“The Four Freedoms” and You

Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (a.k.a. FDR) lived and served in tumultuous times, his life ending at the death throes of World War II in April 1945. He was held to say, “It is a very good thing to demand liberty for ourselves and for those who agree with us, but it is a better thing and a rarer thing to give liberty to others who do not agree with us.”

Freedom presumably meant something both tangible and intangible to FDR. We can read from his “four freedoms” on the FDR Memorial Wall that freedom came only with a high price tag. One can only shrink at the devastating costs of freedom in such a campaign as WWII. FDR’s four freedoms are:

Freedom of Speech

The quote of Roosevelt’s above testifies to the truth of this ideal in his own estimations. If only each side of any conflict would submit more to the other, offering liberty, reconciliation would be a far easier goal to attain. When we consider that the commonalities are what draws a man and a woman together before they marry, only for them to find out how different they really are post-marriage, we begin to realise, if this can happen to a married couple how divergent are 6.5 Billion people (from all cultures and walks of life) going to be? Tolerance, in one word, is the requirement for this freedom to have any chance of becoming reality.

Freedom of Worship

All religions seek converts. Christianity is no exception. There’s the temptation for all religions to want to put forth their unique views as superior to others. Perhaps the religion most worthy actually should seek to meet the ideals of FDR’s ‘liberty’ quote above. Freedom to worship is more than ‘my religion is better than yours,’ and it’s more than mere toleration. It is seeking to rise above anything negative, truly loving all ‘believers’--that is true spiritualism--it transcends the barriers and limitations of humanness.

Freedom from Want

Doesn’t every single life on this planet deserve basic food, water, sanitation, shelter, basic medical care, fellowship with other people, education, love, and joy? Yet the scales are continually out-of-balance in this broken world. One of the joyous ironies of the recent global financial meltdown was the perceived impact on Wall St ‘fat cats’ until we learned that it was Joe Public with a mortgage that was most affected. Most of us Westerners do not know the reality of this freedom; we take it for granted.

Freedom from Fear

Perhaps one of the most relevant freedoms is this one, barring the previous (i.e. freedom from want), for obvious reasons. Every single person deserves to live with hope for a good future and with love holding sway over the dangerous mindsets of fear. And those who cause fear should be crushed and brought to a swift repentance. God’s will be done and may freedom (as defined in the sentiment of Roosevelt) reign.

Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.