A definition of freedom?

Question

What is freedom?

Religion and politics seem to have differing views on what freedom may or may not be.

Take for example freedom of speech, if a country does not have freedom of speech you will be punished for saying something like “this government sucks and Mr dictator is a Idiot” in public.
Of course you were free to say it, your mouth is your own – but you will be severely punished for your actions.
Freedom of speech would then not exist in this country by modern definition (and neither would you, if the penalties were harsh enough).

From a religious point of view though, it seems to work differently.

Free will means you are able to do or say what you want, yet you will be punished accordingly – free will allows me to blaspheme, but I will be pulled up by god if I do so.

Surely that is exactly the same as lack of freedom by legal standards – you can, but you will be punished.

Have I missed something out here, is freedom and free will totally different?

Answer 1

I think they absolutely are...

Freedom: the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to, "without" being controlled or limited.

Free will: the ability to decide what to do independently of any outside influence

I think that there is a fundamental difference... freedom is something that we fight for... to earn among ourselves... other humans... just like us.
However, free will is a gift from God (for the believers in any case), that requires us to decide what to do by ourselves but taking into account what He wants from us.

So we could say... God gave us the 'freedom' to use our 'free will' as we saw fit.

How is that for an answer? I know there are better ones to come!

Answer 2

I think free will is a challenging concept. Given that we have a lot of trouble explaining exactly why people do the things they do, its interesting to me to examine if the people really are able to control what they say and do.

If you believe that our actions are a product of our genetics and experiences, and work back in time to whatever age that you belive a human is not responsible for thier own actions, couldn't we argue that we in fact do not have free will?

I think that we might just be living out a series of random events that combine to move us in directions that are not entirely predictable due to the complexity of the causes.

An example is the person who eats a second piece of birthday cake at a party, even though they know its not what they want to do. We can explain the action by saying that deep seated emotional issues cause the person to sooth themselves by eating cake, even though their rational mind knows that the cake will make them gain weight and cause what the rational mind believes is a problem larger than the emotional lift from having the second piece of cake right now.

Contrast this person at the party with another who refuses any cake at all, and sips ice water instead of having a glass of wine or a beer. This person would love to have either or both, but was on the scale this morning and feels like additional weight gain isn't worth the short term pleasure of cake or alcohol.

Does either person display free will? I don't think so. Both are making the choice based on previous life experiences and information made available to them from a variety of sources, starting from a point of origin where we can all agree, they had no responsibility for, as infants.

So, what exactly do you think free will really is? the ability to act in the manner you chose? on the surface, sure, we live in america and you can decide to eat cake or not eat cake (actually a freedom you have almost anywhere cake is offered to you). But can you really chose the course of action your rational mind would like you to follow? Ask a person desperate to lose weight, and failing. They will enlighten you as to the complexities of this notion of free will.

Answer 3

Freedom, independence, liberty refer to an absence of undue restrictions and an opportunity to exercise one's rights and powers. Freedom emphasizes the opportunity given for the exercise of one's rights, powers, desires, or the like: freedom of speech or conscience; freedom of movement. Independence implies not only lack of restrictions but also the ability to stand alone, unsustained by anything else: Independence of thought promotes invention and discovery. Liberty, though most often interchanged with freedom, is also used to imply undue exercise of freedom: He took liberties with the text. 9. openness, ingenuousness. 12. license. 16. run.

You may have freedom but no-one has free will. it's hard to explain its all in the whole following people thing.

Answer 4

Being able to "do whatever you want, whenever you want" is more so anarchy than freedom. Freedom within a society is only restricting liberties to the point so that people do not harm one another in one way or another. Sacrificing or limiting particular liberties gives way to all the benefits that society provides.

Answer 5

You are confusing something that falls under the realm of "law" (freedom) and something that falls under the realm of "morals" (free will).

Freedoms have limit, as defined by the law (fire in a movie theatre isn't free speech for example).

Answer 6

With any freedom, there are consequences. It's because of our freedom as Americans that other countries wished we went away. That's why so many die just to try to get into America. The world might hate us, but they admire our freedom and wished they had it. The Christian's freedom is two-fold. Yes, we have the freedom to ignore God's free gift of salvation through His Son Jesus. But, since there is only one way to the Father, and that's through the Son, we've used our freedom to choose Whom we will follow. Would you want it any other way? Would it be better that God just created us all as robots, programmed to do whatever He told us? Where would be the freedom to love Him and come to Him willingly? Isn't that how you want your own child to come to you to tell you he's sorry, or to share what's on his mind? It's so much sweeter when it's done without prompting or threatening. If someone calls you up and tells you that they want to give you something, are you going to say no thanks? Or will you want more information, wanting to get the freebie? What if that freebie would save you a lot of grief, down the road, such as ignoring a free insurance policy, then having a wreck and no means to fix it? Christian freedom then goes beyond just the accepting of the gift, to still being free to be who you are, and allowing God to use you to reach out to others with the same love as was extended to you. You don't use your freedom to offend others, such as going into your Jewish friend's house and offering them a ham sandwich. You use your freedom wisely and respectfully. While you have the freedom to eat that ham sandwich, you need to realize it will offend others to see you doing so, thus causing you to consider the impact of your action on your friend, or any future impact you could have on him. Okay, so I hope I've helped explain these freedoms in a way that makes sense to you. I tend to rattle on, so I hope you forgive me in that. As far as being punished for blaspheming God...why would anyone calling themself a Christian do that? It's like calling your own parents a nasty name. You're just bringing shame on your own head. After all, you are their kid. So, if a Christian is bad-mouthing their own Father, what does that say about them? The Bible says that as Christians, we are adopted into His family, and are as sons. It's even better, being adopted, than just by natural means. That means you were chosen. Wow, that's special to me. My daughter-in-law adopted my grandson (legally) as her own son. She chose to do that. She didn't have to. She could have continued being the step mom, and it would have been fine. But, she chose to be more than a step. She used her freedom to draw closer, and forever be his mom. Have a great day. <*)))><

Answer 7

If you live in a Communism country like I did, then you will know what is freedom is. Thank God, I escape that country and live in the USA.

Answer 8

FREEDOM is the united states
FREEDOM is not religion
the united states is a free sountry, not a damn thoecracy, so will will never be determined by a definitive religion

Answer 9

FREEDOM is anything that is the opposite of RepubliConArtists and Fundamental Christianity, Islamic and Judiac fundy absurdities.

Answer 10

Not be forced to do something you dont want to.