The Two-edged Sword

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I'd like to focus on the word, free, for a moment. 

Suppose a deer gets caught in a barbed wire fence and can’t get away. And suppose some good people who happen to have wire cutters with them cut the deer loose, and the deer runs off wherever it likes. (This is a very popular motif on Facebook.) The deer is freed, and therefore free. Or is he?

Suppose then that the hunting season opens and men with rifles are roaming the woods and meadows. The deer has good reason to be afraid and nervous until the season ends and frees the deer from the anxiety of the hunt. He feels free (well except for the coming of a winter of hunger, cold, disease, wolves and coyotes, perhaps).

 Freedom from fear is the principal thing most refugees are seeking.

And then there’s freedom of choice (“order whatever you like, son”) and there’s freedom of movement, which we deny transgressors as punishment by jailing them. And there are other freedoms, like freedom from discrimination, racism, sexism, etc. 

We might even say that variety frees us from the ennui of boredom.

We all understand, though, that freedoms are never absolute (“order whatever you like son, but no, you can’t have a beer.”) The law prohibits that which threatens the well-being of the community or nation. Families have rules for the same reason.

Which brings me to Western democracies’ guarantees for Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Movement and Freedom of Religion. The limits to freedom of movement are obvious; you may not trespass on another’s property, for instance. The scope of freedom of speech, though, is not as easily determined. Slander and Libel can be judged to have occurred in a court process, based on the injury they’ve caused, but what about the transmission of unproven conspiracy theories that accumulate and spread to the point where individuals and communities suffer damage by them?

How many children will die of communicable illnesses because misinformation about vaccines has clouded caregivers’ judgment? Why does posting false theories on social media not make one liable for a charge, for instance, of criminal negligence? Why is not the hurling of insult considered an assault, much like a punch in the nose? 

I have been insulted in a meeting, unjustly, I thought. It hurts far worse than a nosebleed.

It takes courage and character to stay on the moral high ground when tensions rise and emotions dominate. Like the brandishing of a weapon, speech is the tool of aggression most favoured when we are frustrated and angry at others. To shoot at a supposed enemy from behind a hedge or to denigrate persons on social media are less likely to draw retaliation than a gunfight at the OK Corral. So when I feel myself reaching for the sword of misinformation or invective, or for a weapon to inflict suffering on another person, I’m at my weakest, most cowardly self.

And for those who call ourselves Christians, a good idea would be to reread Matthew 5-7: the core of Jesus’ social teaching is that we reach for the peaceable kingdom through acts of love, even to enemies. This is not a fringe, not a debatable side issue. This is the core and substance of Christian discipleship; the future of humanity hangs on it.

In 1987, my wife and I stayed with a family of three, a grandmother, her daughter and granddaughter in an apartment in what was then “East Germany,” a highly controlled state with severe penalties for exercising “free speech” if it contradicted the Communist Party ideology. You had to apply for an exit permit to go on a visit or vacation outside the country. We chatted well into the nights and I gleaned the following: 1) they were well supplied with living accommodation, food, medical services, but 2) the unjust curtailing of movement was like a stone in their shoes; they yearned to be free.

Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Movement, Freedom of Religion are the cornerstones of human rights; we neglect their protection at our peril. It takes character, however, to recognize and observe the difference between freedom as a blessing, and freedom as a tool or  weapon. This discernment can’t be taken for granted.

gg.epp41@gmail.com 

 

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