Friday, March 02, 2007

 
What does "Freedom" really mean?

Freedom seems to be a concept that we all have but have no concept enough of what it really is, in order to clearly communicate it to others as people have their individual ideas of what feedom is.

Looking up Websters found definition 15 " the right to enjoy all the priveledges or special rights of citizenship, membership etc, in a community or the like."

This is a definition that fits into the milieu of the state and a constitution. The other definitions are to do with personal freedom and such. These are applicable too, but as a consequence of the above definition as applied to the constitution.

So, what priviledges and special rights does a citizen have?

This is my list:

The right to vote so that you have a means to make change in government
The right to have a place to live for which you agree to make a fair payment.
The right to procure food so you can eat in the style to which your industry entitles you
The right to clean water at the cost to provide it.
The right to have and hold your own property, however you come by it as long as it was fairly and honestly come by.
The right to say whatever you like to whomever you like
the right to disagree with anyone with no fear of physical harm
The right to live in the pursuit of your own goals
the right to worship whichever God you wish in the manner you wish provided that practice does not impinge on the rights of another. This implies worship in a private and not a public place.
The right to travel freely where you wish with no need to report to or require permission from any authority


Each of the above is an essay in itself and I might set that as a project. But for right now it seems pertinent to compare those rights above with the rights we currently have. There is talk of the eroding of civil rights with no concrete specific provided although it is implied. For right now I can see that there is an erosion of the right to say whatever you like. There is a censorship on religion as evidenced by the removal of prayer in schools, of religious symbols from public buildings. This is rediculous. This country was founded on Christian principles, on the belief in one God and the sign of the cross used to symbolize Christ and his Dying for our sins. That is the historical basis for those symbols being on out public buildings. Why have them removed because someone who does not recognise Jesus as a symbol, objects. These are public buildings in a Christian nation. So there had better be some symbols of Christianity on these buildings and prayers should be offered in the schools. If a person wishes to object to this, then they can state the objection and then remove themselves from the activity, to rejoin the group after the prayer is over, or to quietly stand by as a measure of respect for the rights of others. or engage in their own form of worship in private, or without interruption of others, as they carry out their own worship. To create a fuss is disrespectful of the rights of others.

Perhaps this analogy might help.

When you go to a Classical Concert you expect to see an orchestra on the stage conducted by a person in a tuxedo or suit, with the orchestra members all dressed up, playing classical music. You do not expect the performance to make way for a scruffily dressed person playing a mouth organ to have his bit because he objects to Classical Music. He is asked to go elsewhere to make his statement as he is impinging on the rights of the Classical Music lover. However the classical music lover would agree that the mouth organ player have his own place to be heard. But not in the Classical Concert hall.

Now, carry that over to religious observance. The Muslim can observe his practice in some other place without interfering with the Christian Observance. He can build his own temple somewhere where he can place all the symbols he likes in a public display of his religion. It must be on his own land as by being able to purchase the land and materials to build his mosque affirm the seriousness with which he holds his faith.

The basic concept is tolerance. But at no restriction on your right to make your own way. Yes, there is impingement on the lives of others. However, part of living in society is making accomodation for the other without restricting the other. There is always a solution even if it is to share the resources on a turn about basis. Each individual has an innate sense of fairness and that arises in any social situation to propose a fair solution to any problem. The route to the solution is through an exchange of data between the parties until both sides have the same data, recognize an equitable solution, and work together to implement it.

In the example of the Classical Concert, the mouth organ player can appear at the concert only as a respectful member of the audience or as an honoured guest. There is no right to demand a solo on the mouth organ as this is not his realm.

Now we have people arriving in the USA from other countries. The basic rules of the USA are to be law-abiding citizens in the pursuit of happiness. If you arrive in the country without securing permission to arrive, you can not expect anything except to be returned to whence you came. The mouth organ player may not play in the classical concert as he does not have permission to do so. This immigrant, wishing to work in the USA first needs to obtain permission as he is coming from outside the USA. He has the rights of his native country, but absolutely no rights in the USA until officially welcomed.

Part of liberty and freedom is the insistence that the other fellow be the author and creator of his own existence. It can not be imposed from the outside as that is slavery, tyranny, and refusing the other fellow the right to follow his own path. You may object to the other fellow, but you can not strike him until he has struck you.

Sorry, time for me to go to bed. There is more that can be said, but the basic concepts are here and it is very plain to see. Of course it can be obscured and confused by clever people. But the trick is to take it back to the simplicity, and use the simplicity as the model for the lesson on the new situation. Your own concept of fairness will guide you.

stephan

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