Liberty and Justice for all?
So, do I have the right to kill you if I don't like you? Do I have the right to burn your house to the ground because I don't like its color? Do I have the right to take your wife because she is attractive? Do I have the right to steal your truck because I need to haul trash to the dump? Do I have the right to tell the world that you are a drug addict and that you killed your parents for lunch money?
What many people call "rights" are nothing more than the desire to do away with all laws. Anarchy is the state of no organized law or government. If the idea of individual freedom involves the removal of all laws governing what is allowable and acceptable behavior toward another person, then no one in society is safe andsociety descends into a state of "every man for himself".
Laws are enacted to protect the "rights" of the innocent. Laws are not to be enacted to protect people from themselves. Where laws become burdensome and oppressive is when they cross the line from protecting others to demanding a person be as everyone else. Forced conformity to a generalized standard is not the purpose of law. Law's purpose is to protect the rights and properties of those who uphold the laws.
Everyone seems to think they have certain rights which allow them to pretty much do as they please. This definition of "liberty" has warped the true essence of what the word is supposed to mean in these United States of America. The "liberty" which hundreds of thousands have given their lives to defend was not the freedom to despise authority and follow the lusts of the flesh and cravings of the mind.
When expressing the right to choose; liberty describes the freedom to think or act without being constrained by force or necessity. In other words, liberty is the ability to make decisions based on free will and not compulsion.
When expressing freedom; liberty is the release from captivity or slavery. Of course spiritually, Jesus Christ led captivity captive when he ascended into the heavens. As sons of God, we have been set free from the slavery of sin and death and have been granted liberty to serve God.
When describing basic rights; liberty denotes political, social or economic rights that belong to the citizens of a particular state. The Bill of Rights, marking the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, spells out the basic liberties given and allowed citizens of the United States. To have the right to bear arms, for instance, is the same as having the liberty to have arms.
When discussing the word "liberty", we must be careful to differentiate between the various usages of the word. When we recite the pledge of allegiance, it ends with the phrase; "with liberty and justice for all". Surely these words are not saying that everyone in this country should be set at liberty. Those who have abused their rights by violating the laws of the land, lose their liberty. Their punishment for breaking the law is the loss of certain liberties for a season.
Liberty is not, unfortunately, a universal human right. Whether it should be or not I do not know. But, the facts state that there are many countries around the world where liberty is but a dream because the people are enslaved or held captive by a ruthless dictator or junta. Our forefathers dealt with this back in the 1700's and banded together and wrote "The Declaration of Independence" which states, among other things, that all men have the right to "liberty". It was the desire to be free from tyranny which resulted in the Revolutionary War and the establishment of the United States of America.
Deep within each person is the longing to be free. People want to be released from the constraints of tyrants, dictators and other authorities whose only desire is to subject people to bondage or slavery. Whether such freedom is available or not, depends on the situations people find themselves in, but the desire is there for liberty nonetheless.
We live in a free country where we have the right to exercise our liberty in the way we speak, live and worship. Our forefathers lived and died to protect and defend this liberty through various wars and conflicts. Although we are still a free country, many of our most cherished freedoms are quickly being dissolved. Many things are being promoted and pursued through the courts and legislatively which hold the potential of diminishing or destroying many of our liberties.
We must never forget how fortunate we are to live in a country which allows freedom of thought, speech and religion. We must never forget the price paid by many who laid down their lives to keep us free. While vast sections of this world live under the tight grip of dictators or military forces; we still live in a country where we are allowed to choose who leads us every few years. The freedom to choose is a right we should cherish forever.
We must never forget that no matter how difficult times may become, we still have the freedom in this country to conduct business and make a profit. We do not live in a land where rules dictate where you must work and how much you can make. The freedom to prosper, as well as fail, is one of the great liberties we enjoy.
Despite having so many liberties, there is one we do not have. We do not have the right or freedom to hurt each other. Our liberty does not grant us freedom to injure, abuse or in any way harass another person. We do not have the liberty to slander, reproach or defame the character of another person. We do not have the liberty to defraud, steal from or extort anyone else. We do not have the freedom to take advantage of or in any way use someone else for self gain.
We have liberties, but there are checks and balances to those liberties which define the parameters of love. By loving one another we succeed in doing nothing to hurt or consciously injure another person and thus end up enjoying the greatest liberty of all; the freedom to bless, help and love one another.
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Author: blessings2you
Location: Warrenton Missouri USA
Gender: Male
Age: 57
Blog Entries: 822 (archive)
Blog Comments: 3
god called me to serve him when i was 16 years old while on a church work trip in new mexico in 1969. in the 40 years since; i attended bible school/leadership training, been ordained to the christian ministry and worked full time for a non-denominational ministry for nearly ten...
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in 1969 god stepped in and transformed my life as a sixteen year old teenager. after a couple of years of intense emotional ups and downs, i decided i needed a firm foundation in my life that went beyond emotional experiences. it was the decision to become involved with a...
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