I’ve been thinking about freedom lately. What does it mean to be free? What, exactly, is free will? What is a free choice? These kinds of questions.
In America, freedom is emphasized over pretty much everything. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. Freedom of the press. Free to carry a rifle with the unlocked infinite ammo cheat. But what if the kind of freedom most Americans talk about isn’t really what freedom is supposed to be? What if autonomous freedom – libertarian freedom (in the philosophical sense) – isn’t all that great?
Well, I don’t think it is.
I’ve noticed this type of thinking when it comes to the issue of wearing masks. I recently talked about this on episode 21 of Apostates Anonymous. You’ve probably witnessed what I discussed either in person or on social media. The argument goes like this: It’s my right as an American to not wear this mask. This is a free country. I have the freedom to choose not to cover my face.
To that I say: Bullshit!
Now, before anyone gets up in arms about where I stand on the issue, allow me to nuance my statement. Some folks shouldn’t wear a mask. Some people have real, medical diagnoses that prevent them from safely covering their face. Further, some people have been physically traumatized and wearing a mask causes PTSD. Fair enough. There are always outliers and I respect that. However, for the rest of us, we are not free to simply choose not to wear a mask when we could be infecting countless people. If you think otherwise, ask yourself this:
Are you free to drink a fifth of whiskey before getting into your car and driving across town?
If the answer to these question is “no” – and please, tell me that’s the case – then you are not free to do whatever the hell you want, regardless of consequences. So, here’s where the rubber meets the road: Freedom is not found in simply making choices, in choosing one thing over the other. Freedom is not choosing between wearing a mask and not wearing a mask. Freedom is found in doing what is good. To put it in dense, philosophical language, philosopher David Bentley Hart puts it like this: “On any cogent account, free will is a power inherently purposive, teleological, primordially oriented toward the good, and shaped by that transcendental appetite to the degree that a soul can recognize the good for what it is. No one can freely will the evil as evil; one can take the evil for the good, but that does not alter the prior transcendental orientation that wakens all desire.
To see the good truly is to desire it insatiably; not to desire it is not to have known it, and so never to have been free to choose it.”
About The Author
Harrison Okafor
editor
Judith is a believer, a lover of Christ and a Gospel freak person. A passionate gospel blogger and press writer. I work with GospelHitsNaija.net Media, no 1 Gospel music platform.
