Freedom, Responsibility, and Quotations

I plan to join dozens of other folks in the garden by Our Lady of the Angels church for two more evenings. We'll be praying a freedom rosary.

In my case, going outside to pray when it's warmer and muggier than I like is one way to show solidarity with other folks who think that freedom and life are important.

It's About Love

The rules are simple:

• 'Love God, love your neighbor.'
  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:29-31, Luke 10:25-27; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1822)
• Everybody's our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44, Luke 10:29-37; Catechism, 1825)

Many of the ideas are simple, too:

• God
  • Is in control
  • Knows our needs
  • Will give us what we need
  (Catechism, 303, 305, Matthew 6:31-33)
• Human life
  • Is sacred
  • Begins at conception
  (Catechism, 2258, 2270, 2274)

Faith and Freedom

For two millennia, folks have either had trouble understanding those rules and ideas: or didn't like the implications. I think that's why we get more specific rules like these:

• Religious freedom is vital
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2104-2109)
  • For everybody
    (Catechism, 2106)
• Faith
  • Is important
    (Catechism, 1814-1816)
  • Without works is dead
    (Catechism, 1815)
  • Must be
    • Kept
    • Acknowledged
    • Lived
    • Professed
    • Spread
    (Catechism, 1816)

Life Matters

So far, that looks safely 'spiritual:' not the sort of thing that would interfere with daily life. Ideas like the sacredness of human life, when taken seriously, have potentially inconvenient implications, though, like:

• People
  • Aren't all alike
  • Have equal dignity
  • Must not be treated unjustly
  (Catechism, 1934-1938)
• Murder is wrong
  • Even if the victim is
    • Sick
      (Catechism, 2276-2279)
    • Helpless
      (Catechism, 2270-2275)
    • Yourself
      (Catechism, 2280-2283)

Freedom and Personal Responsibility

When a nation's rulers order citizens to act in a way that is not right, "I was only following orders" isn't an acceptable excuse. (June 26, 2012) That's because:

• Some actions are always wrong
  (Catechism, 1789)
  • Even if a leader says it's okay
    (Catechism, 2242)
  (Catechism, 2259-2262, 2268-2270)
• Natural law
  • Expresses the original moral sense
  • Through the use of reason enables people to see
    • The good and the evil
    • The truth and the lie
  (Catechism, 1954)

Thoughts About Freedom

America's Independence Day is coming this Wednesday. Folks have a habit of trotting out quotations for the occasion, and I'm no exception:

"The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage."
Thucydides
Greek historian (471 BC - 400 BC) via The Quotations Page

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"Freedom is a possession of inestimable value."
Cicero
Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC) via The Quotations Page

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"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of the United States (1743 - 1826) via The Quotations Page

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"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."
Sir Winston Churchill
British Prime Minister (1874 - 1965) via The Quotations Page

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"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
Ronald Reagan
40th president of US (1911 - 2004) via The Quotations Page

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Related posts:

• "Decisions: Ethical, and Political"
  (June 26, 2012)
• "Coney Island School, 'Offensive' Song, and 'Foreigners' "
  (June 10, 2012)
• "Individuals, the Common Good, and All That"
  (May 13, 2012)
• "Freedom of Speech: Bothersome, but Valuable"
  (January 27, 2012)
• "Cultural Chaos, Divisiveness, and CNN"
  (April 1, 2010)