Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?

• Author: Kreyche, Gerald F.
• Position: PARTING THOUGHTS - Freedom for the entire world

FREEDOM IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT things to define, yet wars are fought to secure it. Evidently, many regard freedom as worth dying for, although an increasing number of our citizens are questioning whether the freedom of others is worth that price, especially in Iraq. Pres. George W. Bush wants freedom for the entire world, but the question remains whether some might not want it and, if they do, cannot handle it. Many who are free desire to be "free of their freedom," for the latter requires assuming responsibility for one's actions. It is easier to have others choose for us.

Many of our own Civil War songs espoused "The Battle Cry of Freedom." It also should be noted that, although the primary purpose of that war was to preserve the Union, it must be acknowledged that another motivation was to free the slaves. The French Revolution had Liberte! as its rallying cry. The French gave us that magnificent symbol of the Statue of Liberty as well.

Yet, freedom has many meanings and applications. There is the aforesaid political freedom, involving the ability to choose one's own form of government, hold elections, independently develop an economic system, etc. Professors are concerned wit academic freedom, namely to teach and publish in accord with their scholarly findings. Teenagers want the freedom of "wheels" by getting a driver's license. These, though, are secondary meanings and presumably are grounded in something fundamental to the nature of humans. This is called moral freedom--but there's the rub of it. Is such freedom an illusion? One cannot ignore Sigmund Freud's massive unconscious as a factor in why we act the way we do. Moreover, psychological literature suggests "obsessive-compulsive" acts as more commonplace than we realize. Alcoholics and drug addicts are told they cannot help themselves; instead, they need others to help them break their habit. Let's face it, we seem to be evolving into a "no fault" society in which freedom is an empty term.

It certainly is easy to rationalize that this or that action really was not free, as one can say we are the product of our genes, passions, and culture. Some claim freedom is the ability to do whatever one wants to do--not atypical for adolescents. Anarchists want no restrictions of law governing their lives. One might ask whether excess freedom proves to be no freedom at all. Rather, it is known as license.

The Stoa were philosophers in ancient Greece and Rome who denied human freedom as...