Independence

Today, our friends in the United States celebrate the anniversary of their independence from British colonial rule and it got me to thinking about independence and freedom, two much abused words these days.

Like almost all human conditions, freedom and independence are relative terms. To the person incarcerated in total darkness, or a blind person, freedom would be to be the ablity to see the light, even for a little while. For the person suffering under the oppressive yoke of a totalitarian state, freedom would be, not needing to worry that the next knock on his door might be the secret police. For the slave, freedom would be to, just once, have the ability to make up his own mind what to do and where and when to do it.

The American declaration of Independence states that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Much lip service is paid to these excellent sentiments and it would be difficult to find anyone who openly rejects them, but in many human societies, lip service is all it is. In my experience, the more a state trumpets its commitment to freedom, the more likely it is to be repressive. Look at all the totalitarian communist states that call themselves “The People’s Democratic Republic” of this or that. The last thing these states are or where, is democratic, nor are they “the people’s” either.

Even in The United States itself, the application of this section of the Declaration of Independence is varied, to say the least. Look at Guantanamo Bay for instance where, in the interests of ‘national security’, people have been held for years without trial: Look at the Mc Carthy era and the attitude to those suspected of being communists. Look at the origins of prohibition. I am sure you can think of other examples and yet in many ways, the United States is a country whose citizens enjoy a great deal more freedom than most; More freedom for instance than women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime or the current opposition in Iran.

Individual human life cannot exist in a vacuum; we all are dependent upon one another in some way. It follows therefore that one cannot talk in terms of absolutes which is why compromise is usually the order of the day and why our friends in spirit tell us that we as human beings are not yet ready to use fully the blue light, the ray of truth. They ask us to imagine going through even one day telling the absolute truth. It is virtually impossible not to dilute the truth in some way, either to spare some one else’s feelings or our own. It is why, spirit tells us, we find blue a relatively cold colour, and will continue to do so until we are able to accept absolute truth in all we do.

We have to be careful, because we are so interdependent, to ensure that our individual freedom does not mean another person’s slavery. This means always exercising freedom with responsibility. Freedom without responsibility becomes licence. We must also do our very best to ensure that any freedom we demand for ourselves, we offer equally to all others. We must also accept that if we wish to be critical of another’s way of doing things, we afford the same facility to them in relation to us. It was Voltaire who is reputed to have said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Who can quarrel with this attitude towards tolerance and freedom of speech? Many do quarrel with it in practice however and it is a measure of a person’s or a society’s maturity that they are able to accept criticism without resorting to repression.

When we are each one able to apply the principles of America’s Declaration of Independence freely to all, both as individuals and as societies, then will we have moved a long way from the level of our animal ancestry towards our angelic potential. The altruism that went into the writing of the Declaration of Independence, gives us a glimpse of our spiritual inheritance but we have a great deal of work to do before we can achieve this dream of a relative heaven upon earth. However, the fact that human beings were able to create such a dream of equality and freedom, demonstrates it is far from impossible to achieve it. Yesterday’s dream is tomorrow’s reality if we have trust in the spirit that is the basis of all life.