In 1775, before we became a nation, Patrick Henry declared “Give me liberty or give me death!” Ever since then our citizens have been concerned about liberty, but what is liberty? Our nation was founded on the rallying cry of liberty; it has an important place in our national psyche.
Current political discussions sometimes revolve around questions of liberty; government needs to implement regulations aimed at addressing health risks resulting from the COVID pandemic and some individuals claim these measures impair their liberty. A discussion about liberty is crucial at this time; it is especially important to distinguish between true liberty and false liberty.
We begin our discussion with gnats and camels, perhaps you remember the quote from the Bible; next we talk about false liberty; we conclude with true liberty, which is based partly upon the recognition that we are all equally sisters and brothers.
Of Gnats and Camels
In the Bible Jesus is quoted as saying: “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” (Bible: Matthew 23, 24; also in The Urantia Book, 1736.5)
In today’s political environment there is a lot of gnat straining and camel swallowing. People read something on social media about the perceived dangers of vaccines and they accept everything negative as gospel. Every loose statement becomes part of their anti-vaccine mindset. Actively seeking out only falsehoods agreeing with their anti-truth viewpoint is similar to straining at gnats.
The efficacy of current vaccines is well established, they are over 95% effective; they are even more effective against getting a serious or fatal infection. Information about vaccine effectiveness can be found on the website for the Center for Disease Control (www.CDC.gov). Ignoring this mountain of scientific evidence and declaring vaccines are not effective is like swallowing the camel.
True liberty cannot exist in a vacuum; it must be scientifically informed, and it must recognize the existence of other selves: our sisters and brothers. For liberty to flourish its citizens need to be involved and have proper information about issues effecting society.
If we are unwary, gnats and camels can destroy our society.
False Liberty
One reason our society has trouble distinguishing between false liberty and true liberty is because of a rebellion against universe authority that happened a long time ago. What we think of as being normal is an aberration in the universe, not the norm. Actions of some of our predecessors who were entrusted with uplifting society, led us astray.
When we declare we want liberty there is a significant problem; if one person is to have unrestricted liberty, others must necessarily have something less than this, liberty must balance out. Personal liberty for some disenfranchises others, takes away their chance at liberty. A balanced society gives everyone equal opportunities; society must give each individual an equal chance to grow and become all they can become; anything less than this equilibrium disenfranchises some. When an individual seeks “personal liberty,” what is actually sought is freedom from regulation, freedom from oversight, and freedom from responsibility to others. Responsible citizens seek to increase the welfare of each sister and brother instead of a select few.
A vital consideration is the truth every thinking mortal has within them a spark of God. (Urantia Book, 63.5) Everyone stands equal before God; nobody has the right to use political or economic power to degrade anybody else.
False liberty is for a select few at the expense of others. False liberty is portrayed in “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand; at the end of the book the upper crust of society live in protected enclaves, while the mass of society are outside killing each other in a lawless state. False liberty recognizes value or importance for only a few individuals who self-proclaim their own importance over others. Arguments by the ultra-rich using calls to false liberty hide a deeper purpose: control others and limit their freedoms so they can enhance their own liberty. These individuals and their followers personify the call to false liberty.
False liberty is unsustainable in the long run because the actual workers, those who truly produce goods and services, are degraded until they can no longer function in society. The remaining privileged few are neither willing nor able to keep up the infrastructure or the flow of goods and services needed by society; the entire society will eventually collapse.
Those who seek unwarranted power over others are certainly not new in our history, they have been with us throughout all of our history; their allegiance is to a rebellion that took place two hundred thousand years ago. These seditious ideas have been with us for a very long time! Thus does the Lucifer manifesto, masquerading in the habiliments of liberty, stand forth in the clear light of reason as a monumental threat to consummate the theft of personal liberty and to do it on a scale that has been approached only twice in all the history of Nebadon. (Urantia Book – 614.8) (Nebadon is the name of our local universe; Jesus and our Universe Mother Spirit created all life therein.) This call to unfettered personal liberty was the major aspect of the Lucifer rebellion; it is also a major theme for his present-day followers.
One wonders about religions asking for an exemption from necessary health regulations because of some religious dogma. Apparently they are more concerned about ecclesiastical theory than they care about the health of their followers. Their adherents are dying because of a theology that ignores science and truth.
True Liberty
One of the most important consequences of rebellion is our inability to distinguish between true and false liberty. (Urantia Book, 613.3) True liberty allows all beings to become the best they can be, false liberty promotes a privileged few at the expense of everyone else. No being, in the exercise of his supposed personal liberty, has a right to deprive any other being of those privileges of existence conferred by the Creators and duly respected by all their loyal associates, subordinates, and subjects. (Urantia Book, 614.4)
We have difficulty distinguishing between true and false liberty. True liberty acknowledges everyone has value; everyone has a spark of God within. This presence of Heavenly Father within each normal minded individual has astounding implications; it means each of us has a chance for eternal life, go to Paradise, and meet Father in person. It also means if anybody is degraded for any superficial characteristic, it is God Himself who is being degraded. If any individual loses freedom because of prejudice, God is the subject of such unfair treatment. How can we subject the creator of all things and beings to such unfair treatment, to bigotry?
True liberty recognizes the worth of everyone, but it also includes responsibility for each of us to make the best use of whatever opportunities we have; this especially includes the downtrodden and the disenfranchised. When an individual realizes their own worth they will have incentive to better themselves even after they have been degraded by the mass of society for generations. Once they become aware of their eternal potential and that of every other individual, they will want to improve and will no longer be a drain on society, instead they will be able to make a positive contribution to society. They will want and will find dignity and meaning in their existence. This process will not be an overnight transformation; it will take patience, love, perseverance, compassion and understanding. This will be a small price to pay for the chance to transform these human beings from pure consumers to contributors, from the degraded to the participating, from the disenfranchised to real members of a more vibrant society.
True liberty, being inclusive and uplifting, is able to progress, improve and grow because everyone becomes contributors rather than having a class of degraded human beings who are a drag on society. True liberty includes God in our lives, and with Him on our side we cannot fail. False liberty is transitory, while true liberty is potentially eternal.
In the final analysis, what is true liberty? It can be summarized thus: No being in all the universe has the rightful liberty to deprive any other being of true liberty, the right to love and be loved, the privilege of worshiping God and of serving his fellows.(Urantia Book, 615.2)
