Define Freedom

I started a thread at Amazon Communities here.

The introductory post was this..

I'm very curious about how people define freedom, and whether I can persuade others that: 1) The capacity for free will is axiomatic to the human condition, and; 2) Freedom is the epitomizing goal of free will.

It's a topic I've been pursuing across several fora, so now is the time to raise it here.

Many people use the word freedom without thinking very hard about what it means. It was interesting, though not surprising, that Obama and McCain both answered "Freedom" right off the bat at the Saddleback event when Rick Warren asked each of them what was "worth dying for." But if those three men were put into separate rooms and asked to write down a definition of freedom, how much would their answers differ? How much would the answers differ among the people in this community?

One's belief about the nature of freedom leads to very different conclusions about the nature of responsibility and the source of moral rules. It's been especially intriguing to discover how common it is for people to deny that free will is even real.

Consider these five archetypal attitudes about freedom and free will. (The first is generally the one to which I ascribe.)

1) Free will and freedom are real because each individual is ultimately responsible for his or her choices, and there is no God to whom we are subject. We are "doomed to freedom." Jean-Paul Sartre

2) They are real because God is free, and God made us in His image so that we can experience everlasting free communion in Heaven. "[T]he truth shall make you free... no one comes to the Father, but through Me." Jesus, according to John

3) They are just useful fictions... feedback mechanisms compatible with overall determinism. They help us pursue our inborn drives for sex, status, and safety. "People make history, but not in circumstances of their own choosing." Karl Marx

4) Freedom is not real since our fates are predestined and governed by an omnipotent God. Everything that happens is "meant to be" as part of the divine plan. "Eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others." John Calvin.

5) They are real, but they depend on achieving self-mastery, and recognizing that materialism and social fashions can make no claim on us unless we allow them. "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." Kris Kristofferson

Also, here is how I asked the question elsewhere.

George Bush has said that "God is the author of liberty." Mitt Romney has said, "Freedom requires religion," and that "Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God." How would you define freedom? How did it originate? Is freedom possible without belief in God?

These links show what I've done elsewhere to advance the discussion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WYR1qXnO2M
http://www.definefreedom.blogspot.com/
http://www.rkey.com/essays/Simon_DCI_02.pdf

So, I'm interested in seeing what kinds of definitions people offer here. Thanks.

I recently posed the following question at AskChristianWriters.com, under the heading, “How to Define Freedom:

George Bush has said that "God is the author of liberty." Mitt Romney has said, "Freedom requires religion," and that "Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God." How would you define freedom? How did it originate? Is freedom possible without belief in God?

I received seven surprisingly diverse answers. Some cited their own blogs, a few cited blogs by others. Intrigued by that diversity, and hoping to open up a conversation, I wrote back to everyone who answered, and asked permission to post their responses here, with proper attribution. Only a couple didn't write back to confirm, so I'm including their work anonymously.

An anonymous writer cited Psalm 119:45, And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Thy precepts, adding, "For me true freedom is defined as Free from the slavery of sin. You can be in a prison cell and still be free... ask imprisoned Christians in China."

James Lawrence, who describes himself as a former atheist, wrote:

Freedom is a concept and it has many definitions depending upon the scope - for example; personal freedom and a free country. Freedom requires responsibility and responsibility requires definition and that definition is the rule of law and the rule of law has its basis in religion or more specifically the 10 Commandments.

I would not put much stock in the definition of contemporary politicians because they are looking for votes or their place in the History books. I believe the founders of the United States and the authors of the Constitution were inspired. Their writings ring of truth and inspiration. Here are some examples:

"The foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; ...the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..." George Washington, First Inaugural, April 30 1789

"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"Political interest can never be separated in the long run from moral right. . . . Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God?" Thomas Jefferson

In summary Craig, Freedom did not originate; rather it is a concept created by man reaching for the a moral balance between the rule of law and anarchy. The problem with this lofty goal will always be the sinful nature of man.

Christine Sine, an Australian, provided a link to a post at her personal blog that included the following observation:

Recently I realized that my basic problem is that when I use the word freedom I have a totally different understanding than the average Amercian

To Americans the concept of freedom focuses on the freedom of individual choice, which can be as trivial as the right to choose whether I want my eggs sunny side up or over easy, or as serious as the right to bear arms. What I struggle with is that there seems to be little recognition of the often dire consequences our individual choices can have for the society or for the world in which we live.

To Australians freedom revolves around the freedom of society and the recognition that our decisions all have consequences not just for us as individuals but for all of our society and our world. Consequently most Australians are willing to give up the right to bear arms for the good of a safe society in which we don’t have to worry about drive by shootings. In the Australian political system voting is compulsory because of the belief that with the freedom of citizenship comes the responsibility of participation in the process that provides our freedom.

All of this leads me to my most important question about freedom “What does freedom look like in the kingdom of God?” Obviously there is a element of individual freedom - all of us need to take on the individual responsibility to kneel at the foot of the Cross, repent and reach out for the salvation of Christ. However our entry into the family of God faces us with serious consequences for how we act in society. Our freedom as Christians means that we no longer focus on our own needs but rather “consider the needs of others as more important than our own” (Philippians 2) It means that we live by the law of love - what James calls “the royal law” (James 2:8). Paul sums this up very well “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Diane Harris, who writes a blog called http://www.steppingintothelight.net/, wrote this:

God created us with free will so that our decisions can reflect our hearts. Freedom, however, is not possible until one surrenders to Christ.

Each of us is surrendered to something or someone, we each place faith in some idea or force that directs our lives, knowingly or not. I must serve either God or "other." Which master I choose determines what lives in my heart.

When I choose to serve God, His truth begins to live in my heart and the more of that truth I see, the more freedom I have.

When I choose to serve "other" (a nice name for sin) or the opposer of God, I separate myself from God's truth. Whatever freedom I think I have is an illusion.

Only the Creator of freedom can set me free. What can His opposer do for me?


One anonymous respondent submitted three links as “food for thought.” The gist of it is summed up in a quote from John White... "Freedom does not consist in doing what I want to do but in doing what I was designed to do."
Independence Day: Thoughts on Freedom from John White
Independence Day, part 1: What Is True Freedom?
Independence Day, part 2: A Song of True Freedom
Carolynn J. Scully author of the Whispered Words blog, submitted this, which she wrote this past July 4.

Freedom has boundaries ordained by God and enforced by each individual.

These boundaries are good because God is good. They are the dividing line between good and evil. We must choose good in order to live in freedom. Good is infinite Evil is finite.

When we choose to live selfishly and without self control we will eventually find that government needs to control more and we will live with less freedom. Bigger government does mean less freedom. Our individual choices are much more important than our choices at the voting booth. Our hearts must beat in rhythm with Gods' goodness because there can be no law against Him that will stand. It matters not what men may rule against Gods' good boundaries, we will own freedom if we remain within the safety and security of those freedom fences!

Today we here in the U.S.A. celebrate the birthday of our nation that has been founded on the choice to live within the expansive boundaries God has given us. Today I celebrate my freedom to choose. May I choose wisely.

Kamal Weerakoon has posted a blog about freedom and predestination.

Calvinism strongly affirms that God chooses us before we choose him. The only reason we decide to follow Christ, to trust him for our forgiveness, is that God works in us to humble us, give us a sense of our sin, and make Christ attractive to us. This is the famous Calvinist doctrine of Predestination.
Calvinism therefore destroys freedom. Predestination inevitably leads to a depressing, destructive, life-denying fatalism. God decides who’s going to be saved and who’s not; it’s all his choice in the end. So what’s the point of doing evangelism, or any other human activity at all? We’re just toys in the hands of the cosmic vivisectionist (pardon the mixed metaphor...).
Right?
Not according to P. T. Forsyth.

What was it that made the tremendous strength of Calvinism? What makes some form of Calvinism indispensable and immortal? It was this: that it cared more to secure the freedom of God than of man. That is what it found in the Cross. That is why it has been the greatest contribution to public liberty ever made. Secure that God be free. Seek first the freedom of God, and all other freedom shall be added to you. The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination was the foundation of modern public liberty; and, deeply, because it was an awful attempt to secure God’s freedom in Grace at any cost […] We must put God’s free grace first – far before our free thought or action […] Let us be more concerned about the freedom of the Word than the freedom of the Church, or the pulpit. Let us care fast for such a free Word as secures God in His freedom. Let the historic Word of Grace have its way with us. Then the Church must be free. But a Church freedom which, in the name of free–thought individualism, or spirituality, feels itself free to abolish that apostolic Word and succession, is destroying Word, Church, freedom and future, all together.

Labels: Christianity, freedom, Mitt Romney

It's possible that this blog may see some activity soon. If so, visitors might like to know about a couple of particularly relevant things I've done since I entered the first post nearly two years ago.

One is a video that I submitted to YouTube and the 10Questions site during the lead up to the CNN/YouTube debates that occurred before the Presidential primaries began. The idea was that Internet users would submit and then vote on questions they wanted the candidates to answer. This was my entry:



There's also a paper that I submitted at an International Studies conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The link is here. (It requires the Adobe reader, which you can get here.)

Labels: Craig Simon, Flywheel, freedom

While giving a lecture to a mixed group of Russian and American graduate students at the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg, I distributed small sheets of paper to everyone everyone in the room, and asked them to write down a definition of freedom. I said that the response could be just one or two words, or a whole sentence, but please, no more than three sentences. I also asked that they identify their citizenship, but not all those who answered actually did so. The responses are listed below, faithful to the original grammar, spelling, punctuation and formatting, followed by [U] or [R] (for USA or Russia) when known.


We live in a world of dependency. And freedom is to decide by yourself what to choose in the world of dependency. [R]

Freedom is George Bush [U]

Freedom is a figment of our imagination [U]

The ability to define your destiny

Ability to express, act, with out any restriction always respecting other’s points of view

Freedom is culture

Freedom - is a complex of
1) Ability to unrestrictedly choose of practice any type of ability with respect to the freedom of others
2) Ability to move unrestrictedly from one stratum to another (incl. the authorities)
3) Absence of any type of brainwash...

Just another word for nothing left to lose.

Freedom
Absolute
The pursuit of individual options and opportunities
Relative
The pursuit of collective options and opportunities

Freedom of speech
" " ideology, opinions
" to make decisions for one’s own life.

The ability 2 move (transportation) freely, express myself (vocally, Internet, newspapers) freely with no worries of my well being

freedom of mind
freedom in yourself

Ability to
- express your view
- choose your way of life
- Make your own economic decisions