On Freedom: Is the Concept of Freedom Over-rated?

In response to the debate question about freedom, the answer is no.

Those who ask if the concept of freedom is over-rated have never known, what it means not to be free. Put any human being in a situation of bondage and no price is too high, to pay for his or her freedom.

In many ways, every person is in bondage in some way, although he or she may not realize it or acknowledge that reality.

"What are people in bondage to?"

How about money, work or their ideals?

We see different areas of the war-torn world in their struggles for freedom, not realizing how free from this kind of warfare, we are in the western world. As one part of the globe declares peace, another area breaks out in open warfare. Civil war is declared in other countries, in an attempt for the people living there to obtain their freedom.

We see people in bondage to illnesses like SARS and HIV/AIDS and wonder if they will ever be free from diseases or if the diseases will only spread further and lock others into the same bondage. Millions of people are in bondage to other illnesses, too..

Is the concept of freedom over-rated?

There are other parts of the world that are devastated by natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, landslides and volcanoes. We see people living in the aftermath of these disasters or trying to flee the bondage created by nature's fury.

Even in our era, people die by the thousands in different parts of the world, because of hunger. How much they would love to be set free from the bondage of their hunger pangs.

Freedom is regarded by some as a commodity, but it is not something that we can purchase for dollars and cents, although there will be those who try to buy their freedom. Many people flee from oppression, giving up everything they own in exchange for their freedom. Often their lives are lost in that quest.

The disabled are in bondage to their disabilities and yearn for freedom from them. 

The poor are in bondage to poverty and wait for the day when they will know freedom. The rich can be in bondage to their wealth and the over bearing responsibility for it.

Tradition locks some people into bondage and allows others freedom. So does education or the lack thereof. Children can be in bondage to the teachings of their parents, their grandparents and great grandparents, even though they try to break free.

People can be in bondage to technology or the lack of technology. Many people would give anything, just to be able to have clean drinking water and the basic necessities of life.

People in many different countries are still in bondage to their forms of government. They cannot leave or cannot stay for many different reasons.

Other people are in bondage to their passions, for example, fear, hate, anger, frustration and torment. They yearn for the freedom from that kind of bondage.

The blind long to break free of blindness. The deaf want freedom from their inability to hear. The living want the freedoms of life and the dying seek the freedom realized in death.

Everyone wants freedom, but few know how to go about attaining it. Many will struggle for freedom throughout their entire lives and never achieve it.

The Bible tells us that human beings everywhere are in bondage to sin, but it offers a solution.

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." These are the words that Jesus Christ spoke. "I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly,"

Does the abundant life include freedom?

To this, a Christian would reply "Yes."

Is the concept of freedom over-rated? No. Can it be over-rated? No. 

Freedom is something everyone needs and desires. God alone gives true freedom through His divine mercy, forgiveness and love.