What is Freedom? by Bob Imbrigiotta

(This essay is part two of three on a discussion about Freedom)

The political atmosphere in this country has a hatred attached to it. We look at the other party like an arch rival in sports – all that matters is that you win at the ballot box. Whatever the other side says we will find a way to disagree with them. America needs to find areas of common ground to become ONE TEAM USA not Democrats versus Republicans! When we find common ground, we will start solving problems fast like flashes of lightning in the sky. Maybe that common ground topic is Freedom? Maybe a discussion on Freedom will permit us to overpower the bias and distractions clouding our minds, and speak directly to people’s hearts – the home of the Human Spirit.

While this may seem odd to some (or most), I would like to suggest how living the American Dream or Progressive Dream might differ from the perspective of the individual (light shown by a gas burner). When do you sense your internal spirit being fed? When does it feel like someone is trying to put out your flame? 

American Dream/Freedom

First and foremost, Freedom is an OPEN feeling, like stars in the night sky – nothing blocking the path of your light.

Freedom is that open feeling when you are around family and friends, enjoying every moment. (I’ll never forget those awesome feelings of how it felt as a child when our huge family in Cleveland got together for holidays)

Freedom is the right to value and defend the preciousness of Life! There is no better example than the movie, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with Jimmy Stewart (George). In the movie, George attempted suicide after misplacing a large sum of money. But, George was saved by an angel.  Talking with the angel, George suggested that maybe it would have been better if he had never been born. The angel (with permission from Heaven) gave him his wish, and in so doing, gave George the wonderful gift of seeing how precious his life was. He saw all the people he helped throughout his life as well as those lives he saved. He saw the void in the world from never marrying and having a family. George realized that in the end, it was not about him, it was about his family and those he touched in this world. George begged the angel to let him have his life back! After being given his life back, George had a new perspective and rejoiced rather than lamented the possibility of going to jail (for the lost money). What mattered most is he had his life back! 

Freedom is Liberty when you have a seat at the table of government, where the individual is celebrated.  It is where you have the right to speak and document your views, to petition your government for change, and to join others in protest.

Freedom is the Right to worship God in the church of your choosing without any government interference or constraints. George Washington said in 1775:

"While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him only in this case they are answerable."

Freedom is the Pursuit of Happiness, those feelings that describe the start of a new challenge, when you set your sights on the mountain top ready to begin the journey. Freedom is the feeling when you go camping and realize that you're in charge. It is up to you to set-up the camp site, because there is no one else to lean on.

Freedom is the feeling when you receive your diploma at your high school or college graduation ceremony.  It is the satisfaction, the optimism about the future, and the knowledge that you will play the lead role in attaining your goals.

Freedom is the feeling when you are in the locker room just before a sporting event.  It is the nervousness and the sense of peace inside that tells you have a role on your team.

Freedom is also refocusing the light inside of you when you are criticized.  When a parent, coach or teacher/professor tells you that you’ve failed or messed-up, feelings of panic and disappointment can lead to course correcting. Freedom drives you to keep on trying, to keep sacrificing, knowing that the pain is worth the gain. Your internal flame keeps on burning because criticism is no match to your fortitude!

Freedom is having some good stress and fear in your life; it forces you to make decisions. Many of the best ones in your life are made in the heat of the battle.

Freedom is closely associated with the emotion of Love.

Progressive Dream/Captivity

Like our gas burner example which burned on high with Freedom. The flame of one in captivity is like a pilot light, barely on, fed just enough gas to stay lit. Explaining captivity requires fewer words because life has fewer options.

Captivity is a CLOSED boxed-in feeling, a feeling of being smothered.

 

Captivity is when you have no say in your government. No seat at the table of government,your seat has been moved to the stands to watch.  

Captivity is when your government borrows money that destroys the future of your children. Captivity is the feeling of helplessness when they make reckless decisions.

Captivity is when basic things will be provided to you at the expense of starting new challenges. There will be no more mountains to climb. There will be few times in your life when you’re in charge; many of life’s decisions will now fall into someone else’s control.

Captivity is having fewer dreams about your future, knowing that your potential is limited. Not having the drive to keep trying, no payoff for sacrifice.

Captivity is sadness, it is losing hope! Troubled times bring on despair and acceptance of a life with limited opportunity.

Captivity is when people cling to voting groups out of fear, unfortunately factions of corruption, power and greed feed off of this emotion which just leads to more dependence on their false promises of hope.

Captivity is being bullied and ridiculed by people  for believing in the teachings of the Bible on abortion and gay marriage. Captivity is when society claims a moral high ground on issues, not based on morality as defined by God in an absolute sense, but using a relative morality based on public opinion polls.

Captivity is closely associated with the emotion of Fear.

Where do we go from here?

The cultural mixing of the American Dream and the Progressive Dream has one outcome – to smother the flame of the Human Spirit. Unfortunately, the slow degradation of Freedom is like a freeway where traffic appears to be flowing smoothly, and all of a sudden crawls to a halt when a few more cars enter the freeway. If that were to happen in America, in a flash, the lights inside each of us would go dim from the clutter and control of government. I sense it is already starting to happen, in the last four years I have not felt the same on Independence Day (July 4^th) as I did when I was younger. In fact, nothing can describe how open I felt on our bicentennial (July 4^th, 1776). There was something extra special about that day, maybe a ‘seed’ was planted meant to sprout many years later?

Focusing on the Human Spirit (flame) inside each of us is no different than Moses who encountered God in the burning bush, or for us Christians (I am Catholic) who believe that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World.

So much of life today is gray; black and white no longer seem to be choices in life. But when we dig down to our souls, the place where there is a black and a white, the place where the Human Spirit lives, we will see clearly the differences between these dreams. If we can break away from all the clutter and focus on the light, we will see the dark-side of the Progressive Dream. That will set us free, unify us, and find the common ground for ONE TEAM USA!