Americans are taken by the concept of freedom, even if they do not know what it is in its highest meaning. In humanism, nearly all Americans think of themselves, even believe themselves, to be free. We suppose we have some freedom, if we believe we do. Inner freedom is the most important dimension of freedom. It may be that the context in which some persons live is comfortable for them, so they feel free. We may not be truly free. Taken with an addiction, even life threatening, we may yet believe we are free. We may be free from government detainment, so report we are free. But, taken by habits that rob us of genuine freedom which, in such case is loss, the loss of self-control – enslaved. If we lose (self-determination), the better for the lesser (slave of habit), how can we be free? We may twist life meanings and reportings.
A president wrote about his college: [We] are governed by goals, and then the rules are very broad. Tell the truth, be straight, do not cheat, do not be foul, take care of other people. (I would have to put the word morally in front of straight so to cover all bases, so to relate to universal biblical values.) That institution has a clear context of freedom, based on the underlying understanding that: to become a part of the institution one must give adherence to the concept of personal responsibility related to freedom that is further related to truth and rightness. It becomes spiritual when it is generated through love and righteousness. In this last, God makes an individual truly free. In that, freedom is not easy what with the drag of human nature, but it becomes rooted in the integrity of the individual. It doesn’t just accidently occur, it is learned, respected and followed, achieving a sense of fulfillment. If one does not keep the freedom pact, that person then, perforce, chooses demanding (stern) law as required guide.
Law is not an easy guide. The rules of an institution, following freedom, are few, and even those are articulated to inform borderline adherents to the institution what the boundaries of freedom are. Some persons were not taught that truth is characteristic of freedom, that concern for others is a factor of freedom. Free persons want others to be free. Wars are fought for it. So the large sweeping free ideals are articulated, sometimes perceived, as rules (laws). Law is to be friendly to freedom, by protecting it as a barrier protects a driver from driving off the road. Persons not following ideals of the group are free to leave, and subject themselves to whatever else is available to retain order and well-being for all. I am free to steal, if I am willing to pay the price of incarceration as initiated in law. Colleges, under government, have about 500 pages to guide acceptance and conduct. If institutions choose not take the financial privileges of government, most of those pages do not apply. Freedom has its costs whether kept or broken.
The story has a similarity in other institutions. I married in 1943. My wife died 57 years later. Never in all that time did I feel that I was not free. My freedom was enhanced by the relationship. I was freed to have children in a context that considered them, that gave them identity and love to become their own free selves. I have tried to assist others who lost the freedom of their marriage so resorted to law for a different freedom. They changed freedoms. Law made freedom, and freedom made law. These possessions, even children, went to one context of freedom: and those possessions went to another – by law.
Persons most free do not usually talk at great length about the point. They live it. When they lose it, the context is changed, the scenario points to emptiness, rebellion, rigidity, loss and dissatisfaction. Freedom is an addition, not a subtraction. When it is gained in responsibility and purity, it raises the individual above physiology, above legalism, above carnality. It regards others. It informs the free and loving person there is more than shackling life unguided by personal values and proofs of God’s permissions. This is not merely something that may be put on like garments, or displayed like jewelry. This becomes a part of the person, and creates observations of others about his or her legacy. In freedom one can discover and live with God in a special, meaningful context. What shall I do with this free life? God informs me that he can form, in this free person, a similar image of Christ’s person. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020