Hi Friend,

How do you know if you are free?  Seems like a question with an obvious answer but if you had asked someone in Cuba in 1970 if he was free, he would likely have told you that Castro made him free from the U.S.  He would have said that because he was deceived about the tyranny of Castro.

The simple question is, “What makes a person free?”  Philosopher historians long ago wrestled with the question and determined that a fundamental aspect of freedom is the individual’s right to personal possessions.  It’s fundamental to the founding of America.  It’s also a concept taken right out of the Bible. When God said, “Thou shalt not steal” he wasn’t protecting the state. He was establishing an essential right of the individual.

Here’s something you may have overlooked.  It is easy to think of possessions in monetary terms but the most valuable possession you have is your own body.  When a person comes to marriage, he gives the most important gift he has to his spouse—his body.  When God gave the ultimate gift to mankind it was the body of His Son.

With that in mind there are ominous trends that threaten our most basic right.  As far back as 2010, Pope Benedict gave a speech to 1200 airport workers criticizing body scanners insisting that “human dignity must be preserved.” Although he never used the word “body scanner” it was clear that was what he meant when he said: “It is above all essential to protect and value the human person in their integrity.”

One news source referred to the issue as a serious invasion of an individual’s personal privacy to be required to pass before a machine which presents a clear image of a practically naked body to complete strangers.

Israel, which has the safest airports in the world, says such procedures are unnecessary and ineffective. But Israel does two things that America has outlawed. First, they profile potential passengers before they ever arrive, so terrorists never enter the airport.  The second thing Israel does is allow “skilled civilians” to carry weapons in public. In fact, it is common to see people walking through an airport with a rifle slung over one shoulder. Citizens are expected to be part of the Israeli defense team.

These are manifold differences at the basic level. One country requires people to give up a fundamental right to cover his body while another encourages the right to openly carry a gun for self-protection because it increases the level of safety in a nation surrounded by terrorists.

Another incident occurred in Canada that illustrates the importance of owning your body.  Danny Williams a former Premier of Newfoundland, a province of Canada, left Canada to have a heart valve replacement in America. Since Canada has a much-publicized program of socialized medicine, he could have had the procedure done in Canada paid for by the government. Why come to America and pay for it out of his pocket?

When the government pays for medical treatment, the government chooses what procedure the patient will receive. The patient gives up sovereign rights over his body. In this case Canadian law required an “open-sternum” operation. For the not-so-squeamish that means the surgeon uses a saw to cut through the chest to reach the heart. Mr. Williams found a doctor in the U.S. who could replace the valve by entering the chest under the arm and thus no bones would be cut.

He responded to mounting criticism from the press by saying “Look, our communications plan here is going to be quite simple: This is my heart, it’s my health and it’s my choice,” Williams told NTV.

The current argument in America about Covid vaccinations is therefore, shocking to students of history.  Citizens ought to have the right to be vaccinated if they want.  Forcing citizens to be vaccinated against their will violates the fundamental reason for the founding of the nation.  It establishes the right of the state to take possession by force, of the most valuable possession any human has—his own body. When the state can make such a claim, it means that no citizen is free.

Freedom, at its core, is an issue of the spirit. God, who made man in His image, made man to be free, beginning with sovereignty over his own body and conscience.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien