“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”  

Nelson Mandela

Recently, there has been quite a bit of contentious debate regarding “Freedom” and its sibling “Rights”. To many, the unobstructed exercise of one’s perceived rights is a litmus test for assessing whether our freedoms have been denied, opening the door to varying degrees of offense, unrest and division. I may be in left field here, but I believe that just because we can, doesn’t necessarily mean that we should. At the risk of ruffling feathers, I think this whole Rights and Freedom trend has knocked us a tad off course, bruising our common humanity in the process. And honestly, it has gotten a bit out of control.

What rights after all do we lay claim to? Well, that depends on who is asking and who is being asked. And rights by their very nature go hand in hand with a plethora of perceived freedoms. There are God-given rights – Freedom of Religious Expression, civil rights – Freedom to pursue the ideals of Life, Liberty and Happiness, constitutional rights – Freedom to take advantage of all the benefits of democracy, human rights – Freedom from Discrimination, gun rights – the Freedom to Own a Firearm, individual rights – Freedom of Speech/Expression, and the list goes on and on…birth rights, natural rights, claim rights, liberty rights, individual rights, group rights, animal rights, workers’ rights, disability rights, patients’ rights, property rights, reproductive rights… rights of way and rights of passage (well, I just added those last two for a bit of comic relief). This is by no means a conclusive list!

Wikipedia gives a nice definition of the word “Rights”:

Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory… Rights are often considered fundamental to civilization, being regarded as established pillars of society and culture, and the history of social conflicts can be found in the history of each right and its development. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “rights structure the form of governments, the content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived.”

One look at the words associated with the definition above truly sheds light on why the concept and application of this thing called “rights” has the potential to become so contentious. Words like entitlement, principles of freedom, culture, law, and morality are not light topics. If your family is anything like mine, you no doubt shudder at the idea of uttering these words at the holiday table, their use strictly forbidding in conversation! Because it is family, we willingly (well, most of the time) abide by this unspoken, unwritten rule to keep the peace.

It is when we hit the streets, in the company of strangers, of those scary “others”, that the gloves come off. Because we view rights as an entitlement, we feel that in order to affirm our level of freedom, it is necessary to defend our rights, and when possible sway as many like believers our way to support and secure our position. Misery loves company! I suppose that is human nature. But I don’t believe this is one of our finest moments as a civilization. There is a higher way…a better way I believe. One look at Nelson Mandela’s quote at the beginning of this essay, certainly gives me pause. To Mandela’s point, “(are we) living in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others?” In a word…No.

A story by Winston and Maxwell. A lesson on how not to excercise one’s rights.

It seems Winston believes he has the right to enjoy playing with his toy without Maxwell taking it away from him. So…he sits on Maxwell’s head.

The End

Just because I have the right to express my faith, does not necessarily give me the right to deny you your rights, or to demand that you believe as I do. Based on the short list above, there are plenty of rights and freedoms to go around to make us all happy. It needn’t be an all or nothing, one-size-fits-all deal.

If you hold the belief that you should not work on Sundays, then by all means, close your chicken sandwich business on Sundays…but don’t demand that every chicken store in town close on Sunday’s as well. If your faith informs you to wear a certain head covering or to dress a certain way, you are free to do that too. Some may question your lack of style or think you are quirky or weird, but it’s not about them…it’s about you. (Which brings me to an important point. If the way you decide to live your life runs against the grain of the status quo, expect to pay the consequences for your actions. Freedom doesn’t exempt us from consequences.)

You are even free to hang offensive flags on your house, in your yard or flapping on the back of your pick-up truck. No one is asking you to remove those things from your personal space, though we might decide to walk on the other side of the street when we see you coming. Just kidding. But it is only common courtesy not to demand that you have the right to hang your flag on public property. I pay taxes to maintain that property too. It’s kinda rude to expect have your way on that one.

Oh…and one more thing, nobody wants your guns (unless you’re stark raving crazy) …so could we please agree long enough to close the loophole between our mental health system and gun registration so that those who shouldn’t have them don’t have unlimited access to them?

But…I digress…some claim we have the right to things like health care, education, equal opportunity, equal pay regardless of gender, while others claim that these are not penned in our societal compacts and therefore do not qualify as true rights. What, after all, does constitute a legitimate right? Is it only those things etched in stone or are some rights things we should consider because they are the “right” thing to do?

The point is, we don’t lose our freedoms just because someone else may wish to exercise rights and freedoms we don’t agree with or choose to enjoy. In fact, allowing you to live your life in pursuit of your own happiness (it’s called tolerance and acceptance) in no way implies that I agree with your path or your choices. It’s just silly to consider such a thought.

So I’m thinking out loud here. Can we just stop the insanity? We are most definitely free in this country. It’s unbelievable how free we are. And if we don’t like the way others are living their lives we can choose to ignore them because, of course, we should be busy enjoying our own freedoms. If we all did that we wouldn’t have time to worry about the rights of everyone around us. Sounds like great idea doesn’t it?

We can quit if our job doesn’t match our ideal of the perfect job. We can move if our neighborhood doesn’t fit our family’s needs. We are free to choose. All of us.

Rights are not rights unless they apply to everyone. I should repeat that. Rights are not rights unless they apply to everyone. So I should mention, there IS this tiny little thing called justice that I believe is important to consider. It doesn’t mean creating a new right or freedom out of thin air, but it does mean making sure everyone has a ticket to the party.

If I’m being honest with myself, there are other tenets associated with a life of freedom that require more of me. With great freedom comes great responsibility. (Back to take a look again at Mandela’s words.) Yep. Things like, kindness, generosity, mercy, charity, civility, honesty, grace, love, respect, humility. If my expression of freedom infringes on someone else’s liberties, then one of these things is surely amiss. Just because I can, doesn’t necessarily mean that I should. It is enough for me to work on perfecting those tenets in my own life. They are worth repeating…kindness, generosity, mercy, charity, civility, honesty, grace, love respect, humility. I can think of no higher calling than to exercise my right to perfect these things in my own life. Now that is true Freedom! 😊

Peace out…kat