Liberty or License?

When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near.

                               Will Durant

 

“While he loved liberty, he detested the crimes that had been committed in its name. Jon J. Ingalls”

                               Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

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today I am thinking about freedom, again

 

the word gets thrown around a lot these days

and seems to be keeping some bad company

 

We hear people who, refusing to wear masks in order to protect others

say it’s a matter of freedom

really?

 

We hear those laden down with AR-15s and pistols and ammunition

suggest they are “freedom fighters”

really?

 

We hear right wing Christians declare that they need to be “free”

to gather and worship, without restraint, during a pandemic

really?

 

I love freedom as much as the next person

I want to be free to go where I want to go

Do what I want to do

Be whom I want to be

 

But freedom is a weighty thing

Adam and Eve had the freedom to eat that apple,

and we all know how that turned out

 

right now, in America

many people have made “freedom” their rallying cry,

 

and yesterday over 40,500 people were identified with Covid-19

their choice to be “free”, or perhaps the choice of another

has now taken away their freedom

and if they are vulnerable, perhaps their life

 

In my own county in rural Oregon

a group is planning to have a fireworks show

drawing people into the country, drawing people together

 

can it be done safely?

Maybe

Will it be done safely?

Probably not

 

When challenged about this decision

Which will put at risk the 40% of the country who are over 65

The answer is

 

“Don’t go. Let those WHO ARE NOT AFRAID enjoy the celebration of freedom”

 

I am not afraid

I simply care about others

I don’t want them to get sick, and possibly die

 

Freedom when combined with an ideology of individualism

(or perhaps selfishness)

is a damn dangerous thing

 

Being in that place where you say

“I want the freedom to do what I want

(While at the same time having the freedom to discount what you want, or worse what you need…)

 

transforms freedom to license,

the license to use and abuse

the license to neglect

the license to harm or even destroy others

the license to get what one wants, to do what one wants not matter what the cost

 

Paul in Galatians 5 has this to say about freedom

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

 

Freedom must always be subjugated to love

Love of God

True love of self (health love, not indulgent)

Love of others

 

We may have the freedom to worship in person

and have a huge fireworks extravaganza

in the middle of a pandemic

 

We may have the freedom not to wear masks

and ignore distancing

 

We may have the freedom to use and abuse power,

an American pastime

 

We may have the freedom to strut around with guns

and intimidate

 

but is that freedom, or license

 

are we, when we make those choices

serving one another HUMBLY in love

are we loving our neighbor as ourselves

 

when I insist on my big party in the time of Covid

or when I refuse to wear a mask….

 

am I loving those around me with underlying conditions?

am I loving the store clerk who has to serve people who might be infected?

am I loving the medical personal who might have to treat me, should I fall ill?

am I honoring God by my actions?

 

or am I “indulging the flesh”

 

I love freedom

but right now I kind of detest things being done

in freedom’s name