The Quest? for Freedom

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ~Declaration of Independence


The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respectable Stranger,
but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions;
whom we shall wellcome to a participation of all our rights & previleges. ~George Washington, 1783


"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" ~Emma Lazarus (a quote from the plaque on Lady Liberty)


We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. ~Constitution of the United States of America


"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. ~Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation


It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people--women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government--the ballot. ~Susan B. Anthony 1873, on Women's Suffrage


"We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.... freedom of speech and expression...freedom of every person to worship God in his own way...freedom from want...freedom from fear." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt


When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last." ~Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963


"As Americans, we can take enormous pride in the fact that courage has been inspired by our own struggle for freedom, by the tradition of democratic law secured by our forefathers and enshrined in our Constitution. It is a tradition that says all men are created equal under the law and that no one is above it." ~President Barack Obama

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Freedom brings with it comforts and safeguards like a home provides a haven of security for a family. The walls cannot stand without a solid foundation. The people within cannot breath without a few windows. The doors are preferred when accompanied by locks. (A prison also has a concrete floor with walls, windows and locks.) But a home is a place you can come and go. The door will swing open and shut, allowing us to venture forth into the world. Bringing back with us new ideas, we return to our homes to cook new foods, decorate with new colors and prints, or sing new songs.


Anyone who has been a home-owner knows the first thing you do is make it "you." The thing is, that "you" is constantly evolving. After a time, the drapes look dingy and the paint needs changing. The carpet gets stained and closets need cleaning-out.


Freedom is like this. It changes and evolves with the ever-changing demands of those who seek it. One man's freedom may not prescribe the same things as another's. Still, much in the same way we use the term "God" as an all-encompassing way of referring to a greater power, so too do we utilize the term "freedom." Over time, we have continued to fight for freedom, and though those freedoms sought were different, they were rights we believed were afforded us by our liberties guaranteed to us as a citizen and as a person.


As a people, we have fought for freedom from dictators and tyrants.
We have fought for democracy within our own borders, unfettered by outside rule.
We have fought for equal rights and against racism (a struggle we still battle today).
We have fought for freedom from religious persecution.
We have fought for the right to suffrage and respective representation.
We have fought for the freedom of speech and expression.
We have fought for the right to medical treatment and fair care.
We have fought for the freedoms of children: their safety, health and education.
We even fight the good fight so that others may bask in the glory of American freedom.


But today, what does it mean to be free in America?


Different freedoms incur different choices to be made. Or do different choices, thus bring about new freedoms? It is a revolving door, and truly ever-changing. So much so, that for many, the idea of too many freedoms stimulates a fear of chaos.



As a general rule, people tend to agree that you are no longer free to do as you please when that action will poorly affect another. Thus, we have laws and rules that inflict consequences when another's freedoms have been victimized.


There are other ways in which we constrict our own personal freedoms, outside of due process. Voluntarily, we often-times accept a limited amount of freedoms in return for a service, or in the eyes of a moral or religious value. A person may choose to live in a neighborhood governed by a housing authority so as to ensure that their street is always neat and orderly. And there is still a majority of those who seek religion, which by its very nature, constricts against personal freedoms that are considered tools or paths to corruption, and criminal or immoral behavior (which can be a wonderful thing, and is for many quite necessary).


We accept laws and vote for more that we hope will guarantee our safety. We accept restraints in freedom, but when we choose to. Freedom has always come with a price, just as it comes with privileges and consequences. And these privileges and consequences come with choices that in turn lead to more freedoms or less freedoms, depending on how we exercise those rights.


It is the choice, that makes freedom possible. Having the freedom to choose one path or another is what remains most important to Americans. It is indeed, the very thing that makes us American. Having the ability to choose our housing, our jobs, our religion, our spouses, our hobbies and possessions, is what unifies us all under the great big umbrella that is the United States.


People want to come here from all over the world in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the freedom we share, of hopefully partaking in it, and reaping the benefits. To be sure, we are still today one of the freest nations in the world. Do we as Americans, still feel that way?


There are arguments to be had that reveal that in increasing numbers, we do not. Our struggles today, still ring the same tone as those of old in many respects.


We can read the words attached to Lady Liberty herself,
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
and wonder if she ever intended on replacing the lamp with a 'no vacancy' sign.



We look back to the words written by our constitution, and see the phrase, "to promote general welfare," and wonder if that includes the promise of Healthcare. Does the fact that doctors and hospitals are bound by an oath to help those who require emergency care denote the fact that as a people we have already accepted this by standards of ethics, and so economics must follow?



We can look back to the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt and wonder if in pursuing Green energy over oil we can free ourselves from the fear of our reliance on an ever-dwindling natural resource. Our freedom to forage, purchase and burn oil for instance has been one of free reign for many years. In consequence, many people feel that our only hope is to find another source of energy, a cleaner source.
Millions of dollars are being spent in the pursuit of this energy, and the controversy seems never-ending. (Here is where the other side would tell me that it is left which inflicts the fear of global warming. Let's put that argument aside for now. In my opinion, we need only look at the number of oil spills every year as an example of our need to find a new way. And those instances cannot be refuted.) We fear that by turning our backs on oil we will punish ourselves with higher costs. It is this fear that allows us to relinquish our freedom. If we push on, accept that possibility, and begin to build our lives around a cleaner energy, one in which we are not so dependent on oil, then perhaps we could come to a point where our demand is lower than the supply. (For now, the supply and demand is so upside down, that the oil companies could charge $5 a gallon and there really isn't a lot we could do about it.) But if we were free of the fear so we could explore and utilize capitalism in the way in which it was designed, the flip of supply vs. demand would not only force oil to be more competitive with green energy, but likely then force green energy to be more competitive in the market as well. This choice alone, could expand our freedoms as a person and as a union.



We can see over and over indicators which prescribe that by both the Constitutional right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the American right to worship and follow one's own religious path as he or she sees fit, affords a person the right to marry within a homosexual union:
-The words of George Washington: The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respectable Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions; whom we shall wellcome to a participation of all our rights & previleges.
-Our Declaration of Independence: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
-The Constitution itself: to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.
-To the words of Roosevelt again: freedom of every person to worship God in his own way.


I could provide unlimited number of resources that refer to our country's Freedom of Religion, and find few that would denounce the claim. Still, it seems that fight is stronger than ever. And it is one fight, which I personally believe becomes relative to all others.


We are a young country, with a short history, but our memories seem somehow shorter. There has always been a fringe that has fought progress, and sometimes maybe they were in the right. The sad thing about change is, that when right, it is slow to progress. We need only look back a few years to see similar situations as we find ourselves in today. It was not so long ago when people felt just as strongly, for purportedly religious reasons albeit, that inter-racial marriages were just as wrong as gay marriages. From the same rule of thumb, men felt women hadn't the legitimate right to a voice or a vote.


According to the Pew Research Center the number of people who now consider themselves 'unaffiliated' with any religion has doubled in recent years. The number of agnostics and athiests is rising, and interestingly enough in a recent survey it was found that, "Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups [...] outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions." (Pew Forum on Religion poll)


Perhaps the latter is an indicator of the preceding comment. Somewhere along the way, I feel like the message has been lost in translation. Let's be honest, I don't consider myself a traditional Christian. I like to read and explore other faiths as well, and one day hopefully can consider myself a theological academic, but I have accepted that my own sense of what's true doesn't fit with most religions man has made in the pursuit of God as of yet.


For people like me, and people of faith, we see a growing fringe within the Christian world that scares people more than it invites them in. The message this group relays is one of fear and hate rather than love and acceptance; of greed and gluttony over charity and compassion.


I recently had a discussion with someone over the philosophy of charity within Christianity, and it was expressed to me that though this is something Christians know is required of them, it is easier to be charitable when given the choice. In the same manner of thinking, I think many Christian evangelicals, especially those within our government, are riding the cusp of error in their current path. Just as it may be easier to be charitable when we can do so out of our own reasons and not someone else's, it is also easier to accept religion in small bites rather than choking on it while being force-fed to us.


It is difficult to not acknowledge the hypocrisy in our pledges to help free the middle east from their theologically controlled government - one that accepts the dehumanization of women and requires that everyone live by a very specific and limiting set of guidelines - while at the same time our own leaders are pledging to create laws that are specifically founded by a Christian ideology. This is unconstitutional, and only adds to the number of people that question their faith, or at the very least, how their faith is being expressed to others.


When it comes down to it, even those who consider themselves Christian if only by tradition, still want the choice. It is our right as Americans to have this choice, and in all the freedoms bestowed to us in this country, the freedom to choose right or left, up or down, Christian or Jewish, stripes or polka-dots, is the most sacrosanct of them all.


So, if you are of those Americans who feels that being free in America reserves you the right to marry who you choose, to practice faith as you choose, to speak and dress as you choose, to have control over your own body as you choose, do you feel you are being properly represented?


True enough, the theory of freedom brings with it more questions than answers. For some it may be easier to go back to an older prescribed set of rules and apply them to today's society, but we must not forget that is antithetical to what this country was built upon. The messy, controversial, infinite fight within our democracy that hashes out these choices, is the very thing, the only thing, that unites us one and all as Americans, and is what makes us free.