[Originally published October29, 2019]
I had the privilege of speaking at the Independence Day sunrise service in our city in 2019. I’m grateful for divine inspiration in the preparation, and I ended up using some of the material for a panel I participated in at the United Nations’ 68th Conference on a Civil Society, held in Salt Lake City in August 2019.
In 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Of this day, he said:
“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
On a day like today, it may seem like niggling to differentiate between freedom and liberty, but allow me to make my case.
First - I want you to think of any two-year-olds in your life. It seems their entire raison d’être can be summed up in three words: “I DO IT!” A two-year-old, fairly new to this planet, seems driven from a source deep within them to DO IT. THEMSELVES. This can be extremely vexing to the adults in the two-year-old’s life, in direct correlation to how big a control freak the adult is. At this level, self-governance is just plain messy. Pause here for imagined adventures with dressing, bathing, fixing breakfast...
As I considered the founding of our country, it struck me that in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed and presented to England, a toddler nation stepped out upon the world stage filled with centuries-old players, and defiantly announced, “WE DO IT!”
Alexander Hamilton captures the essence of the idea of the American experiment in the opening Federalist:
“It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force” (Federalist Papers, No. 1).
The Declaration of Independence boldly asserted that nations could indeed be peopled with men and women who were capable of governing themselves - who intentionally chose what kind of government they would have, and not have that government thrust upon them.
It further asserted that human rights come from our Creator - are a part of us - and that because we all have them, we are all equal before our Creator - and among each other. It audaciously suggested that governments only exist by consent of those being governed, that they are to mostly leave people alone to govern themselves, and that they are subject to being changed or removed if they violate those basic human rights. In fact - the Declaration put forth the radical idea that the only role governments have is to protect those rights.
From the Declaration:
“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.”
PARENTHESES: What about those who don’t believe in a Creator?
Believers are important in a society - because of their belief that the source of human rights is a Creator - and historically - tyranny has only flourished in godless societies.
That is not to say that everyone in a society must be a believer; but a nation must be able to have both believers and non-believers alike, equally able to weigh in with their world views as public policy is made.
I repeat: tyranny doesn’t flourish when there aren’t enough believers - tyranny flourishes when belief is prohibited.
Which leads us to the difference between liberty and freedom. The two words have nearly become synonymous, and have come to mean doing whatever you want, whenever you want. Because people largely move through their days unhindered, they imagine they’re free - but is that liberty? What is the real difference between freedom and liberty?
Liberty is freedom to do good, to act with justice and compassion, and to live according to the most basic natural law of the golden rule: doing to others as you would have them do unto you.
Liberty is freedom from restraint - where good and noble acts towards our fellow man are not prohibited by law.
Liberty is freedom of self-determination - freedom to develop talents - to become educated. And a true education includes timeless, unchanging principles, which can be tested and measured for their validity throughout the ages. Without this, the educated are ill equipped to preserve their liberty.
Liberty is freedom to accumulate property - and the freedom of being a good steward of that property. It is choosing freely to share the abundance of what your self-reliance has built - and choosing freely to use largesse to help and serve your neighborhood and community - in the ways your conscience mandates, not in the way the state mandates.
Liberty is recognizing that personal responsibility is inherent in human rights - because liberty isn’t just about rights. Human rights are inextricably linked to responsibilities.
Laws don’t exist to restrain or abolish our rights; they exist to protect them. In the second verse of “America, The Beautiful,” we sing:
“America, America, God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law.”
I remember walking in this beautiful park a few years ago on the morning of July 5. I couldn’t get over the litter - everywhere. I felt so sad to think we were so far removed from self-government - collectively - that we largely left something that was a personal responsibility to be someone else’s problem. All of us long to live in a society without litter - but that only happens because people pick up after themselves. And they pick up after themselves because they prefer living in a place with no litter.
A very wrong idea about the role of government has infected our modern society. It is that government should do much of what used to be done by individual citizens, churches, local communities, and private enterprises. The idea seems compassionate - we must do for those who can’t. But how often does that become doing for those ... who won’t?
But what about those who can’t? Don’t we have to have programs & bureaus to create social safety nets for them?
The problem with safety nets is they can become restrictive for even those who don’t need them.
You have to practice self-government in a world that offers to do everything for you. So on Independence Day, I have two radical invitations for you:
Read the Declaration of Independence today - and every Independence Day - REMEMBER - why it was written.
If you CAN do it - DO IT. If you SHOULD DO IT.
Channel your inner toddler and remember - you were created to govern yourself - and help those around you to do the same - without the force of law - but with the force of the second great commandment.
And...
Pick up your trash on your way home!
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