Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Freedom Bank of Georgia
When I heard today that the latest bank to fail in the United States was the Freedom Bank of Georgia, Josh and I decided that we really needed to learn more about the whole idea of "freedom." What does freedom mean to you, individually, as a nation? (to both Canadians and Americans, and well anyone else that finds this!) What does it mean to you in terms of history and at this moment in history? How does a government function in your idea of freedom? Why is the concept so integral to the American identity? Is there a similar component in Canadian identity? Do you feel that you are free?
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2 comments:
I'm going to throw my 2 cents in. Feel free to correct me where I am misrepresenting a point of view.
I don't think that there are many people who would claim to be against freedom, but most would agree that there is such a thing as too much freedom. People will differ on what they define as freedom, or what types of freedom they support, but I think that freedom is a fairly fundamental desire. Both liberals and libertarians want freedom (hence the names.)
The liberal viewpoint tends towards believing that people should have the freedom to accomplish their goals regardless of their lot in life. The idea is that the poorest minority girl should have the same chance to go to the same schools and get the same job opportunities as the son of the CEO of a multinational corporation. The goal is not that people shouldn't have to work to achieve their goals, but rather that the poor or otherwise disadvantaged shouldn't have to work exceedingly harder than average, and that the wealthy shouldn't get the world handed to them on a silver platter. In some ways your freedom should be limited to some sort of average. This can have the tendency to encourage laziness and the welfare state if overdone.
Libertarians will usually support the idea that people should be allowed to do whatever they want, so long as it doesn't infringe on the freedoms of others, where infringement tends to get defined in a rather tangible sort of way. My freedom to swing my fists around ends right before your nose. If you have money, you have the right to spend it on what you want (again, as long as you aren't directly hurting others). This suffers from the tragedy of commons if freedom is not limited.
I believe that true freedom is to be able to lovingly obey God (i.e.: to do that for which you were created). If the government (or any group of people, like a special interest group) is (1) working against those things which please God, or (2) promoting things which are displeasing to God, such people are hindering true freedom in the world (i.e.: they are aiding the work of Satan and the spirit of the age, helping to keep people as slaves to sin). However, if Christ sets you free you are free indeed – enabled to love and serve God with a clean conscience, regardless of your social or political situation.
Whether or not people have the “freedom” to accomplish their earthly goals (i.e.: go to the best schools), is irrelevant to true freedom. Whether or not people have the social/political “freedom” to do whatever they want (so long as they are not hurting others), is also fairly irrelevant to true freedom.
If I am truly free, I am able to do everything I want, and my “wants” will be only what God wants me to do. If God wants me to be born in a poor family, in a poor country, with no social movement upwards, and to live out my faith as a peasant – He will give me the strength to do that joyfully. I need not any greater freedom. If God wants me to die as a martyr in a nation that restricts religious expressions by death, I will be perfectly free by the power of God to live and die as such a servant of God. I will be free, in every situation, to do exactly what I want to do – to glorify God in life and death, in sickness and health, in persecution and not, in poverty and wealth.
If I can change any laws, I will only seek to promote those things which please God, and to discourage those things which displease God – and so contribute to the overall freedom of the world in obeying God.
Perhaps this does not answer your question exactly, but I do think this gets at the question in a way.
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