True Freedom

This July 4th got me thinking about freedom. Freedom is the buzz word around this time of year, when Americans play songs on the radio about freedom while loading potato salad onto their plates and chatting around the barbeque. But I started thinking about a different kind of freedom; I couldn’t help but acknowledge the awful and wonderful power that we as humans have be granted as a result of our free will.

Often times, I hear people wonder about why there is evil in the world. I particularly hear this argument when people are talking about God–why does a good God allow such evil? The answer, I believe, is found in our own freedom.

God doesn’t force us to love Godself, or to do the right thing, or to be kind to our neighbors. No, God created us with the gift of free will, and because of that, there is inevitably evil. It is oversimplifying to say so, but I think it is a worthwhile thing to ponder anyway: evil’s roots come from our very human choices to turn away from what God would want us to do. This can create chain reactions of consequences, so much so that innocents suffer evil at the hands of people they will never meet–possibly at the hands of people with which they will never even share a time period. Some choices cause evils to be passed on through generations because of psychological damages, or through poor political decisions, or greed. But, in my opinion, it all comes back to the collective free will of humanity.

The Bible (and Spiderman) tells us that with great power comes great responsibility. This is not only true for individuals, but for our entire human family. Everything is connected; we must take responsibility for our daily individual choices, work for just and moral choices within our own circles of influence (family, coworkers, students, etc), and continue to be in constant dialogue and self-check about the choices we are making as political and religious bodies. 

Evil may be present as a result of our choices…but of course, the same goes for goodness. Responsibility is the price we pay for freedom.