What Does "Free" in the Framers' "Freedom" Mean?

Approaching the country's birthday this Friday (which is actually today, the 2nd), we will hear many heart moving, wrenching, palpitating songs and messages about the founding principle of our country ... freedom.

But what exactly does the "free" in the Framers' "freedom" mean? We live in a free country, so I can do whatever the ____ I want ... right? The American flag being flown on loan advertisements means that I can be free to purchase whatever I _____-well please ... right? America is that place my school guidance counselor told me that I can be whatever I want to be ... despite the fact I'm a senior with an 8th grade reading level and an inability to spell my own name ... right? Freedom is that sponsorship from the government to do with my sex whatever I want ... because it's my body and I have freedom of choice (so long as I vote for them) ... right? After all they told me that "the man" is the point man for society holding me back ... so they're going to take care of me and ensure that I have the same life results as those unfortunate people who have to work all their lives. Didn't they get the memo that Uncle Sam would take care of them too?

Allow me to take the liberty to correct such "interesting" and all-too-common but highly inaccurate myths about the Framers' concept of freedom. Yes, it is true that according to Jefferson, the D of I's author, that we are "endowed with certain inalienable rights ...." Inalienable rights are those given by God that cannot be given nor taken away by man.

If you were to take the time to read the Declaration of Independence ... which means of course that some measure of effort is required ... you might come across the phrase "the laws of nature and nature's God." The hands that rock the cradle of the Framers' "freedom" are nature's laws and nature's God. In other words any concept of freedom that is inconsistent with common human reason and God's divine revelation as found in the Bible is not among the "self-evident truths" of the Declaration and the Framers. In other words still further, it is not I who defines my own life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but the God who is the God of both nature and of the Bible. And what did Jesus say were the two most important laws of God?

1. Love God
2. Love neighbor

Freedom is less about being free to do whatever the ____ I want to ... and more about being able to do the most good for my neighbor and society with the least intrusion from the government. Therefore the inalienable rights of the Declaration are not so much about individualistic and privatized rights as about the free opportunity to practice individual responsibility towards God and neighbor without having to worry about a tyrannical government that thinks it is above nature's laws and nature's God.

For further reading on the Declaration of Independence, check out the Heritage Foundation:

• http://www.heritage.org/research/features/almanac/pdf/declarationintro.pdf
• http://www.heritage.org/research/features/almanac/pdf/declaration.pdf