Many, many, years ago, I used to be on the conservatarian (conservative-libertarian) train because every political mouthpiece I got my info from was the same. For years I ignored that tug in my gut which said it crossed my Catholic values which would normally demand a moral restraint on freedom. I didn’t say anything because it went against the core of my conservatarian beliefs and I’d be at risk of having my throat jumped down by my fellow cultists. After all, when having the clairvoyant “freedom” goggles every gun toting patriot wears 24-7, any restriction on the tiniest “freedom” is some evil nefarious communist plot to lead us all to the gulags!
A little over a half a decade ago, I started to see the cracks in my beliefs as the CEOs of ConInc started to subtly show their hands. For those who have followed me enough, I am not a logic and reason egghead. I have more connection to my intuition than anything and when I get that strong pull from it, I listen and it's never wrong. So, when I started getting those strong tugs in my gut more frequently and more intensely when the ConInc high priests would open their mouths, I had no choice but to stop what I was doing and embark on self reflection. This was my conclusion:
Conservatism is no different than liberalism.
People like the say conservatives and liberals are opposites of the same coin. People who say that don’t realize just how true of a statement that is. “They are opposite sides of what kind of coin?” is the next logical question we should be asking. Conservatives in recent years have answered that – they are “classical liberals” meaning conservative and liberals are cut from the same cloth but argue over semantics like communists and socialists do over their twisted Marxist ideals. Meanwhile, I was raised that conservatism and liberalism had nothing in common, that they were night and day. I doubt I’m the only one who thought this and I’d wager many self-proclaimed conservatives, still think there is a difference. This admittance has blown the door wide open to reveal the two battling ideologies are one in the same.
So the next question we should be asking is “what is liberalism?”. The premise behind liberalism is freeing man from what oppresses him. Adding contexts to American liberalism, it was developed in a scientific renaissance where reason and logic flourished and shed light on the taboos and superstitions of a previously religious world, dismissing them outright. God was labeled as an oppressor and it was deemed through logic and reason could we find our way to paradise. With God tossed to the side, we were free to do anything with logic and reasoning being our new moral guides. One problem, though. People can use reason to justify anything.
While American “freedom” has afforded us many privileges other countries would kill for, the seed which was planted has now matured and we see that at its heart, “freedom” as an end was the intention all along. "Freedom" as an end is why we see the moral fabric of our once great society torn asunder with such ferocity and no one tried to stop it from happening. After all, if you tried to, that would mean limiting “freedom” which is a mortal sin in a “free” society.
If you wonder why I’m putting the word freedom in “ “ it’s because what we know as freedom is really a vice which Satan has twisted against us. Freedom’s sole purpose is to appease God; God is the end to freedom, “freedom” is not an end of itself. What’s worse is when you see the “freedom” mentality poison the minds of Christians. They are blind to that truth and ironically, they could easily quote the book which best warns us about the vices of “freedom” without understanding its message: Exodus.
Exodus is the famous story of how God’s people were brought out of slavery into freedom. The journey to freedom was a long one with many trials and failings along the way. Why did God grant His people freedom? To what end? The answer is to be in communion with Him in the form of obedience and service.
What does it look like when we abandon God as an end and replace it with “freedom”? Remember the golden calf? In no small part of appropriateness the golden calf was an idol of fertility and you can accurately state that the moral degeneration of the US started with the sexual revolution. “Freedom” began to rear its ugly head with the corruption of God’s greatest gift to us, sexuality. If you know your Bible well, you know how the scandal of the golden calf ended and it wasn’t pretty. So is “freedom” really a virtue? No, as such it should be limited.
I’m pro limiting “freedom” because it’s worth culling back the ability for a society like the US to tear itself down through moral degradation. Exodus isn’t just a freedom story, it’s a story ABOUT freedom and telling us why such a powerful thing exists and how it is a bridge between us and God. A bridge which doesn’t lead to God leads its pilgrims off the edge into the pit of hell.
Next time you hear someone spout “Muh freedom” in defense of immoral behavior or the state of an uncontrollable society, just know you are in the presence of someone whose brain is physically and morally rotten. These people should not be taken seriously in any moral discourse, but should be taken seriously as someone who is ok with tearing down the world around you.
It’s easy to see this train lost its brakes a long time ago and to lose hope, but I seem to remember being told once that of the original group who left Egypt, only a handful made it to the Promised Land because they remained faithful to God, keeping Him as an end, with their newfound freedom (forgive me if I’m wrong about this). Stay the course, keep God as your end as your exercise your freedoms, and you will be rewarded.
God Bless.
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