Editorial August 25, 1962 Issue

Freedom Is Not Free

Ralph E. Wagers

Strange as it may seem, human freedom is not free. One has to pay a price for it. Should one not be willing to do so, he would be claiming the right to think, speak, or act as he pleases and would be calling that freedom which is nothing but license. This false sense of freedom would sooner or later deprive him of any freedom. But Mrs. Eddy states in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 297), "Trust Truth, not error; and Truth will give you all that belongs to the rights of freedom."

From a human standpoint, the minimum price an individual must pay for freedom is a willingness to assume the personal responsibilities that go with it, a willingness to submit oneself voluntarily to whatever personal discipline is necessary to warrant one's having it. Freedom without such discipline would lead inevitably to enforced discipline without freedom. Instances of this are not hard to find. One must be worthy of being free; otherwise he forfeits his right to freedom.

For example, freedom to use a public highway requires that one conform to certain rules and regulations. One must assume a driver's responsibility. His freedom must not endanger the freedom of others. To be free under the law is not to be free to violate the law. The same is true of freedom of speech. "Justice and truth make man free, injustice and error enslave him," our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, writes on page 10 of "The People's Idea of God."

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