FREEDOM TO LIVE, FREEDOM TO BELIEVE, AND FREEDOM TO EXPRESS by J.P. Abecilla

"And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born." Acts 22:28

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth." John F. Kennedy

“No one can kill in the name of God. This is an aberration. There is a limit to freedom of expression.” Pope Francis

Freedom is not absolute. It transcends the serenity of peace but limits the evil of sin. It infiltrates the bondage of fear but restrains the spontaneity of perdition. Nonetheless, thinkers alike cannot give a specific definition of this abstraction thus the abuse and bewilderment. The application of the word however, is not subject to any preference but to the fidelity of its nature.

Anyone will feel disappointed if some will imprison others for the sake of someone’s freedom. It is very unlikely that children will suffer just to hide the incapability of others to maintain peace and order. Putting young ones on a cage while others are freely enjoying the outside world is depriving them to breathe the air of a free country. Is the Philippines free in the first place? I believe it is so. But how if someday, they will also need to imprison you or me for the sake of someone’s freedom? Is the government giving us another definition of freedom or are they offering us something that will redefine the word? I am afraid that someday I will wake up one morning and see our nation darkened with the clouds of political and ecclesiastical imperialism.

Visual representation and denial of freedom are somehow easy to spot unto. But the invisible ones, like the atmospheric world of spirituality, are hard to detect especially by the eyes of them who are not aware of it. Some should be blamed if the truth has been deprived from them because of their apathetic and passive attitude towards spiritual matters. Indeed, religious freedom is really felt in our country but in a euphemistic manner. Moreover, respecting other’s belief is embraced and accepted by all, even by the writer himself, but how can someone guard the truth in the midst of a treacherous acceptance? A forceful way of converting others like suicide bombings and religious leader assassination must really be condemned, but how about the sharp deadly thrust of manipulative speeches and writings? Most spectators could not discern that easily but the spiritually incline ones can.

Sir Thomas Browne asserted, “Scholars are men of peace; they bear no arms; but their tongues are sharper than sword; their pens carry further and give a louder report than thunder. I had rather stand in the shock of a basilisk than in the fury of a merciless pen.” A conquering eagle, Napoleon I, also utters, “There are only two powers in the world, the sword and the pen; and in the end the former is always conquered by the latter.” The great battle then is raging in paper, books, media, streets, pulpits, and everywhere you find people using their voices and pens. The freedom of the press, of speech, and of expression is a real need and should be seen in a free country. Hence, limiting the freedom to speak through a law of “hate speech” should be reconsidered. “Tongues are sharper than sword” and a pen could be “merciless” but it can free souls from mental and spiritual imprisonment. To add however, immature gatherings made out of naivete is not plausible at all.Nonetheless, religious insult should not be given the chance to take the opportunity. With that, what is insulting and what is not, what is “hateful” and what is not must be subject to a certain standard depending however, on what kind of measurement someone use. As for me, I take the Holy Bible (AV1611) as my final authority in faith and practice.

Freedom is enjoyed by individuals who are free to think, free to speak and free to live. It is limited when someone’s name is trodden down, when a single life or the society as a whole is endangered, and when someone’s soul is at stake in a single step to hell. Let freedom rings then in the Philippine islands through the illuminating power of the truth, mercy, peace, and love that can only be found on the Lord Jesus Christ. As Jesus says, “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you FREE” (John 14:6).