What Is Liberty?

GrandPause: Liberty is God’s gift; liberties the devil’s.
(German proverb)

Abraham Lincoln used the wolf and the sheep to illustrate the conundrum people often face when it comes to the application of liberty. The shepherd, Mr. Lincoln noted, drives the wolf from the sheep, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty.

As reflected in the German proverb above, we often confuse liberty and liberties. Self-centered, irresponsible people interpret liberty to mean whatever they please without any constraint by laws or rules of nature. This is, in fact, a prevalent attitude in politics and many discussions of individual liberty as described in the US Constitution.

True liberty is a mostly misunderstood concept in our day. Liberty is never about personal rights as much as it personal responsibilities for the good of others. It’s what Jesus modeled for us when he emptied Himself of His rights of equality with God to become a servant for our benefit. Liberty is being free to do that which is right and makes much of God’s goodness and greatness.

As we approach our annual Fourth of July celebrations as a nation, I thought it might be good for us to look back at the wisdom and insights of those whose views would be worth our further consideration and dialogue. These are truths we would do well to ponder, model and discuss with our grandchildren so that they are not tempted to redefine the meaning of liberty for their own purposes—like so many do today.

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time… Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty. –Thomas Jefferson

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. –George Bernard Shaw

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.  –Benjamin Franklin

The effect of liberty to individuals is that they may do what they please: we ought to see what it will please them to do, before we risk congratulations.  –Edmund Burke

License they mean when they cry liberty.  –John Milton

To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.  -James Madison

Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.  -Patrick Henry

Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand… Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. -John Adams

Here are some suggestions conversations starters to consider with your family during your Fourth of July celebrations this year (make sure the grandkids are included):

1. What do you think this 4^th of July holiday is about?

2. Liberty is at the heart of why we celebrate and a foundational piece of our Declaration of Independence and US Constitution. What do you think our Founding Fathers meant when they used the term liberty? How does that compare with what you believe about liberty?

3. What do you think Benjamin Franklin meant by “essential liberty” in his quote above?

4. What is the difference between liberty and license (liberties)? Which do you think the authors of the US Constitution had in mind when they wrote it?