Freedom begs us to make better choices.
Freedom begs us to make better choices.
N ow is the time when businesses consider replacing “Pride” flags with everything red, white, and blue.
Independence Day is about freedom. But what does that mean? A mature and educated understanding of freedom does not equate it with libertinism. Freedom is not about doing everything we want. It is not hyper-individualism. We make choices about how to exercise freedom every day, and we need to ensure those choices are rooted in civic duty and virtue.
These decisions don’t have to be faith-based, but Thomas Merton can help us get to the practical implications of the concept of virtuous freedom. As a student at Columbia University and an atheist, Merton converted to Catholicism and later became a monk in the neighborhood where the heinous pro-Hamas rallies took place this past semester. In his book Seeds of Contemplation, he writes that freedom “does not consist in an equal balance between good and evil choices but in the perfect love and acceptance of what is really good and the perfect hatred and rejection of what is evil, so that everything you do is good and makes you happy, and you refuse and deny and ignore every possibility that might lead to unhappiness and self-deception and grief.” He emphasizes: “Only the man who has rejected all evil so completely that he is unable to desire it at all, is truly free.” And “God, in whom there is absolutely no shadow or possibility of evil or of sin, is infinitely free. In fact, he is Freedom.”
We’re about to experience the first debate between the presumptive major-party nominees of this presidential election, and many of us will freely admit that we don’t have high expectations, to put it mildly. You may belong to a particular political party, or you may have convictions that make one of the candidates unacceptable. The other choice isn’t a catch, either. Freedom allows you to vote your conscience. Neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump is owed your vote. Friendships and family relationships have been harmed over politics during recent election seasons. Respect freedom, as you exercise your own, however you do. And remember, also, that there is plenty to talk about at a weekend barbecue besides politics. Make the better choice! (Says she who somehow always winds up talking about the two topics you’re supposed to avoid at social gatherings: politics and religion! I do prefer the latter — it allows more freedom for the Holy Spirit to work if I’m prayerful about it. I have been amazed on many occasions. Peace can flow in even these discussions.)
Before she was murdered at Auschwitz by the Nazis, Edith Stein wrote of the importance of recognizing the “small sacrifices” that are “available daily and hourly as opportunities to advance in self-denial.” She had previously considered herself an atheist, but as a Catholic convert, she found awe in the power and grace that resulted from the proper exercise of freedom. She said that small, daily sacrifices can deepen one’s “conviction of being closely bound to the Lord who was obedient to death on the cross,” even though “to the children of this world such action probably appears as useless, senseless, and petty.” “The Savior, who for thirty years filled his daily work with such small sacrifices, will judge differently.” Edith explained:
Children of the world say they are free when they are not subject to another’s will, when no one stops them from satisfying their wishes and inclinations. For this dream of freedom, they engage in bloody battles and sacrifice life and limb. The children of God see freedom as something else. They want to be unhindered in following the Spirit of God; and they know that the greatest hindrances do not come from without, but lie within ourselves. Human reason and will, which would like too much to be their own masters, are unaware of their susceptibility to be swayed by natural inclinations and so be enslaved by them. There is no better way of being freed of this slavery and receptive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit than that of holy obedience.
We should not imitate the behaviors that we know do not elevate our neighbors’ senses of beauty and true love and truth. Most of our politics now do not. Think, for example, about the immiseration of abortion. Often, campaign ads and political rhetoric about the issue only do more damage. There are so many ways we could help mothers. There are so many ways we could help families. And what about the children — including those languishing in foster care? We must insist that women, children, and men deserve better than abortion, and we must work together for human flourishing.
Celebrate freedom. And remember that our miserable politics are an invitation for us to apply our freedom better, not just when it comes to presidential elections but also in our daily decisions, which are usually much closer to home — and to the heart — than what happens in Washington, D.C.
This column is based on one available through Andrews McMeel Universal’s Newspaper Enterprise Association.