Last week we published a story from my “Recollections” section on my website which is www.williamfharrell.com. It was about Camping with Pinky. I presented it last week because of the fact that we were entering our July 4th celebration of our freedom from Britain. I think we are all familiar enough with the Revolutionary War and the winning of our freedom that I need not re-hash that information. My goal is to make us think more deeply on the subject of Freedom. It is such a familiar word to us in America that we view it as something we innately possess and that we will always have. Those who do not possess freedom to live their lives as they choose see freedom as a very valuable commodity which they do not possess. Those people look upon freedom as something that is the very foundation of social life and is looked upon as very valuable. They desire it but don’t have it. They fight for it as we did in the Revolutionary War but they have not been able to acquire it. That is the main reason that so many people want to live in America, so they can be free. They long for it and treasure it when it is achieved.
Our people who have always been a part of The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave are falling into a dangerous quagmire and do not realize it. We have had our freedom for so long that it has become a part of our lives to the point that we take it for granted. We think that freedom is ours because it always has been and that it will continue unabated. Somehow, we forget that our freedom as a people was won in a brutal war. Freedom makes us free but it is not a free commodity. When we view freedom as something we have always had and we have forgotten how it was gained, then we can lose it without actually knowing that it has been lost.
We live in a democratic republic. We are free with limitations put upon us by law so that we will have an ordered society and not destroy ourselves. Freedom unrestrained will turn into anarchy. The Greek nation of old was a total democracy and it destroyed itself in its excesses. So, freedom needs to be structured by law and that is what we have in America today. When we do away with or ignore the law then we enter into the danger of having a nation of anarchy. We are watching that happen today especially in our larger cities. However, it is slowly spreading into smaller and smaller communities and unless we regain a respect for the law and the proper execution of it, then we will destroy ourselves. The laws we have structure us and help us coalesce into a society in which we can live without fear.
Governments want to control the populace and the way to do that is take away their freedom. They don’t have to pass a law taking a freedom away for they know that a populace that has been free all of its life really doesn’t know how to place the proper value upon their freedom. They take it for granted and do not see it as something that can be interrupted. Don’t fool yourself. All one has to do is to look at the countries of the world and they will how many of them keep their people in bondage. That is why they want to come here….to be free.
Laws seeking to limit particular freedoms in America are a political nightmare. Just look at the political mess surrounding the Second Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees the freedom to own and possess a firearm. It’s a political nightmare. But, let’s look at it differently for a moment. How many people used to go into a larger city and have no fear of doing so. In fact, they would take their families into the heart of a city for a celebration or for some other reason and have no fear in doing so. But, in our current societal situation, how many of those same people have decided that it’s too dangerous to be in a city after dark? How many are arming themselves when, in the past, it would have been the last thing on their minds. So, they alter their normal way of doing things in order to sidestep any possible trouble. In effect they have had to give up some of their freedom and no law was needed to force them to do it.
When we possess something that we take for granted then we tend to be more lenient if we have to give it up in some way and that usually happens in small degrees which go unnoticed. But “little bitty steps” turn into larger ones and the first thing one knows a particular freedom is gone. Here is a good example: Previously in our society we could say what we were thinking without fear of consequences unless we were breaking a law by saying it. Differences of opinion were tolerated under the freedom of speech. But in today’s world freedom of speech is becoming restricted to only those things which do not offend someone. If someone is somehow, even slightly, offended then you are assigned some designation and called names. Most people don’t like to be called names so they easily allow themselves to be “knuckled under”. They learn not to bring up the offending subject even if they have the correct opinion on the subject. If one does not agree with your opinion, then they will be “offended” and you are the wrong one not them and their “panty waisted” take on life. Heretofore, if one did not agree with your opinion they would say: “Well, that’s your opinion and not mine” and the two would go on together. They just didn’t discuss the issue again being aware of each other’s opinion. But we are living in a time when people are afraid to offer their personal opinion on anything. They have been robbed of the open freedom of speech even if the opinion they might express is not offensive to any normal person. A person no longer feels free to say what they are thinking on any subject. People are so “sissified” that they can be offended by a gnat and feel that they must have some recourse for being bothered by them. So, the freedom of speech, a basic American right guaranteed by our constitution is being chipped away at to the point that we are losing it by degrees.
What is happening to the freedom of speech is clearly seen in Canada, Switzerland and other places, especially in Europe. And what happens in Europe makes its way her sooner or later. I’m thankful for the people who represent us in Washington that see this danger and are fighting for our most foundational freedom; the Freedom of Speech.
Our people are so accustomed to freedom that they don’t value it. They don’t have as great appreciation for it as they should because it has always been here. They are really not even aware that their Freedom is a thing which they can lose very easily if they don’t know that they have it. It’s easy to give up something that you don’t value highly. Those who won it for us know the value. A true patriot named Matt Bridges who I met at Abraham Baldwin College recently and who has fought for freedom and sacrificed a leg for it said this when he spoke at the college at the opening of The Freedom Gallery where my friend Pinky Durham’s Medal of Honor is on permanent display: “To those who have fought the battle, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.” Think on that a moment. It’s profound.
We have all seen the sixteen-year-old boy who got a new Corvette for graduation and then wrecked it very soon. He lived his whole life in the lap of luxury so a new sports car really meant nothing to him. It cost him nothing. He had expended no effort for it. He didn’t know how to value it or appreciate it and he wound up destroying it completely. The same is true about freedom. One will appreciate it when they have to stand up for it; when it costs them something. They will not let others infringe upon or trample it underfoot when they have stood and defended their freedom. Yes, freedom is something that, while it is given to us at no cost, has a high cost and should be valued the same way.
Just remember this: America would not be America if our freedom is taken away or so regulated that we don’t possess it any longer. We are in a spiritual battle in America and satan knows that to destroy the only nation founded upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all he has to do is destroy our freedoms. He is sly. He is doing an “end run” on us and our people are falling for it. I pray to God that we do not wake up one day and finally realize that our greatest privilege, freedom, has been eroded away and we are no longer a free people.
The people of America need to realize that our greatest asset is our Freedom.
