Individual freedom meet Community Boundaries

I have been wrestling with the ideas of what are personal freedoms or liberties and where are the natural boundaries or limits. For instance, am I free to litter my neighborhood if I feel it is my personal right to do so?

Does my personal liberty enable me to make the choice to indulge in drugs or alcohol to the point where I am inebriated and "disorderly" on the street? Are there to be no sanctions against inappropriate behaviour? Do we still have societal norms that reflect pride of self and care for the community?

These are a few questions, I think beg to be considered. Classical Liberalism with its empahsis on the freedom of the market and captitalism have come into full play and human worth is not to be considered unless it has monetary value and the power of consumption of material means. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous German theologian, forsaw a "religionless world" where the trauma of the second world war would give rise to "secularism."

Secularism is the un-cola to the Colas of the world's religions. The Christianity of North America and Europe is in large part "religionless" contrary to all popular perceptions. It's manical tendency to hold on to the political ideology, requires people to fall into lock step with the secular and the patriotic vision of buying to support the economy.

Bonhoeffer would say, the real church stands in protest and there is a personal cost to each member. " The cost of discipleship" requires me to have a "yes and a no." Discipleship requires I recognize my responsiblity to myself and to my community to be the best possible me.

Where in this world are people to go in order to learn their human worth and value?

The religions of the world have abrogated this duty by taking either no stance on societal issues or adopting a feel good approach to social justice on the one hand, or on the other, they busy themselves proping up the neo-conservative agenda and practising the spread of fear, lies and false judgment that undermine the value of all of life.

The "religionless" church or Christianity along with a heavy infusion of secularism promotes the type of reality revealed in the wake of hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. Maybe, just maybe, G-d does reveal the truth; the truth that a "heavily influenced Christian" government fosters widespread poverty because of its strangled hold on the wealth of the United States to provide for the rich and leave the poor to their own devices. The lie revealed is that the United States is not a Christian country!

Keep this in mind when you hear a religious person attack you for being gay and remember the person speaking is not a Christian. My personal liberty entitles me to equality but my communitarian values prevent me from littering the streets and doing drugs that make me a nuisance in my neighborhood.

be well....and for whatever spiritual path you are on, choose well the manner in which you walk because people will judge the path by the person on it.

the faerieshaman