I want to thank a friend that I was having a phone conversation with this morning before my battery went dead and cut us off who got me to thinking about this.
Do you want freedom… and the absence of restraint and responsibilities?
Or, do you want liberty… which requires restraint and responsibility?
Do you want absolute chaos? Or controlled chaos?
Do you want to defy natures law. Or, abide by natures law?
Do you want anything goes? Or, do you want some things go?
Do you want no limitations. Or, some limitations?
Do you want the synonyms of virtue: advantage, asset, character, charity, chastity, consideration, credit, ethic, ethicality, ethicalness, excellence, faith, faithfulness, fineness, fortitude, generosity, good point, goodness, high-mindedness, hope, ideal, incorruptibility, innocence, justice, kindness, love, merit, morality, plus, probity, prudence, purity, quality, rectitude, respectability, righteousness, temper, temperance, trustworthiness, uprightness, value, worth, worthiness.
Or the antonyms of virtue: dishonor, evil, immorality, vice, badness, villainy, (etc.).
The synonyms of dishonor: discredit, disesteem, dishonor, disrepute, ignominy, infamy, obloquy, odium, opprobrium, reproach, shame, scandal; contempt, despite, disdain, scorn; deprecation, disapprobation, disapproval, disfavor; abasement, debasement, debasing, degradation, dust, humbling, humiliation; blot, brand, shadow, slur, smirch, spot, stain, stigma, taint.
The synonyms of evil: adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, detrimental, evil, hurtful, ill, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, noxious, pernicious, prejudicial, wicked, hostile, inimical, unfriendly; contagious, deadly, infectious, infective, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, venomous; insidious, menacing, ominous, sinister, threatening; hazardous, imperiling (or imperilling), jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe, unsound; nasty, noisome, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome; destructive, fatal, killer, lethal, malignant, ruinous.
The synonyms of immorality: corruption, debauchery, depravity, immorality, iniquitousness, iniquity, libertinage, libertinism, licentiousness, profligacy, sin, bad, badness, blackness, evil, evildoing, ill, turpitude, villainy, wickedness, wrong; atrociousness, evilness, heinousness, sinfulness, unscrupulousness, viciousness, vileness, villainousness; devilry (or deviltry), fiendishness; corruptness, debasement, degeneracy, degeneration, depravedness, dissoluteness, dissolution; indecency, lasciviousness, lechery, lewdness, looseness, perversion, pervertedness, wantonness; abomination, anathema, taboo (also tabu); criminality, reprehensibleness; baseness, despicableness, dirtiness, lowness, meanness; lousiness, miserableness, wretchedness.
The synonyms of vice: evil, adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, detrimental, evil, hurtful, ill, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, noxious, pernicious, prejudicial, wicked, hostile, inimical, unfriendly; contagious, deadly, infectious, infective, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, venomous; insidious, menacing, ominous, sinister, threatening; hazardous, imperiling (or imperilling), jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe, unsound; nasty, noisome, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome; destructive, fatal, killer, lethal, malignant, ruinous.
The synonyms of badness: atrociousness, atrocity, badness, depravedness, depravity, diabolicalness, evilness, heinousness, hideousness, monstrosity, sinfulness, vileness, wickedness, accursedness, baseness, cursedness, devilishness, execrableness, fiendishness, hellishness; corruption, decadence, degeneracy, pervertedness; immorality; infamy, notoriety.
The synonyms of villainy: bad, evildoing, ill, immorality, iniquity, sin, villainy, wrong, atrociousness, atrocity, badness, balefulness, darkness, depravedness, devilishness, diabolism, enormity, evilness, heinousness, iniquitousness, satanism, sinfulness, vileness, wickedness; devilry (or deviltry), fiendishness; cancer, canker, decay, rot, squalor; corruption, debauchery, degeneracy, depravity, indecency, malefaction, perversion, pervertedness, scurrility, scurrilousness; abomination, anathema, taboo.
Words – have – meaning – folks. They – are – what – makes – us – who – we – are.
This is just a short list.
What. Do. You. Want?
I suspect that quite a few of you do not have a clue of what you want.
And some of you, according to a lot of comments I have read -DO- want the synonyms of chaos: chance-medley, confusion, disarrangement, disarray, dishevelment, disorder, disorderedness, disorderliness, disorganization, free-for-all, havoc, heck, hell, jumble, mare’s nest, mess, messiness, misorder, muddle, muss, shambles, snake pit, tumble, welter, anarchy, lawlessness, misrule, riot; knot, snarl, tangle; labyrinth, maze, web; maelstrom, storm; bollix, clutter, litter, mishmash, shuffle; hodgepodge, medley, miscellany, morass, motley. And the synonyms of unnatural: aberrant, aberrational, abnormal, anomalous, atypical, deviate, devious, irregular, unnatural, untypical, unrepresentative; extraordinary, preternatural; rare, uncommon, uncustomary, unusual, unwonted; bizarre, curious, far-out, funny, kinky, odd, outlandish, out-of-the-way, outré, peculiar, quaint, queer, queerish, quirky, remarkable, screwy, strange, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird, wild; eccentric, freakish, idiosyncratic, nonconformist, unconventional, unorthodox; extraordinary, preternatural; rare, uncommon, uncustomary, unusual, unwonted; odd, peculiar, strange.
So, when you are out there talking about liberty and quoting the Founding Fathers who were more educated and read than the vast majority of you (and me)… know what the hell you are talking about.
I am asking you to go and find out what this means: When human beings are able to govern themselves, they have liberty.
Able to GOVERN themselves.
Govern themselves.
You might be surprised at the answer.
Update: What words in the English language will you use to govern yourself. What words in the above (and below) synonyms will you use to govern yourself?
Govern: to exercise authority or power over – synonyms: boss, captain, command, control, preside (over), rule, sway [archaic], conduct, direct, head, lead; administer, manage, micromanage, oversee, regulate, superintend, supervise; dictate, dominate, domineer, lord (it over), master, oppress, reign (over), tyrannize; conquer, subdue, subjugate.
Govern: to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level – synonyms: bridle, check, constrain, contain, curb, govern, hold, inhibit, keep, measure, pull in, regulate, rein (in), restrain, rule, tame, bottle (up), choke (back), hold back, mince, muffle, pocket, repress, sink, smother, squelch, stifle, strangle, suppress, swallow; arrest, interrupt, stop; block, hamper, handcuff, hinder, impede, obstruct; gag, muzzle, silence.
Govern: to look after and make decisions about – synonyms: administer, administrate, carry on, control, direct, govern, guide, handle, keep, manage, operate, overlook, oversee, preside (over), regulate, run, steward, superintend, supervise, tend, care (for), mind, watch; lead, pilot, steer; guard, protect, safeguard; micromanage, stage-manage; codirect, comanage.
Think about it. T-h-i-n-k.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. – Matthew 12:34
You are free to leave a comment. But I am not going to debate it. There is nothing to debate.
Also see: The Devil throwing the Devil Out.
*******
Every man had better know where he stands in this world, damn skippy. In politics and in life, you’ll define yourself or someone else will do it for you. And these days, Bad People from Left to Right are doing the defining. – Kerodin
I hope everyone who reads that will absolutely and unequivocally understand that down to the most inner part of their being… “or someone else will do it for you.”
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Thank you, Curtis. Godspeed.
Responsibility…that’s a mouth full in post modern America.
Truth cuts like sharp blade.
CDP
What do I want? A few thoughts from an average citizen and maybe the king of fools.
1. The ability for Christians to make public declarations of faith such as displays of 10 Commandments, allow Christian groups to have equal access to public buildings for meetings/displays and allow Christians to simply ask that their worldview be considered when making public policy. If that worldview loses the argument at least it had a fair hearing.
2. An honest discussion of the role of gov’t in our lives and how much we will be taxed to pay for same. I have contacted my so called reps and they don’t seem to comprehend that there must be times when the answer is LESS gov’t, less taxes and the so called public employees MUST get pink slips. Why is it the only answer gov’t types have for any problem is more laws, more regulation, more bueracrats and more taxes – every single time.
3. Abolish the NEA,HUD and many other agencies. Allow people to fail, allow people to make their own choices – necessity is the mother of invention and innovation is it not?
4. Abolish property taxes – as long as those exist I am merely a renter. Abolish “death” taxes cuz if I can’t pass on my property to my kids as I see fit then I am merely a steward of the things (God has allowed me to have btw) for the gov’t – again I do not own if they can take at will.
5. Abolish income taxes – the fairest system I can think of is the sales tax. Allow me to decide how much money I keep from my hard earned labor (all of it) and I will decide how to spend it in the marketplace. Gov’t goons will have to learn to live on what this brings and plan wisely on “projects”. No more pork projects to win political favor.
6. Abolish the gov’t social safety net. It is a colossial failure.
7. Get the gov’t out of the market place. I am a business owner and I guarantee you that a deregulation will not mean that I will gouge my clients with bad business practices or prices. I know my base and can only charge what they are willing to pay and I can’t flout good sense or they will go to the next guy. For most businesses not back-stopped by gov’t monopolies we will act in a good manner – self-preservation is a powerful motivator to do the right thing.
8. Abolish child protection services – or at least make them stringently accountable to a state panel of business leaders, religious institutions (based on state demographics) and random citizens. No more being paid by the child for those brought into the system – abuses waiting to happen when they are only accountable to themselves.
9. Abolish corporate welfare. No such thing as TBTF. If I make unwise choices my biz will fail, so should GE, GM, BoA, JPM I don’t care how many employees they have or how much money they make. It should be a level playing for all businesses.
10. Set a two term time limit for Congress critters at the federal level. Too many fools with no real skills have made too much money and enjoyed too many bennies at the public trough. I reject the notion that there is a ruling class over us who are smarter and more compassionate and should therefore retain their rule for my good. Get rid of them, give people real choices at least every 8 years. and we will soon start electing those better suited to the civil service.
Sorry for the lenght but you asked and I am of a mind to answer. So – Hows that for a start?
Oh and thanks Curtis for these articles of late. I was beginning to think too many bloggers were leaving the most important aspect of Liberty out of the debate – morality. I have always believed there must be some boundries, liberty cannot exist in a moral vacuum. Such boundries must be based on a good set of mores and ethics – and I would prefer Biblically based morals. That makes it difficult in our post Christian world that cares not one whit for the things of God – but nonetheless a good honest discussion on this topic is mandatory in the debate on Liberty. Anything and everything goes is just too dangerous for a well ordered, functioning society to thrive and survive. Not trying to jam Christianity down anyones throat – we can agree to disagree, but we gotta find some common moral ground somehow. IMO.
equal access to public buildings
=========================
The first in a long string of failures.
This person hasn’t a clue about anything to do with liberty or freedom.
It prefers a tailored enslavement for itself and others.
tailored enslavement, no clue on liberty – explain please. I’m not saying one must profess any faith nor is my faith dependent on public acceptance. It was one point to say I just think it time that Christians get a fair shake to use the facilities for extra-curricular faith based activities. Christians pay taxes to “support” public buildings too I believe. Admittedly here in Alabama it is different and we have less resistance but I read articles from other locales where it is becoming increasingly difficult to exprss faith in public. School clubs based on faith must do battle in court to hold after school meetings, cities restrict faith displays on public property, children are suspended for Christian displays on clothing at school. When kids wear something with obscene language do they get removed? They may but I don’t recall reading anything on those lines myself. Some cities restrict houses of worship from building on the land they purchase using so called best use laws. Yet they gladly spend public monies on subjects derogatory and offensive to Christians in art works and such – what of best use of my tax dollars. A group of veterens cannot erect a cross on public land to honor comrades, they bear as I understand all the cost associated wiith the cross and are no drain on public funds.
How do I not understand Liberty when I ask only for fair treatment in this small area. Explain to me please.
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