Questioning Freedom, Challenging Rights
For The Tacoma News Tribune
April, 2001
In these, the waning days of my youth, I find myself
beginning to question freedom. I’ve been wondering if freedom
is a strong enough foundation for a society or for an individual
striving to be good.
Perhaps I ask these questions because Passover begins
tonight. Passover - Pesach, in Hebrew - is the Jewish festival
of freedom. It celebrates the exodus of the ancient Israelites
from Egyptian slavery, and their journey toward the Promised
Land.
The freedom that we Jews celebrate during Pesach, however, is
very different than the freedom we are so proud of here in
America. We Americans understand freedom as the ability to do
whatever we want, as long as we don’t limit the freedom of
others in the process - as a basic human right that we should
demand of and for all people. In Judaism, however, the freedom
we seek is not only the ability to make our own choices but,
even more important, the ability to choose to do what we are supposed
to do.
After all, if freedom was only about ending bondage, then the
Passover story would have ended at the Red Sea. However, another
miracle came quickly - the revelation at Sinai. That revelation,
Torah, contained 613 commandments - 613 rules limiting what
those who accepted them could do. It was almost as if God was
trying to say, “Yes, Israelites, you’ve finally gotten the
freedom you want. Now, I’ll tell you what you should do with
it.” The Israelites responded: “We will do and we will hear.”
Having been freed from servitude to Pharaoh, the Israelites
immediately chose servitude to God.
It is a sad irony - freedom achieved means being able to do
what we want. Freedom well used means being able to do what we
should.
Religion, you see, tends to speak in terms of responsibility
rather than in terms of rights. But in today’s America, it
seems that “rights-talk” is all we are hearing. We have the
right to do what we want and be who we are, regardless of
whether our actions or identities are good. We have freedom of
speech, and we have the right to remain silent. The most ardent
supporters of the freedom of speech are often the hateful, and
the most enthusiastic supporters of the right to remain silent
are often the criminal. How sad.
We have the right to privacy, and we also have to right to
surrender that right by appearing on the Jerry Springer Show.
We have the right to have information, but we often forget that
we have the right ignore the vast storehouses of info-drivel now
at our fingertips.
In our capitalist society, corporations have rights. Handgun
makers and steroid bakers, tobacco sellers and exploiters all -
they have the right to make a buck. They also have the right to
pass the buck, and not own up to their role in the destruction
and pain-making.
We have a right to feel safe, so sex offenders who have
completed their sentences should live elsewhere. Our right to
feel safe, you see, is more important than the rights of those
trying to re-build their lives, and it is certainly more
important than the rights of people in the next town over to
feel safe.
We have the right to feel comfortable, so you’d better not
say anything - true or not - that is unpleasant. If you do, we’ll
accuse you of “offending” us, thus demanding that you make
us feel better.
Many argue that Internet access should be a right. God forbid
we make our children open a book, force them to do
their research in a library, or deprive them of the
ability to “chat” with their “friends” in Mongolia. Such
cruelty would be an abrogation of their rights.
Our “Bill of Rights” is a treasure, of course. But I wish
we could add a “Bill of Responsibilities,” too. Then we
would have freedom of speech, and also the responsibility to use
it well, for speech can be so hurtful. We would have the right
not to incriminate ourselves, but the responsibility to own up
to our misdeeds. We would be protected from unreasonable
searches and seizures, but we’d be good enough people that we
wouldn’t need to hide stuff in the first place.
Rights and responsibility, you see, are both essential.
Rights can enable us to fulfill our responsibilities;
responsibility demands that we use those rights for good.
In these, the waning days of my youth, I am beginning to
realize that the freedom for which I have yearned so long is
highly insufficient to those who want to lead a good life. As an
ultimate goal, freedom leaves us empty, filling our lives only
when it becomes a means to a greater end. Blessed as I am with
freedom, I will enter middle age committed to doing what I
should with my life.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready for the
Passover Seder - a celebration of my freedom, and of my
responsibility to use freedom well.
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