In my spare time, when I’m not blogging or practicing guitar, I coach high school debate. This month’s resolution reads: “WikiLeaks is a threat to United States national security.”
Normally, I don’t discuss politics at this blog. But because many secular humanists are passionate about free speech issues, I want to elicit your opinions.
For those who don’t know, WikiLeaks is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 that publishes confidential corporate and government materials. Among the biggest leaks were the LDS Church Handbook, reams of documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hundreds of thousands of private diplomatic cables.
The Obama administration has forcefully condemned WikiLeaks as a threat to national security; Vice President Joe Biden even went so far as to call WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a “hi-tech terrorist.” The American public overwhelmingly disapproves of the group, but my friends—if my Facebook newsfeed is any indication—seem to overwhelmingly support it.
Like a ‘good liberal’, I initially toed the ideological line and defended WikiLeaks. In researching this topic with my debate students, however, my position has become more nuanced.