I was “Born Free!” Due to the immense blessing of being born in the United States of America, I have known Liberty and Freedom during my lifetime. Due to that blessing, my children have also known Liberty and Freedom. I have grown up knowing that I had unalienable rights, given to me by my Creator, that the Constitution that formed my country’s government is charged with securing those rights.
Some of those rights are enumerated in our founding documents, but some are not. In the Declaration of Independence, it is also declared that we are “Endowed by our Creator” with these rights, and that Governments are instituted among men to secure these rights and that Governments derive their power from the “consent of the governed.” The Declaration of Independence was derived from common law, “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” Our rights are irrevocable because they come from our Creator and not kings, rulers, or magistrates. This belief is not an article of “faith” but rather an assertion that our rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are applicable to all humans of every nation, religion, race, and ethnicity.
There is a scripture that speaks to the responsibility that we all have which accompanies these rights, paraphrased that is, “To whom much is given, much is required.” There are people gathering in multitudes all over the world, in England, France, Italy, Greece, and Cuba Chanting in unison, “Freedom”, “Liberty”, “Liberté”, “Libertad”, “Libertà and on one on. They have been awakened by those governments that are trying to control the lives and free will of the governed, without their consent. A couple of quotes come to mind, Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Then there is this quote from C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia, he said, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive… To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not even regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”
So with the demand for freedom worldwide and the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin and C. S. Lewis, what can we know about what is “required of us” for the blessing of the freedom that we enjoy? The quote from John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court expresses this well, “Every member of the State ought diligently to read and to study the constitution of this country and to teach the rising generation to be free. By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated and be better prepared to defend and assert them.” First, we have to understand our founding documents and principles. There are many amazing resources to accomplish this, they need to be sought out and pursued by us, but the key is to do so “diligently.” In order for us to teach our children and the “rising generation” to be free, we must know our rights and we may be in a position to know when they are potentially being violated. We must know how to defend and assert them. With that knowledge, we can teach our children to “Be Free.” We can also teach them the appropriate ways to defend and assert their inalienable rights.
What can we do the help those around us in the world that are clamoring for freedom? I contend that we must first do what is needed to “Defend and Assert” our freedom here at home. We must continue to be that “light on the hill” for those desiring to be free. I have seen through recent history that in countries where the opportunity to become free is presented to a people, they often do not embrace it, why would that be? I believe that my be because they don’t truly know what freedom is and I am most certain that they are not entirely aware of the responsibility that freedom requires of us, and unfortunately that is not something unique to other countries.
What is freedom? It is not merely the ability to do what we want, when we want to. There are consequences to choices and we do not ever have the freedom to choose those consequences, they are natural. For instance, if we choose to buy a fancy new car, we then have to make the payments, insure it and drive it responsibly. This also means that we must have the means to pay for those things. Which means that we will need to have employment of some sort. If we do not accept the responsibilities that come with these choices we can have the car repossessed, crash it and still have the obligation to pay for it, we can lose the freedom that we wanted.
Freedom gives us the opportunity to make choices that will allow us to make progress to our goals, goals for us as individuals, goals for our family and community. Unfortunately, with freedom will we can make choices that do not help us make progress, but ultimately progress is in the “eye of the beholder.” Some choose to use their freedom to choose another form of government, forms that are at odds with the founding principles of our country and our Constitution. Unfortunately, when a group of people collectively make those choices it can affect the freedom of those in their community that would choose freedom over security. This will require of us to be prepared to defend and assert our rights in appropriate ways.
Our founders were in pursuit of many types of freedom. Religious freedom so that they could worship God the way that they desire. Economic freedom in order to better their financial situation. Some simply desired the opportunity to explore. Hopefully, our desire for freedom and liberty is based in something that is honorable and progress enabling. Hopefully we will have a desire to diligently pursue our personal understanding and devotion to liberty and be in a position to be an influence on our children, community and the world to help them understand what true freedom is.
As in the old movie “Born Free” we may need to retrain our children to be free and live in the wilds of the world. May we diligently pursue the truth and teach our children and those that we have an influence on in our communities to do the same.