Of course, there have been setbacks to its progress, some of them catastrophic. It is worth cataloguing these achievements if only to belie the impression that freedom is losing ground. Under British leadership, the institution of slavery was largely abolished, and people are no longer oppressed by Nazi and Soviet dictatorships or apartheid. After working class unrest in the 19 th century, Parliament extended the right to vote beyond the landed classes, and women won freedom to be legal entities in their own right and eventually to vote too. In France, rational philosophers swept away the myths of the Catholic Church, while Protestants insisted on their right to interpret the Bible as they wished. And when the Catholic Church imposed autocratic disciplines, heretics risked the repressive terror of the Inquisition to speak out in dissent.Įnglish barons defied a King to enforce habeas corpus and trial by jury, while Parliament successfully challenged Kings who asserted Divine Right to enforce their whims. Its appeal spread around the world, and today the fastest growing segment of Christian followers is precisely the poor. Jesus preached a liberating message to the downtrodden poor – that theirs would be the Kingdom of Heaven. It was not perfect and did not last for long, but there was more to come. In an assembly of 6,000 citizens in 480 BCE, the Athenians decided to resist the invading despot Xerxes – and after winning a naval battle, established the world’s first democracy with a wide range of liberties. However since the time of ancient Athens, mankind has shown a remarkable propensity to kick over the traces, come what may. History abounds with strongmen who promise a steadfast status quo as long as you do not rock the boat. If we choose the safe option, we may have no problem living under General Sisi’s regime in Egypt, which provides its people with security guaranteed by the shooting or locking up of dissidents deemed to be terrorists. So which is right? Should we embrace freedom, or curb it to keep safe? Our eyes gleam as we give rein to our free spirits, but we also shy away from the dangers that liberty can lead us into. Such is the attitude of many people to freedom. “I want to, and I don’t want to.” We delight in her dalliance, but approve of her reticence. “Vorrei, e non vorrei,“ sings Zerlina to the seducer Don Giovanni in Mozart’s opera. Ferrar is the author of The Fight for Freedom, published by Crux Publishing in 2016. He has kindly given me permission to republish it on my blog. This article by Marcus Ferrar was first published in the December 2016 edition of the Salisbury Review. 0 notes DecemIs Freedom Worth Fighting For?
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