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
