Freedom

Freedom

Do you know what it means to be free?

There are very few people in the United States and other free countries who truly understand what freedom is. They have it, they take it for granted. It is an unfortunate truism that only those who do not have freedom can truly understand and appreciate it.

Personal freedom (especially Religious freedom) and the right to privacy are both very important issues with me. Personal freedom also means the right to choose your own course, so long as it does not infringe on the rights of another human being (e.g. an individual who can be proved human in rational scientific terms). Privacy means that the government, the press, and other people will not needlessly intrude.

With freedom comes two things: Responsibility and reduced safety. Yep, being free means that those who might hurt you are also free. Total freedom—anarchy—means no safety except that which you engender for yourself. If you are strong you will be safe, the weak—women and children—suffer the most under anarchy. Zero freedom—tyranny—produces a high degree of safety for some, however those who do not have power are at risk.

We need a middle ground; reasonable safety and a high level of freedom. A few years ago, the United States experienced a devastating terrorist attack, the worst ever. We responded by demanding more safety, more protection. We got it, but what did we pay for it? We paid for the extra safety by losing some of our personal freedom. Was it worth it? Only time will tell. In the next and all future elections consider carefully the tradeoff between authoritarianism and libertarianism, the tradeoff between tyranny and freedom. If you go too far down the path of protecting safety, you will find yourself without freedom. Then you will, unfortunately, learn the true meaning of freedom.

I hope and pray Americans never do learn the true and full meaning of freedom!

Amen