Liberty

Word of the Week

Welcome, everyone, to Word of the Week!  And as is fitting for this day, and for our inaugural entry, today’s word is LIBERTY.
     What does it mean?  Most Americans will reply that you have liberty if you’re permitted to do what you feel like, so long as you don’t tread on your neighbor’s corns.  Every individual is a kind of atom of desire.  What you want, you want, and you should be let alone to get it, provided that you don’t rob or kill or rape, or burn someone’s house down, and other things that even the most selfish people will blanch at.
     Suppose I ask, “Which of the ancient pagan philosophers believed that if you are talking about liberty apart from virtue, you’re not talking about liberty at all, but license, and license enslaves?”  It’s a trick question.  They all did.  Even the Epicureans did, and they had least cause to, as they believed that life was all about securing pleasure and avoiding pain.  So did the authors of Scripture.  Think of the sad final sentence of t…