Introduction
Have you ever found yourself pondering the meaning of Liberty? I have, and though I accept that I am not an expert on this topic, thought it would be beneficial to share the insights I have acquired.
Patrick Henry famously uttered these words. “Give me liberty or give me death.” Consider the implication. Is this a common sentiment? Without Liberty would I want to cease to exist? What is within liberty that without it life is not worth living? Who has the power to give liberty?
Defining Liberty
There is an entire ideology that is based on the concept of liberty. A simple definition does not do it justice, however to foster understanding concerning liberty here is an attempt to define the word. Often times, it seems to me, when people define Liberty they do so negatively. As in Liberty is the freedom from something. For example: liberty is the freedom from oppressive governments, or the freedom from taxation, the
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Tom Perry once said “obedience to law is liberty.” Likewise John Locke has said “the end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom.” Often times we hear children argue that laws take away freedom. While there do exist, such laws, in a liberal society, laws function to enlarge our liberty. For example “imagine seeing a sign on the seashore that reads: “Danger—whirlpool. No swimming allowed here.” We might think that is a restriction. But is it? We still have many choices. We are free to swim somewhere else. We are free to walk along the beach and pick up seashells. We are free to watch the sunset. We are free to go home. We are also free to ignore the sign and swim in the dangerous place. But once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very few choices. We can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown.” (1). . Without law, there is no