Any Leftist, any Democrat, will tell you they believe in freedom. Of course they do. Even the Chinese believe in “freedom.” It’s the Donald (“Hitler”) Trumps who are trying to destroy our “freedom” and “democracy.” Everybody else believes in freedom. And that can be confusing.
The conundrum is, a Leftist doesn’t mean by “freedom” what traditional, God-fearing Americans mean by “freedom.” If you talk to a Leftist about “freedom,” you will probably both use the same word. And that Leftist will almost surely say that “Trump will destroy our freedom!” But unless you understand what Lefty means by the word “freedom,” you will be talking at cross purposes and never achieve anything. All Americans talk about freedom and all claim to want it. But they don’t mean the same thing by that word.
What does a Leftist mean by “freedom”? As always, their definition is in their actions, not in their words. Two points.
1. To Leftists, freedom means government “allows” you to do what you do. Where does freedom come from? This is where it all starts—the source of freedom, and the answer makes an enormous difference. We can’t even define “freedom” until we know its origin.
The men who founded America wrote, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable rights...Life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of Happiness.” To America’s Founders, our rights come from God, Who, ultimately, is the source of everything. God gives us our rights and we establish governments to protect the rights He endows us with. In other words, the people give government its rights, not visa-versa. And any rights we grant government, we can take away. That is the traditional American view. Freedom is from God and is something every human being has, inherently.
Now, freedom obviously doesn’t mean we can do anything we wish. Since God grants us our “rights” (just like we give government its “rights”), He is the One who defines freedom’s limitations. And even if we reject the Bible as God’s explanation and restrictions on freedom, there is enough law that God put in nature to give us a pretty healthy idea of what is in line with true “freedom.” We don’t have the freedom to harm ourselves or others, because we are all created in His image. Liberty is defined and limited by God.
Now, the Left rejects this. They don’t believe in God. This being a cardinal doctrine of Leftism, the highest form of authority on earth therefore becomes government. God doesn’t give us our freedoms, government does. If you don’t believe that is the Leftists’ source of “freedom,” go live in China like I did for ten years, and you’ll discover it very quickly. Government ALLOWS us to do certain things; freedoms aren’t innately ours from God. Therefore, totalitarians, like communists and other Democrats, do everything possible to destroy belief in God so that government can have all authority, and thereby give you the rights it wants you to have, i.e., tell you what it will allow you to do. To the Leftist, to Democrats, to Xi Jinping, any freedoms you have come from government. Any disobedience means the gulag or a bullet. Or the FBI.
Thus, to Leftists, the source of freedom is a government grant that can be taken away at any time it wishes.
2. Freedom means licentiousness. Since there is no God, then no absolute standard of right or wrong exists. This is why, as Leftist ideology has become dominant, increasing licentiousness has been widely accepted. And if you pay close attention, you’ll note that any attempt by a Leftist to define an “absolute” moral standard will always, ALWAYS, include as much sexual promiscuity as possible.
Have you ever noticed how much of the Left’s agenda revolves around sex? Abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, child mutilation, “drag queens,” same-sex marriage, pedophilia, “pride month”—so much is sexually oriented. It’s deliberate. A lack of self-discipline leads to societal chaos. Societal chaos means the need for greater, bigger government to “allow” us the freedoms it wishes us to have. Thus, licentiousness and promiscuity are cardinal dogmas of the Left.
Promiscuity and things like transgenderism become “normal” when people have "freedom" without a God to limit its extremism and debauchery. To the Left, “normalcy” evolves because nothing is final. There thus is no absolute definition of “normal;” it is ever changing. And since “normality” is always evolving, when the Left gets tired of one current decadent “fad,” it always moves on to its next sewer to wallow in--after having destroyed countless lives again.
The wise have always known that licentiousness is not freedom. Without self-control, there is no true liberty. A person simply becomes a slave to their own passions. “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom” (Benjamin Franklin). The Democratic Party wants more debauchery and hedonism in society because a self-disciplined, virtuous, self-controlled citizenry doesn’t need much government, hence, doesn’t need Democrats. But, by definition, licentious, degenerate people don’t govern themselves. They will, in their lack of self-control, often destroy themselves and others, and require government oversight to restrain them. So, again, licentiousness is what the Left means by “freedom” because lack of self-discipline will lead to growing government dominance—precisely what the Left wants—a government that will tell you what it will allow you to do, i.e., give you the “freedoms” it wants you to have.
“Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters” (Edmund Burke).
So, when next you hear a liberal talk about “freedom,” remember: he doesn’t mean by freedom what you do. He means “licentiousness,” the right to pursue hedonistic pleasure. Because government says so.
Subscribe to my substack: mklewis929.substack.com. History, Bible, the “why” things happen, not just the “what.” Follow me on “X”: @thailandmkl. Go back to a great age in American history and read my western novels, Whitewater , River Bend, Return to River Bend, and Allie’s Dilemma all available on Amazon.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member