Freedom

To be free is what we long for

To be enslaved is what we abhor

The right to choose as we see fit

And push our cause as the law permits.

But so-called freedom was costly

Particularly for some of certain ethnicity

Achieved through blood and sweat and tears

To rid them of slavery and calm their fears.

In some cases the law had to be reframed

As men and women fought through much pain

So that the disenfranchised could also claim

Equal rights in their very own name.

Equal rights as relating to work done

And wages as an entitled compensation

Basic rights such as in education and health

And fair opportunities to accumulate wealth.

Equal rights whether black or tan

Equal rights whether woman or man

Equal rights for the rich and the poor

Equal rights to all no less and no more.

The right to facilities that others use

The right to do business without being abused

The right to affiliate with whom one chooses

The right to an opinion…one accepts or refuses.

Such laws were enshrined in the statute book

Into which legal minds will always look

Oft to defend a villain who such laws forsook

As well as the victim whose right they took.

It is not an uncommon thing these days

For some to abuse these laws in diverse ways

Looking for loop holes they can explore

And some unrepentant defaulter restore.

Sometimes freedom may be returned for cash

Readily available to one that has it stashed

And with a choice of confinement or a fine

Will opt for the latter one as the judge defines.

Sometimes freedom is dependent on money

Requested by a legal luminary

To represent one charged with a felony

To decide whether he is innocent or guilty.

Some that should have been incarcerated

After due process were allowed to go free

This may have been the prowess of a legal mind

That articulated some legal technicality

One is innocent until he has been proven guilty

So the law of the land declares

But most often his innocence his guilt precedes

When his profile and history in the media appears.

Then there is the issue of infringing one’s rights

Acknowledged by that someone’s legal foresight

Attentive enough to recognize he’s been wronged

And files a claim to obtain what to him belongs.

This doesn’t always go as the claimant believes

Interpretation influences what the judge perceives

Such a case may be won or lost on argument

Often based on some long passed precedent.

Freedom is defined by the law and the court

And evidence must be given one’s case to support

Freedom therefore becomes a legal construct

Determined by the law and the statute books.

So by now one and all should have picked up

That freedom for some is a peculiar cup

It’s yours, yes but not always easily accessed

It often requires money to mount your protest.

In some countries too depending on the rule

Some minority groups use the law as a tool

Laws recently passed their cause to advance

And their God-forbidden lifestyles to enhance.

Giving religious freedom to one and not another

The law supporting one and to the other a bother

Permitting one the right to advance his cause

And the other one putting his right on pause.

The rule cleverly manipulated by the minority

With spurious arguments and aggressive militancy

Fell for their plot and succumbed to their demand

And thus deprived the majority on the other hand.

So that the freedoms once taken for granted

Currently by the same law are now recanted

Making an abject mockery of “the majority rules”

And those upholding democracy looking like fools.

The face of freedom constantly is being rearranged

Like a game in which the rules are often changed

Giving ascendancy to the clearly mentally deranged

I say from my vantage point such a freedom is strange.

  

The legislators are carried away on a political wave

Making laws that support how weird people behave

Facilitating whatever their demented minds may crave

Meekly capitulating to how they rant and rave.

And we call this freedom; freedom that’s abused

Freedom for a minority but for a majority refused

Freedom betrayed now under a veil of threats

A pseudo freedom bringing upon us many regrets.

Freedom outside of God is a façade and short lived

It simply says take all you can, no need to give

It’s a selfish obsession promoting me, myself and mine

Those three always up front all others stand behind.

What do we have?  A crazed world out of whack

A freedom that’s enforced and behavior that is slack

Wrong that passes as right and right that is now wrong

A paradigm shift and the weak elements made strong.

Real freedom upon God’s Holy Word hinges

Not a flirtatious façade deep within evil’s fringes

Injected into confused minds as though with syringes

At the thought of such a self-respected soul cringes.

Freedom is the God-given ability to do what is right

That is doing what is honourable in God’s own sight

Revealed through Holy Scripture’s illuminating light

Giving to one and all in need of such spiritual insight.

Freedom is really Jesus delivering one from sin

Initiating relationship and a steadfast walk with him

Enabled by the Holy Spirit who resides within

Giving clarity to one’s vision that once was dim.

  

Freedom is a walk in the Spirit not after the flesh

A life of self-denial forsaking what one once relished

A change of desires and a delight in the Lord

Internalizing daily doses of His precious Word.

Freedom was not chartered or championed by man

Freedom was determined through the divine plan

God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Spirit all three

Conceptualized, executed and enables such in you and me.

Stewart Russell © 2016