We have been guilty of this through propaganda tactics such as Voice of America, which has been used to broadcast pro-U.S. viewpoints and entertainment to many parts of the world to make our lifestyle attractive to others.

However, if this is something that people desire, who are we not to affirm their actions? If not “boots on the ground,” how about “chants through the air”? Technology allows us to communicate faster than ever before. Perhaps we should be encouraging those trying to make a change in their country. Perhaps we do this already.

We think this starts with us acknowledging that groups such as ISIS threaten the progress of societies. Yes, ISIS are blood thirsty terrorists, but they’re more than that. We should stand with the people, wherever they are striving to becoming separate, free nations. We should not allow ISIS or any other group or government force stand in the way of people who want to become free.