4th of July Reflection: Freedom’s Fragile Reality

Independence Day is an opportunity for every citizen, and especially Christian citizens, to pause and remind ourselves of some of the critical lessons at the heart of virtuous living and representative government.

Growing up as the son of an American soldier, I spent a lot of my childhood in what was then West Germany. We were in Germany as a part of the Allied commitment to protect democracy in Western Europe. It was the 1980s, and things fluctuated from intense to severe.

From the many experiences that came from living in Cold War Germany, there were certain lessons that were regularly affirmed and became very clear in my young mind: Namely, freedom isn’t free, and good things are worth fighting for. The basis of these lessons came from a holistic view of the human person, which included an understanding of our dignity and an awareness and appreciation of our call to transcendence.

Freedom is a fragile reality.

It’s flat-out denounced by the fictional character of the Grand Inquisitor in the Russian novel The Brothers Karamazov. In the disturbing account of the Inquisitor, Jesus Christ returns to the earth, works miracles and gives hope to people. But he is quickly arrested and scrutinized by the Inquisitor; the examiner tells Christ that he is no longer needed. He mocks the freedom that Christ has given to humanity and tells the Savior that he has misjudged human nature.

The Inquisitor argues that people don’t want to be free and cannot be trusted with freedom. He declares that people simply want (and need) overlords and rulers. He argues that humanity should not be given freedom. In his view, it’s too dangerous, too unreliable and too uncertain. The Inquisitor believes that freedom must be restricted. People should be controlled by fear and led by harsh rulers. In such a way, the Inquisitor shows that he understands the turbulence of freedom but has forgotten the workings of grace and humanity’s capacity for moral and spiritual greatness.

Unlike the fear of the Grand Inquisitor, the Christian faith and the American experiment assert that freedom is our inheritance as the children of God — and it’s worth the risk.

Of course, such an assertion requires that freedom be rightly and fully understood. Freedom is a summons placed within the heart of every human person to live a life of nobility, self-control and goodness. Freedom is not the power to do whatever we want. It is the power to do what is right and good. Freedom always runs the risk of captivity, however, either by our own fallen hearts through sin, or by structures of governance that repress authentic liberty, self-determination, and a creativity born from virtuous living.

St. Paul describes the struggle for freedom in our hearts:

“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. … For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:1,13-14).

Read more at National Catholic Register