Liberty, God’s Gift to Mankind

By Nicholas Kovacs

With any ideology, there are always extremes from the left and right of the ideological spectrum.  With the ideology of liberty; such as in the area of sexuality, the perspective from the far left views sexual liberty as a right for men and women to behave however they desire, creating a mentality where men and women act out on their sexual passions in order to feel liberated. On the other hand, the extreme right becomes so puritanical, that it sees attraction to the opposite sex as a near crime against humanity.

In our Western Culture rooted in Judeo- Christianity, the radical left mentality has taken over the beliefs dealing with liberty, specifically in areas of sexuality.  Our Western Culture, which once embraced a Judeo-Christian concept of mastery over one's sexual desires, now embraces a mentality of acting on one’s desires anywhere and at any time.  This radical left concept of sexuality can be found in the entertainment industry for example, which is infected with it. The Janet Jackson breast exposure at the Super Bowl halftime show, is a small example of this infection.

In a majority of Middle Eastern Cultures, the religion of Islam embraces a puritanical concept of sexual behavior.  Women in these cultures are considered to be so sexually provocative, that they must be forced to hide their physical attributes in order to maintain morality. The concept of preserving morality is a noble one indeed, but even though Islam promotes morality which at times can go too far with the burka for example, the religion’s teachings on sexuality is far more liberal than even the concept of sexuality embraced by the far left in America!

In support of this statement, consider the fact that Muslim men are allowed five wives at once, and are rewarded in heaven with promiscuous relationships with beautiful virgins, who will bow down to their every desire. America on the other hand, which is heavily criticized by Islamic nations for being immoral; which at times is called for, refuses to embrace polygamy and the concept of an eternal orgy in heaven, because its founding principles of liberty is built on a loving God, not on a dictatorial God.

During his 2003 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush reinforced America’s teaching on liberty, when he said:

Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity. (State of the Union Address, 1/28/2003)

I truly believe the President beautifully has captured the essence of what liberty is; a gift from a loving God, not a gift from man.  That is the problem in our world today. We see everything as our own creation, forgetting that everything that is seen and unseen is created by God!

This gift from God; our freedom, is not based on the freedom believed by the radical left, nor by the radical right, but a freedom based on a simple rule; the Natural Moral Law. The Natural Moral Law is the 10 Commandments written on our hearts.  These simple rules must be followed not out of fear, but out of love.  In our Western Culture, the concept of individuality is sadly over emphasized, creating a rebellion against the Natural Moral Law.  The interesting thing about this rebellion, is that the rebels who criticizes the 10 Commandments of being too rigid and not allowing freedom, never hesitate to support stopping at traffic lights, proclaiming that the rules of traffic lights enable liberty and safety.  G. K. Chesterton said it perfectly, when he said:

Every sane man recognises that unlimited liberty is anarchy, or rather is nonentity. The civic idea of liberty is to give the citizen a province of liberty; a limitation within which a citizen is a king. ("The Story of the Family" The Superstition of Divorce")

This means if we did not have traffic lights for example, there would be chaos in the streets.  Traffic lights are a law, and if broken, there are consequences. Our society, specifically our government, has a responsibility to protect its people.  Just laws are created not to destroy our liberty, but are created to protect our liberty and to guard it.

God, who is supreme over all creation, has created 10 laws. This was done not out of malice, but out of a desire of love to protect us; His citizens from the danger of sin. These rules from God are the traffic lights of the supernatural world, telling us exactly how far our freedom can go.  As Catholics, we know that without rules; specifically the rules from God, there is no true liberty, and that deviating from these rules, one will only encounter chaos; never freedom. The ultimate authority of our liberty is God, and He is the one who has given us the gift of freedom out of love, so that we may be able to spend eternity with Him in Paradise. If we embrace the true concepts of liberty; which is God's laws, we will have a prosperous and peaceful society.  If we choose to accept any radical form of liberty, our society is doomed to become a memory of failure.