Freedom.. just another word for nothing left to lose?

Freedom… Freedom of choice is something we all want but what does that really mean.  If we give our children too much freedom they can go down the wrong path or at least will become spoiled.  We all need rules, guidelines and boundaries to feel safe and confident.  It not only keeps us on track, but it gives us the comfort that we are safe from the craziness of others.

Can you imagine if we had the freedom to drive whatever we wanted down the freeway.  Drive any direction we wanted, to drive any speed we wanted.  It would be complete chaos and we would not be safe.

During the 60′s people wanted their freedom to do as they pleased.  It was all about Free Love Man, “make love not war”.  Those same hippies became the baby boomers of today and many of those same hippies have become the 1 percenters who are now hated by the 99 percenters.

Remember the song by Janis Joplin – Me And Bobby Mcgee “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”.  Is that true and is that what happens when you have too much freedom, do you lose direction, do you lose purpose, lose yourself?

Martin Luther. King Jr. in his famous speech he said. “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.”  Was he right?  Or was it just the perception of freedom?

What is too much freedom and how much is not enough?  We are guaranteed certain freedoms as citizens of America.  Under the first Amendment we are guaranteed Freedoms of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition.   Even with those freedoms guaranteed we have restrictions.  The one used most when making this argument is yelling fire in a crowded theatre.  Does that mean it is okay in a theatre that is not crowded?

Now we have those that want to limit our freedoms, put more restriction on our freedom, such as where we practice religion, what type of arms we carry, and even limit expressing our opinion about someone else’s life choices.  What is right?  Do we have the right to offend someone without being sued or threatened?

We have all heard the stories of the baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding because of his religious beliefs and was sued.

Look at what happened at two schools in Europe, they have now had all pork products removed from their menus.  No ham, no bacon, no sausages – no pig at all, even though all these foods are a British tradition the kids love.  Halal is still on the menu though.  Halal is an Arabic word that means “permissible.” In terms of food, it means food that is permissible according to Islamic law. For a meat to be certified “halal,” it cannot be a forbidden cut (such as meat from hindquarters) or animal (such as pork.)

This is all very difficult to discern and how does one decide without having an agenda.  Even the court system seems to have an agenda when ruling on these complicated freedoms.  Has our constitution and freedom become just another political pawn.    They say education is freedom, but is it freedom when someone controls what and how you learn?  They also say money is freedom, but are you just exchanging one freedom for another?

How do we defend our freedoms, how do we fight for our rights without stepping on those around us?    Our founding father laid it out very clearly and it has survived for over 200 hundred years and I now fear it won’t last another 20 years.

Look at what you give up for the perception of safety from terrorism.  Your entire life is exposed to those who claim to protect you, they have the authority to read your email, listen to you phone calls and even track your whereabouts via your personal GPS phone.

Many groups have gained freedoms they fought hard for, but are those new found freedoms at the expense of other freedoms.  Why does it have to be that way?