Freedom vs Liberty

Most of us have likely heard of the Liberty Bell, the Sons of Liberty, the Statue of Liberty, etc. Liberty, liberty, liberty… Our Founding Fathers were certainly enamored with the idea of liberty. But why?

To them liberty was a precious possession, a sacred trust, and a right to be responsibly stewarded. Liberty was something worth fighting for, and yes, even dying for. It was far more valuable than mere freedom.

Well, you ask, don’t freedom and liberty mean the same thing? While the terms are used interchangeably and in many respects refer to the same general concept, in the minds of our Founders there was an important distinction.

Freedom can be defined as “independence, the license to do as one wants, the permission to do as one pleases.” Freedom, then, grants the right or authority to do something, to perform an act, a clear measure of self-determination or self-government. However, freedom has one potential deficiency-it only exists when permission to do a thing is afforded. Permission, therefore, is necessarily granted by someone, which means freedom can be revoked by that someone. Liberty, while carrying much the same connotation as freedom, possesses one particular nuance of profound significance, and it has to do with its source.

Thomas Jefferson described liberty in the Declaration of Independence when he wrote that “all men are endowed by their Creator (God) with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Liberty, then, second only to life, is a right endowed by God Himself. It is a part of every person, just as are one’s mind, will, emotions, and spirit. It cannot be revoked and is not dependent upon one’s religious or political views-it exists simply because he exists. Liberty protects the inherent rights of the individual. Freedom is something a government grants; whereas, liberty is something we own that no government can rightfully take away.

Compared to liberty, freedom is somewhat feeble. Any particular freedom can be revoked; for example, the right by the state to operate a vehicle if caught driving under the influence. The state conferred the right to the driver and thus held the power to withhold the right under these circumstances. However, liberty cannot be rightfully violated by anyone except God or he who owns the liberty. If an individual violently confronts another, and by doing so violates the laws of civility, he provides the authorities the power to step in and protect other people’s God-given liberty.

Under freedom, others can negate an individual’s rights any time they can acquire enough political power to do so. It is called majority rule or mob rule, and with it one can conceivably vote someone else’s freedom out of existence. Not so with liberty because a right born of liberty is a right endowed from on High and thus remains with the individual. America’s founders understood this, and that is why they demanded liberty over mere freedom in their form of government. This is also why our Founding Fathers went to great pains to establish a republican government as opposed to a democracy.

Contrary to what most people assume, America is not a democracy, but it is a constitutional republic. A republic is a representative form of government where authority rests upon the officials who have been duly elected by the people. But what makes the American republic unique in all the world is that the sovereign authority is vested, not in the elected representatives, but in the Constitution to which they are subject. It operates by the consent of the governed in conjunction with the rule of law. As John Adams asserted, “America is a government of laws, not of men.”

With freedom, individual rights are subject to interpretation by the entity granting permission. In a democracy, one’s individual rights and freedom are granted to him or her by the governing bodies and are subject to interpretation by rule of the majority, being affected by whatever direction the political winds are blowing at the time. Liberty is altogether different. It is an inalienable right granted to us by God and protected in our republic by our Constitution, and thus can never be rightfully or lawfully taken away, even by despotic bureaucrats who hold the majority. Liberty is the earnest heart-cry of every person who now lives and has ever lived.

All of this gives new meaning to Patrick Henry’s famous cry as he sought to convince the Virginia House of Burgesses to pass a resolution authorizing the release of the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War: “Give me liberty or give me death!” And As Benjamin Franklin quipped: “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”

To be sure, freedom is not the same as liberty. Would that our leaders understood the difference.

Tim Lewis can be reached at timlewis1@windstream.net.

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