July 4th: Thoughts About Liberty and Our Catholic Faith
Some of us are enjoying an extended weekend holiday this year for July 4th, since it falls on a Thursday. I thought I'd share some thoughts about liberty from a Catholic point of view. (Remember I'm no theologian or any other kind of expert here, just a Catholic man expressing an opinion.)
First of all, I'm talking about the concept of "liberty" vs. "freedom." Our Founding Fathers often referred to liberty - a lot more than they did to freedom. Some other time we might get into the differences between the two terms, but not now.
I know thoughtful Catholics who have pointed out that "liberty" can imply a kind of individualism that really isn't faithful to Catholic teaching. It can wind up meaning the kind of individualism that more or less permits any sort of behavior "as long as you don't do anything to hurt someone else." Some Libertarians believe this, and so some Catholics believe you can't be Libertarian and Catholic.
I do understand the objection some Catholics have here, when liberty somehow allows or even encourages people to become libertines, that is one who behaves without moral scruple, especially in sexual matters. The words even sound alike. But I don't think there's an inevitable connection. So I'm not so sure that liberty has to be a bad thing. In fact, if you dust off your copy of the Declaration of Independence and read it you might agree with me. Too few of us ever get beyond those most famous words which are inevitably and generously quoted every year around this time:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
How many of us remember, or were ever taught, that those words were not some inspired vision that sprung from the individual imagination of Thomas Jefferson, but emerged from roots firmly planted in natural law? In fact, in the very first paragraph of the Declaration, we find a specific reference to that natural law when the signers stated in no uncertain terms that they were acting in order
“...to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them.” (emphasis added)
The signers justified their claim for independence on natural law. And we note that Jefferson wrote these words with the knowledge that every American of his generation understood exactly what he meant by “laws of nature.” Not only could Americans in Jefferson’s era understand that their claim to independence was justified by natural law, but they also understood that God, Creator of all human beings and everything in the universe in which they lived, was the author of that law.
I think a Catholic can agree with this. I don't think it implies that liberty inevitably leads to becoming a libertine. If you understand the concept of the natural law, and follow it, and remind yourself that natural law comes from God, then I don't see how liberty - when it recognizes the natural law - can be bad.
Happy 4th of July!
First of all, I'm talking about the concept of "liberty" vs. "freedom." Our Founding Fathers often referred to liberty - a lot more than they did to freedom. Some other time we might get into the differences between the two terms, but not now.
I know thoughtful Catholics who have pointed out that "liberty" can imply a kind of individualism that really isn't faithful to Catholic teaching. It can wind up meaning the kind of individualism that more or less permits any sort of behavior "as long as you don't do anything to hurt someone else." Some Libertarians believe this, and so some Catholics believe you can't be Libertarian and Catholic.
I do understand the objection some Catholics have here, when liberty somehow allows or even encourages people to become libertines, that is one who behaves without moral scruple, especially in sexual matters. The words even sound alike. But I don't think there's an inevitable connection. So I'm not so sure that liberty has to be a bad thing. In fact, if you dust off your copy of the Declaration of Independence and read it you might agree with me. Too few of us ever get beyond those most famous words which are inevitably and generously quoted every year around this time:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
How many of us remember, or were ever taught, that those words were not some inspired vision that sprung from the individual imagination of Thomas Jefferson, but emerged from roots firmly planted in natural law? In fact, in the very first paragraph of the Declaration, we find a specific reference to that natural law when the signers stated in no uncertain terms that they were acting in order
“...to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them.” (emphasis added)
The signers justified their claim for independence on natural law. And we note that Jefferson wrote these words with the knowledge that every American of his generation understood exactly what he meant by “laws of nature.” Not only could Americans in Jefferson’s era understand that their claim to independence was justified by natural law, but they also understood that God, Creator of all human beings and everything in the universe in which they lived, was the author of that law.
I think a Catholic can agree with this. I don't think it implies that liberty inevitably leads to becoming a libertine. If you understand the concept of the natural law, and follow it, and remind yourself that natural law comes from God, then I don't see how liberty - when it recognizes the natural law - can be bad.
Happy 4th of July!
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