We Need More Freedom Please

A few words about the heart cry to live free.

We Need More Freedom Please

I would like to say a few words about the heart cry to live free. It is a cry within every breast and everyone can relate to this cry in one way or another. There are many kinds of freedom. There is spiritual freedom and there is natural freedom. Both  of these are good things. It is good for people to be free.

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

Spiritual freedom is the greater of these freedoms. It is possible to be free spiritually even if you are never free naturally. Every person should seek to be spiritually free. A hymnist wrote; “He breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free.” 1 Jesus Christ does, indeed, set us free. It cannot happen any other way. Only Jesus’ blood and sacrifice is worthy to satisfy God’s requirement for justice. Both God’s love and justice were displayed that day as Jesus hung from the cross. It was a gift of love like none other ever known.
How did Jesus’ death reconcile people to God? It did so by providing “redemption.” To “redeem” literally means to “purchase back, to ransom, to liberate from slavery, captivity, or death, by the payment of a price.” 2 An example of redemption would be the provision that some Israelite slaves had, of paying a price, in money, to purchase their freedom. On a much grander and wider scale, Jesus Christ offered His life as a ransom. He said; “even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28 ASV), and the Bible further says of Him; “who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times;” (1 Timothy 2:6 ASV). We also read; “being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” (Romans 3:24 ASV), and; “in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Ephesians 1:7 ASV).The account of the life of Jesus Christ does not end with His death on the cross, but it triumphs with His resurrection from the dead. Before His death, Jesus repeatedly spoke about this great miracle that would occur:
Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.’
 
Luke 18:31-33

Jesus died for us, in our place and rose again. Once we repent,  accept His lordship and His grace, by faith, we are reconciled to God and redeemed by Him. This is the greatest freedom. Find it by surrendering to Jesus.

NATURAL FREEDOM

Natural freedom is to have freedom of choice, freedom of speech, voluntary association and individual judgment as opposed to governments making judgements for you and requiring you to accept their values.

Freedom from governmental overreach is also a heartcry.  Many today have  loudly advocated for a reduction in government spending, a reduction in taxes and a reduction in the national debt. Many Canadians feel that their elected and non-elected officials have had too much power given to them within the political system. Many Canadians feel squeezed as their rights and freedoms are encroached upon and, perhaps, violated by government officials and legal authorities. The lives of individual Canadian citizens are over-regulated. This problem needs to be addressed. Steps toward resolving this problem should include measures aimed at decentralizing power, dividing power more fairly between regional and federal governments, lowering taxes, encouraging freedom of speech and launching a deregulation campaign. Limitations on the powers of federal governments should be put in place and clearly defined.

Governments should look at ways in which they can begin to withdraw from, and loosen control of,  the education system and the personal lives of individual Canadians. Not only should they look at ways of withdrawing from these areas, they should set up avenues for common Canadians to have choices in these areas. We need to take a look at the way regulations are made and who they affect. We need a  deregulation campaign  to scale back so many of the unnecessary and constrictive regulations that fill our legal system. If regulations need increasing in some part of our society,  it should be the type of regulations that restrict the abuse of power by those who are most powerful within society, the banking, corporate and political elite. Regulation should be stripped back from those most harmed by it, that is the poor and the common individual. It needs to be recognized that many of these regulations are driven by a powerful environmental movement that is not all bad, but  in some cases, is influencing government to impose unreasonable restrictions upon the lives of common Canadians. Every regulation that is added creates the need for more regulations and this is becoming too great a burden upon the public.

Initiatives to increase freedom of speech are important and need to be further expanded. Many people who claim to believe in freedom of speech actually do not. Anyone believes that someone who shares their own beliefs should have the maximum amount of freedom to speak those beliefs. However, many of these ones, when they hear someone speaking contrary to their beliefs, believe that government or the legal system should be involved in shutting down this speech.  Some want limited freedom of speech, however, We need greater freedom of speech in every area of public life.

I believe that much of Canadian society needs to be awakened to the reality of the great slope that we are all sliding down. The world is changing at a furious pace and governments are continually shrinking the boxes that we live in, by increasing regulations and placing limitations on our freedoms.  If we continue on the path that we are sliding down, one day we will wake up with virtually no freedoms and in the control of governments that micromanage our lives. May we resist this change.

Shawn Stevens
 

I would like to invite you to read more of what I have written on the topic of  spiritual and natural freedom. My other website Zionchristianministry.com contains short writings on the topic of spiritual search and spiritual freedom. These can be viewed at http://www.zionchristianministry.com/publications/tracts-by-shawn/.

My other website freedomandsocialorder.com contains short writings on natural freedom. For this I invite you to visit my the site freedomandsocialorder.com. Please only do so if you agree with the terms and conditions that I have listed below. The following subpages are particularly relevant: the subpage Free Society at http://freedomandsocialorder.com/index.php/issues/strong-society/ and Values and Freedom http://freedomandsocialorder.com/index.php/issues/education/ and Freedom and Government at  http://freedomandsocialorder.com/index.php/issues/conservative-libertarianism/ and Freedom of Speech at http://freedomandsocialorder.com/index.php/issues/freedom-of-speech/

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REFERENCES :
Libertarianism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian
Woodcock, George (2004). Anarchism: A History Of Libertarian Ideas And Movements. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press. p. 16. ISBN 9781551116297.
    •    "Libertarianism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
    •    David Boaz (1998). Libertarianism A Primer. London: The Free Press. pp. 22–25. ISBN 0-684-84768-X.
"Libertarianism". Oxford English Dictionary (3 ed.). 2010. libertarian A.1.(subscription required)
    •    William Belsham (1789). Essays. C. Dilly. p. 11Original from the University of Michigan, digitized May 21, 2007
David Boaz, The Libertarian Reader: Classic and Contemporary Writings from Lao Tzu to Milton Friedman,Simon and Schuster, 2010, p. 123, ISBN 1439118337, ISBN 9781439118337 Levant, Ezra. Shake Down. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2009.
Ron Paul: The Movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYIP8lGBtFQ


Fundamental Freedoms

Here is a test to see if you live in a free society. As a human being, you have certain inalienable rights and freedoms given by God, as well as other lesser freedoms given by government. Governments often like to place restrictions on these rights when it suits their purposes to do so. To the degree that you are allowed to live out these rights is the degree to which your society is truly free.

Important Freedoms

  • Freedom to practice faith.
  • Freedom to discern between good and evil and to stand for good.
  • Freedom to follow conscience.
  • Freedom to speak what you believe, even if others take offence to such speech.
  • Freedom of press.
  • Freedom to defend oneself by use of force.
  • Freedom to own private property.
  • Freedom to do what you decide with your own income.
  • Freedom to associate with persons of your choice and freedom not to associate with persons whom you choose not to associate with.
  • Freedom of movement within your country.
  • Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.
  • Freedom to own firearms.
  • Freedom from arbitrary arrest and from the delay of a just hearing.
  • Freedom to contract freely with others without interference.
  • Freedom to choose how to medically care for yourself and family.

Shawn Stevens

 

References
Joel M.;Skousen, Andrew Skousen, Strategic Relocation--North American Guide to Safe Places.Joel Skousen Designs; 3rd edition (2011).