Freedom and You

Hello Blogosphere,

I'm interested in the topic of freedom today. Something we hear in much of the dialogue and rhetoric that pervades our society. We hear about it in politics, religion, law, and in common musings by the citizens of this country.

Why freedom? Well, honestly, I started off this post with the name, "Freedom of Religion and You," because someone got into a bit of a row with me today (doesn't that always manage to happen?) on the topic of women's freedom to choose (or lack thereof in some cases). However, I realized that the lone freedom of religion is a little too narrow for me.

Let's begin with the most common misconception of "freedom:"

"It's a free country, so I can do whatever I want." This is the most often cited argument by people who simply have no idea how anything works and their aim is in justifying actions which would otherwise be problematic. This fundamentally lacking grasp of "freedom" comes from a single missing element- Consequence.

When we talk about "freedom," a true understanding includes the inevitable consequences that come from having freedom. Namely, responsibility. Although, there are many other consequences for having freedom, taking responsibility for our free thoughts and actions is the central one that comes to mind.
This is a main theme in a common philosophical discussion regarding determinism. Let me just give you a brief overview of the quandary.

Does God exist? If It does, does It have a plan? Or is It at least omniscient? A being outside of time that knows the past, future, and present to a faultless degree. Does this circumstance remove humankind's propensity for free will? Can we have independent thought if it's all written in stone? At the very least, the concept of free will and choice are dubious in a world where God knows what you will do before you do it. As such, there's an argument to be made that you did not have a choice. In that situation, we have a passable argument against taking responsibility for any wrong-doing we commit, since it was not within our capacity to avoid doing it.
Regardless of whether or not you buy into this argument, it's not something that can easily be proven true or false.

The point is this- if you do not agree that the future is pre-determined and you are fated to make every thought and action that you make, then you must accept the other side of the coin- Freedom. Free will. Responsibility.

Re-examining the argument by hilarious people, "It's a free country, so I can do whatever I want," it's technically absolutely true. You are allowed to do anything you please. However, you also have to accept responsibility for those actions. If you break the law, you will have to go to suffer legal punishment. If you're a jerk, people probably won't like you. If you break a chair, you won't be able to sit in it. Some of these consequences are relational, some are concrete, and some are somewhere in the middle, but there will always be a consequence for anything that you do (or don't do).

*deep breath*

Well, I know I didn't cover that as well as I wanted to, but this is a bit of a stream-of-consciousness thing, so we're moving right along.

Religion. Now, I don't have any problems with religion (well...). You can believe whatever you want. This country is founded on that principle, in fact. It's in one of those pesky amendments to the constitution. One of the early ones I think. It's in one of the first two definitely.
This is where a common argument surfaces that also shows a deep misunderstanding of the language of freedom. And, I apologize in advance to Christians, because this will be about some of you-
Certain Christians seem to be under the impression that there is an attack on religion occurring in this country- an attack on Christianity, specifically.

This is in the wake of creationists being treated less and less like adults (because they continue to show a level of critical thinking consistent with children), the removal of certain phrases from common parlance ("Merry Christmas," for example); the expressed desire to take the word, "God" out from certain federal items such as money, the pledge of allegiance (creepy enough as it is), and other such things; and, of course, the birth control debate that is/was raging recently.
The reaction from the religious right has been... less than pleasant regarding these issues, as I said, citing a flat-out assault on religious values.

Now, let me be absolutely clear on this- Our government shall make no laws respecting a particular religion. We can argue semantics over whether required use of the word, "God" constitutes a law, but hear me out- Taking "God" out of federal/public wheelings and dealings isn't an affront to your religion. It's a correction of an affront to every other religion. Imagine how you would feel if the pledge or our currency used, "Allah." I'm sure you'd be offended because that is not your God (technically, it is. But that's a discussion for another time). You do not recognize It in the way that I do not recognize YAHWEH, or your God. This issue has nothing to do with the desire for your religion to be lesser or anything. It's entirely the desire for all religions to be both equal and out of public eye.
There should be no public prayers, no set of commandments outside courtrooms, no facing Mecca during classes, no Hanukkah celebration during a taxpayer funded banquet (do those exist?). All of these things are absolutely fine in private buildings, private businesses, private spaces, and with private funds. However, the second these things become public or use public funding, the state is respecting a particular religion, which it sort of promised not to do back when we told England to piss off.

To reinforce that- your freedom of religion is to practice your faith in a private residence or building, devoid of public interference or funding (barring extreme circumstances like human rights violations). This right- this freedom- is not being attacked by anyone who matters.
[As a side note, it still offends me that we can't elect a non-Christian president, and the word, "atheist" is stigmatized worse than, "socialist."

Freedom is a fascinating and very intricate issue, but just because you don't always get your way doesn't mean that freedoms are being deprived from you- that was never the intention of the concept of "freedom." Take responsibility for your thoughts and actions, and always consider, when you think your freedoms are at stake, whether or not you getting your way would make someone else feel like their freedoms are at risk.

Sorry for the wall o' text-- Monday's will be shorter... probably.

-
Waddles

PS- I know I didn't talk about women freedoms at all in a post that was originally pretty centered around them. I'll get to it another day when I can devote more energy to not being frustrated at less educated folk.