Freedom and Covid 19

Freedom.  

What exactly is it?  I am seeing and hearing comments and posts a lot about "freedom" these days in light of the pandemic and the "social distancing" that we have all been encouraged to follow.  It seems there are many of us who seem to think that the government is usurping our freedom by mandating businesses to close and be non-operational.  It seems that many of us our concerned about how these closing and assertions against our "freedoms" will affect our economy.  While it is true, that many people have lost their jobs and their sources of income, there are avenues in place to help with this, not all of us, but many of us.  There are also tons of new opportunities available for many now, if we choose to pursue them.  The choice to pursue those options in the light of a lost job, is a freedom.  There is also the freedom to not pursue that choice and collect the unemployment check of the furlough monies that are being offered, and to stay home, or in many cases, to not stay home, and frequent all the places that we are being asked to not frequent.

Dictionary.com defines freedom:

* the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: 

* exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.

* the power to determine action without restraint.

* political or national independence.

* personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.

* exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from)

You know, according to this definition, I am not sure  if any of us really has freedom at all.  We are all under external control, every day.  We are not free to break laws that the government has imposed upon us, and there are limits to what we can do, where we can go, and who we can be with.

On the other hand, unless we break those laws that have been imposed on us, we are not confined or under physical restraint.  We are being asked to stay in our homes, which MANY are disregarding, and I am not seeing anyone becoming confined or restrained because of their non-compliance.  We are also not slaves or in a state of bondage because of the actions that have been imposed.  So, it is reaching to say we are being denied our freedoms.  We are also not being asked to deny our God or Christ.  We are asked to not gather in groups, but we are still able to worship.  We can worship in a different way, remotely but we can still worship.  We aren't even being denied the Eucharist, there are still opportunities for adoration If not in person, virtually on line.  We can't receive the Eucharist, but that is secondary to the Eucharist being present for us in the world, our nations, our states, our communities and our parishes.  Nobody can take God from us.  We only impose that on ourselves.

Any society that wants to exist with any kind of normalcy and free from pandemonium will always needs certain restrictions imposed upon individual freedoms.  We are not permitted to steal or murder.  Some of us live in communities where we can't even plant a tree or paint our house without permission from a committee.  We seem to willingly submit ourselves to those types of rules, which might not always be bad, because they are imposed to keep harmony and unity within the community.  They are rules put in place for the common good of everyone, and they will require some to make sacrifices.  

The rules in place right now are really no different.  As Catholics we value life, we value it as a precious gift that only God can give us, and because of that we fight for it, from womb to tomb.  We also value freedom, freedom is also a precious gift from God, but freedom always has limitations.

 As Catholics and right to life advocates we fight to deny others the right to abort their babies or euthanize their loved ones.  Those actions are restricting the freedoms of those individuals - to kill someone they want to kill.  Honestly, right now,  restraining access to certain establishments, asking people to stay home, and closing businesses and events, is doing the same thing.  It is protecting lives by restricting our actions.  We might not agree with it, and we can complain and protest all we want, that is exactly what the pro choice crowd does too.  

Does the prevention of disease and harm to some outweigh the desires of others to have and do what they want? Probably. Added to the dilemma are agendas and ideologies that lie just below the surface yet are maliciously fighting for control and dominance.  Remember, we don't fight against flesh and blood but against powers and dominions.  Those demonic powers and dominions are much more crafty and manipulative than we could ever hope to fathom and recognize.  

The bottom line is, nobody really knows the extent of the illness or what the ramifications of not following these safety precautions could be.  Sure, we can compare it to the flu, or cancer, or any other illness that kills people at alarming rates every day, but none of those comparisons are fair.

 I am not even sure if it is really about the mortality rate anyway.  That is what we all seem to focus on, but how tragic is it when someone is sick and we are unable to care for that person.  As Catholics we are called to serve and sacrifice, which is why I find myself dumbfounded by so many who seem so unwilling to do this, in the face of Lent and Good Friday, and what we celebrate during these times and days.  

Is it inconvenient? Absolutely.   Is it difficult? You bet it is.  Is it necessary? I don't know.  I do know that if I was the one with the responsibility on my shoulders I would do the same thing, and try to protect life at all cost.  We can find new jobs and our economy will bounce back, it might be difficult, but it will.  The lives we might lose by not acting though, we will never get back, and it is uncharitable to those who have lost loved ones to minimize that loss with so many of the arguments I keep hearing and seeing.  The dignity of life and the responsibility we have to care for life is paramount to us as Catholics, whether we are free or not.  Let's use our freedom to activate our Christian charity and move in the direction of help and hope, to everyone.  Just as we move toward hope when moving from Lent into Easter.  Otherwise the freedom we loose is the worst loss of all, the freedom within ourselves not just do want we want, but to do what we ought.