Humans, like animals, dislike being caged, and like to roam about free, both physically and spiritually, and people call it liberty. Liberty, in physical sense, involves no subjugation under oppressive measures, in spiritual or philosophical sense, involves a free will that breaks people free from the bondage of sins. Maslow A. H presented his hierarchy of needs, which stated that after satisfying the basic physiological needs of food, people’s desires moves to a higher level that demand something only freedom could offer, such as self-esteem, self-actualization, which can only be actualized through spiritual means. Freedom had an irresistible attraction to human throughout history. Human chased after freedom as moth are drawn to the flames. Politically, people defied authoritative oppression like Fascism, Totalitarian, Human right infringement like slavery, discrimination against minorities and has acquired different degrees of success.
Freedom has always not been easy to acquire, its cost were often bloodshed and gore, and backsliding is common. The quest of finding freedom itself is contradictory to its own idealism. Anti-totalitarian movement often ended-up as an central–powered system, a campaign starting up as a human rights movement sometimes resulted in an harsher system that deprived people more of their freedom. Even the implications of freedom are elusive to human understanding. Philosophers and theologians in the east of west have long been debating the meaning of real freedom.
Different cultures and race gave different definitions to freedom, and needless to say, human roots run deep, often blurring geophysical and spatial boundaries, most of eastern and western idealism concerning freedom are generally the same and can be categorized as several kinds. Freedom is described as either forgetting one’s ambitions, letting go of everything one ever strives for in replacement for a careless dream of bufferflies in a casual nap, or finding a secluded scenery of utter beauty and waste away one ‘s life in such a place. Another form of freedom, far more dominant in far eastern countries, is people with higher educations, often court official will lead a life among people, their goal is to meld seamlessly into higher ladders of society and acquired more monetary and familial resources, and having more resources at their command means achieving for them a greater degree of freedom. Nevertheless, it lead people to wonder, if freedom is a superlative word, then will freedom itself become a bondage? Drawing more people to acquire freedom while itself is nothing but an endless pit hole. Why people will by all means secure their so-called freedom in everyway. At first glace, the two forms of freedom may seem entirely distinct from each other, the first form is free from any social fetters, the second is being free by incorporating themselves into social conventions and by climbing to the top of the social ladders, acquiring an relative freedom that is temporarily satisfying. After some consideration, we would know that these two forms of idealism of freedom are generally the same, the first kind is centered upon acquiring mental superiority to the extent of not taking upon oneself social responsibilities and the second kind is focused on acquiring more material and power. When we looked closer, we can find a darker side hidden deeper into the seemingly innocuous meaning of the first form of freedom. It sounds so familiar with the satanic declaration in Isaiah 14:13-14 NIV
You said in your heart,
I will ascend to heaven;
Above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
For these people, God’s words for them are
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who laid the nations low!
The first philosophical view on liberty which demands cutting all ties to human society is nothing more than an empty idealism which means even freedom itself, being without any limitation is more of a curse than a blessing. A heart that longed for a personalized freedom but get anything less will breed discontentment and further fuels violence. How many times in the course of history, that social uprising were carried out under the name of false idealisms, such as complete equality of men and women, even distribution of materialistic possessions. The idealism fomented social revolutions often begets the same token of social effect, the effect reverberate in circles. By letting human ideals rule humans only made freedom far more out of reach for them, the true freedom can never be acquired this way. People’s freedom is to be at liberty of their own actions, but no one can be truly responsible of the implication of their actions, as in Christianity, no one can fully atone for their sins, except the only one who is truly free, Jesus Christ, who is under no bondage, but at his own will, sacrificed himself for everyone who beliefs he himself is not free. It is only when human stand along with Jesus can they ever be anywhere near freedom.
True freedom is not merely based on human whims or ideals much less on boundless human endeavors, but on the respect of God’s laws which righteously guides our ways and channel us into the right perspective. Freedom without limits is not freedom at all but whimsical fantasies, only when the right limitations are set before people with a kind and righteous guide that lead people with an all-knowing and sympathetic heart can people truly grasp freedom. As described by Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
And as in the Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, the Christian pilgrims who always complains of a heavy burden on his shoulders had his cumbersome burden taken off instantaneously the moment he fix his eyes upon Jesus’s cross. Only when people choose their way using the freedom that their creator gave them, and walked on the right path alongside our big brother Jesus will freedom ever come our way.
The second kind of view on acquiring freedom is more focused on material abundance. If wealth is so important and alluring to people that many abandon even their soul and family to obtain it, why does so many rich people are still using alcohol and drugs to quench their desires. Wealth itself can never be enough for most, and even the stimulus of sexual debaucheries and chemicals wears thin soon enough. Then again, at the point of life-and-death, people suddenly realize that the pleasure they savored in life can never save them nor the wealth they heaped in this life will ever be of any help to relieve them of their sore conscious or send them to a better life. Therefore, people rashly draws to the premature conclusion that the ultimate freedom lies with the soul and never with material wealth, however, as described beforehand in the first of form of freedom, even the freedom of the soul can be deceiving, that is, if we do not stand with Jesus Christ himself, freedom can never come our way.
