The Righter Report

When Liberty Enslaves

by Pete Righter

“At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe…” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, “Planned Parenthood vs. Casey,” U.S. Supreme Court, 1992

Sounds okay, right? Not so fast. Conservative pundit and author William Bennett derided Kennedy’s pronouncement as an “open-ended validation of subjectivism” that paves the way for drug abuse, assisted suicide, prostitution, and “virtually anything else”; George Will said it was “gaseously” written. Clifford Goldstein, a “progressive” Seventh Day Adventist, contends that “it’s hard to see how in principle how any freedom-loving American, especially a classical small-government-lower-taxes-gun-owning-strong-military conservative could reject Kennedy’s basic message.”

Wow.

So, what’s wrong with Anthony Kennedy’s pronouncement, and Clifford Goldstein’s endorsement that true liberty is to be defined by the individual? There are a number of things wrong with that. First, if that’s true, then there can be as many individual definitions of liberty as there are people walking the planet. Man defines his own principles and morality, apart from God. Dr. D. James Kennedy calls such a person, the “anonymous man” – a law unto himself.

Second, as various founding fathers have noted, there is no liberty without virtue. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who was also known as the “Father of Public Schools,” once had this to offer: “The only foundation for a republic is…religion. Without it there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty.” Don’t miss the significance of that last statement: “…without virtue there can be no liberty…” The principle is clear – a lack of virtue engenders bondage. As another writer noted, “Intemperate men can never be free because their passions give rise to their fetters (bindings).” The more liberties a godless people achieve, the more enslaved they can ultimately become in their worldly obsessions and immoral practices. Still another founding father, the Reverend John Witherspoon, mirrored Benjamin Rush when he declared, “…Civil liberty cannot long be preserved without virtue….” We see that illustrated repeatedly in the Old and New Testaments, where the ungodly “liberties” of unregenerate men and nations result in the wrath and judgment of Almighty God. Where is their vaunted “liberty” then?

And third, when the progressive concept of individual liberty is adopted by the state, then whoever is in power can define what’s moral and what’s not. Which brings us to the classic fight of Christian conservatism vs. progressive (regressive), godless liberalism. God’s laws and morality vs. man’s subjective moral relativism, where Pete Buttigieg’s revisionist “Christian” sodomy, and Nancy Pelosi’s unquenchable thirst for the blood of the innocent unborn are defended and even celebrated. And that’s when all Hell can break loose.

Former Orlando Sentinel columnist Charley Reese once had this to say about liberalsm: “The violent and decadent society that the liberals so despise is the very one they have created. They wanted sexual promiscuity, drugs, disregard for the law, no censorship of pornography, no laws against sodomy or public profanity, abortion on demand, quick and easy divorces, acceptance of homosexuality, Miranda rights, a welfare system that paid women to have illegitimate children, a tax system that penalizes marriage, and a godless education system. And they got it, every last bit of it.”

It’s become clear over the last half-century that “progressive” liberal fundamentalism substantially undermines the basic effectiveness of the government and other societal elements of democracy. Despite the idealistic goals of liberalism, attempts to build a Utopian liberal society in America have only led to heightened outbreaks of AIDS, VD, porno-related crime, social divisions, divorce, abortion, drug addictions, deficit spending, the welfare state, a crushing tax burden, the breakdown of the family unit, moral depravity, and numerous other such scourges which have resulted in enormous societal suffering and discontent. As a result, liberal fundamentalism is strongly associated with left-wing fanaticism, reverse-racism, anti-intellectualism, elitism, nihilism, godlessness, and societal violence. There is no endearing or enduring liberty in progressivism. Only in God and virtue can we find true liberty.

So read that statement by Justice Anthony Kennedy again – this time with a little moral clarity.

– The Righter Report

April 5, 2020 - Posted by Pete Righter | America, Evangelical, God, Human Interest, Theology, Theology Articles | Conservative, God, Liberty, morality