1
What’s So Great About Freedom?
Unitarian Univeralist Fellowship of Raleigh
July 6, 2014
Rev. John L. Saxon
I
OK. I’ll admit it. (Pause.) I was trying to be deliberately provocative when I titled my
sermon this morning “What’s So Great About Freedom?” and make those words a somewhat
snarky or sarcastic question rather than a patriotic affirmation.
I mean, how downright impudent and unpatriotic (and dumb) would it be for me to
suggest on the Sunday after our July 4th Independence Day holiday that freedom is anything but
great?
Freedom, after all, is even more American than apple pie! And who among us would
rather be less free than more free, much less lose our freedom by being thrown into jail, spied on,
silenced, discriminated against, oppressed, enslaved, or marginalized? (Pause.) Can I get a show
of hands? (Pause.) Not me, for sure!
Freedom is written into America’s DNA. We are the land of the free and the home of the
brave. Our nation was founded on the ideals (if not the reality) of freedom and equality—that all
men (and eventually all women and all nonwhite men) are created equal and have the inherent
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
But, even more than that, freedom is written into the DNA of every human being
regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, or
religion. To be free is an essential part of what it means to be human. And to be human—to live
life as a human being—is to exercise the freedom that is ours because, as the French
existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre wrote: Finding ourselves in this world, we cannot
escape responsibility for all of our choices and so are condemned, or fated, to be free.
And, finally, freedom is written into our religious DNA as Unitarian Universalists. Our
faith is founded on freedom—freedom of conscience unfettered by creeds, freedom of belief
uncircumscribed by religious orthodoxy and dogma, freedom to seek truth and meaning
wherever it may be found, freedom to gather ourselves in community and govern ourselves,
freedom to ordain and call (and fire) the ministers who serve our congregations, freedom of the
pulpit and freedom of the pew.
Ours is a liberal religion not because we are all politically liberal but because the
etymological root of liberal is liber, which means free and is the etymological source of liberty.
We are a free church that cherishes freedom and liberty as religious values.
So it would be heresy for me to suggest, here in this place and today on this day, that
freedom might not be so great after all. (Pause.) But, then again, we Unitarian Universalists are
heretics, so I’m not going to let that get in the way of what I want to say.
And what I want to say is that, as great as freedom is, freedom is not an end in and of
itself but rather the means to a greater end—or, to use the language of logical argument, that
freedom is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for being human: for living lives of meaning
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and value, living lives in relationship and community, living lives of beauty, truth, love,
compassion, justice, and peace.
II
In his 1941 book, Escape from Freedom, the 20th century German psychologist, Erich
Fromm, distinguishes between two types of freedom.
The first is what he calls freedom from or “negative” freedom, which is freedom from
external constraints placed on individual liberty by social conventions, other people, and
institutions—the absence, or relative absence, of external constraints on an individual’s ability to
make his or her own choices or live her life as she pleases. So, a person who is imprisoned or
enslaved or whose opportunities and choices are limited by poverty or discrimination enjoys
little or no “negative freedom.”
It is this type of freedom—freedom from or “negative” freedom—that, according to
Fromm, we in the modern, capitalist, consumerist, individualistic, and so-called enlightened
Western world have, incorrectly, equated with freedom—freedom from fear, freedom from want,
freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom of choice, freedom of opportunity, freedom to
pursue happiness.
Now don’t get me wrong. Neither Fromm nor I are saying there’s anything wrong with
that type of freedom—nothing at all. It’s valuable. It’s good. It’s necessary. It’s worth fighting
for.
But freedom from is not all there is. It’s not an end in and of itself. It’s not enough—
because, according to Fromm, “true” freedom is not simply freedom from but freedom to or
freedom for. “True” freedom is not simply freedom from but freedom for or, as Fromm would
say, “positive” freedom.
And just what, you may ask, is freedom for or “positive” freedom?
It’s the use of our freedom from to establish what Fromm calls a true connectedness with
others that goes beyond the superficial bonds of conventional social intercourse to not only fulfill
one’s own potential and fully realize our best and truest selves but also unite ourselves anew with
others and the world in ways that promote not only our own flourishing and well-being and
freedom as individuals but, more importantly, the flourishing and well-being and freedom of all
human beings and all life.
“True” freedom is not simply freedom from but freedom for.
III
Freedom is not an end in and of itself, but only a means to a greater end.
So, as great as freedom is, it’s not enough to be free. It’s not enough to be free because
we can be free to hate, free to kill, free to make war, free to treat others as less than human, free
to not care, free to look out only for “number one,” free to deplete the earth’s resources, free to
pollute, free to consume, free to waste our time and talents, free to take our freedom for granted.
It’s not enough to be free because what really matters is not so much our freedom as what
we do or don’t do with our freedom—how we use our freedom: whether we use it selfishly or
generously, wisely or foolishly.
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And let’s be honest with ourselves: Far too often, we human beings—Americans and
religious liberals—abuse and misuse the freedom we enjoy. We celebrate our freedom from but
neglect our responsibility to use our freedom for something greater than ourselves: the common
good and freedom, equality, justice, and peace for all.
“True” freedom, as my ministerial colleague Jim Brewster reminds us, “demands
responsibility to other and to Life. It is not enough,” he says, “to be merely disciples of freedom,
[for ewe must also be] disciples of intelligence, sensitivity, understanding and love. It is not
enough to be free from intolerable constraints [unless we use that freedom] for what is good and
true and beautiful.”
IV
Freedom, like so much in life, is relative.
All of us, I believe, are free—even those who wear the physical, emotional, or spiritual
shackles of slavery, abuse, oppression, poverty, or illness. And, yet, none of us is, or can be,
completely free, regardless of whether we are among those who live the privileged lives of
educated, middle-class Americans who can, within limits, do what we want, say what we want,
believe what we want, buy what we want, go where we want, and live the way we want to live.
We’re free because freedom is an inherent part of who we are as human beings. And, yet,
we’re also unfree because both external and internal constraints on human freedom are also a
part of what it means to be human and to live together as human beings in relationships and
families, in neighborhoods and communities, in nations and in the world.
We are both free and not free. That’s just the way it is. But, more importantly, that’s the
way it should be. Because who would ever want to be completely free from everyone and
everything—with no connections with or commitments to other people and communities:
connections and commitments that, by their very nature, limit our individual freedom? (Pause.)
Can I get a show of hands? (Pause.) Who would ever want to live in a community or nation in
which everyone practiced a radical and individualistic freedom, doing whatever he or she wanted
without regard to the freedom and needs of others and the common good? (Pause.) Anyone?
Please raise your hand! (Pause.) Of course not, because that’s anarchy and chaos, not
community.
What’s so great about freedom?
Freedom is great! (Pause.) But it’s not enough.
Freedom is great! (Pause.) But it’s not an end in and of itself.
Freedom is great! (Pause.) But it is only a means to a greater end.
Freedom is great! (Pause.) But it’s not absolute.
Freedom is great! (Pause.) But it’s great only when, in the words of Nelson Mandela, we
use our freedom in ways that respect and enhance the freedom of others.
Freedom is great! (Pause.) But, as the late Catholic theologian Thomas Merton reminds
us, it’s great only when we do not live for ourselves alone but instead bring our freedom into
right relation with the freedom of others by loving others as ourselves, practicing goodness and
kindness in our daily lives, working for justice, equality, and peace for all, and building beloved
community.
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Freedom is great! (Pause.) But it’s great only when we freely limit our own freedom to
serve the greater good of all.
V
Despite all of its flaws, all of its mistakes, and all of its sins, America is the land of the
free.
And yet, as Americans, we still have much to learn about what it means to be free.
Because freedom means more than “looking out for number one.” Freedom means more
than being free to own an arsenal of AK 49s and take handguns into restaurants. It means more
than not having to take our shoes off when we go through security at the airport. Freedom means
more than not being forced to buy health insurance. It means more than being free to say
whatever we want to say and do whatever we want to do regardless of how our words and deeds
affect others.
And I’m afraid that the same thing is true with respect to us as Unitarian Universalists
and as members of this Fellowship.
We are a free church. We are a faith of the free. We are free thinkers with free minds. We
affirm freedom of conscience and belief. We encourage a free and responsible search for truth
and meaning. We are free spirits.
And yet, we still have much to learn about what it means to be free.
Because Unitarian Universalism is not about freedom from religion but freedom to
reimagine religion. Because Unitarian Universalism is not about being free to believe “anything
you want,” but rather, as the Rev. Scott Alexander says, the freedom to search for and find the
“beliefs from which your heart and soul cannot escape!”
We still have much to learn about what it means to be free because freedom is not about
being able to say or do anything you want to say or do but finding the freedom of community
that comes when we bind ourselves, in covenant and relationship, with others, honoring the
freedom of all and the common good.
VI
We are a free church. We are a faith of the free.
But here is the paradox of our faith and the paradox of our lives.
“Freedom is not the end of our religion, but only its beginning.”
Freedom is not the end of our lives, but only their beginning.
For “to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains” or “live for ourselves alone.”
“We are truly free only when we live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of
others” and bring our freedom into right relation with the freedom of others,” loving them as
ourselves, practicing kindness and goodness, working for justice, and building beloved
community.
May our freedom from become freedom for ourselves, for others, and the world.
May it be so.