A Free People

I came across a photo on Facebook, and I thought the quote expressed such a wonderful truth.  Here it is:

"It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible reading people.  The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom."  Horace Greely

I did not bother to check out whether Horace Greely actually said that, and I know how quotes on the internet are, but I will assume that its authentic.  Regardless, those words are worth repeating.  In a way, those words are a repeat:

"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  Jesus in John 8:31-32

It got me thinking, or reminding myself, of exactly how God's word is the groundwork of human freedom.  I'm not much for leaving something at the philosophical, theoretical or abstract level.  I prefer to go into detail, expound upon something, and understand the mechanism of an axiom as best I can.  So the purpose of this note is to do just that; to expound upon the truth of that quote.  How exactly is the Bible the groundwork for a free society?

The ideal
To begin with, the Bible establishes freedom as an ideal for all people.  And the basis of freedom for all people is the idea that all people are created equal, and we get that idea from knowing that we are all made in the image of God.  In God's economy one is one.  One is not greater than another one.  One is not one-third or two-thirds; one is one.  This is reflected in our democracy, when one votes, there is simply one vote.  You could be homeless and your vote would count as much as the millionaire banker.  Why?  Because we believe that every human being is made in the image of God, and is therefore valuable and special no matter what his/her status in society.  And if one is one, and no one is greater than another one, then there is zero basis for slavery.  That's the ideal.  True, we have not always lived out the ideal.  But having an ideal - something to aim for - is very important to actually achieving anything at all.  If the American Founders did not read the Bible, and they did not embed the ideal of equality and freedom in our founding documents, its quite likely that the system of slavery would never have been abolished.  The ideal was the driving force that killed it, like the driving of a wooden stake into a vampire's heart.  The Bible was the basis for that ideal.

Knowledge and wisdom
Part of the quote is actually very basic: If a person can read the Bible, it means he can read.  Its hard to enslave a literate man.  And if he reads the Bible, he is encouraged to gain wisdom and knowledge.  Its practically impossible to enslave a literate man who has wisdom and knowledge.  As is true with milk, the cream rises to the top.

Morality
Freedom requires that people do the right thing.  Just imagine if our society was full of rapists and thieves.  Do you think freedom would last long?  If crime tripled, the number of police would necessarily triple.  If crime doubled, the number of laws would double.  Otherwise there would be anarchy.  Anarchy and Fascism are much closer to each other than either of them are to freedom and democracy.  Consider a quote from Ben Franklin: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.  As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."

Responsibility
In order for people to be free they must be responsible for themselves.  Independence is not being dependent.  Though we are dependent on God, we are independent of any other, especially any government.  But the minute we are dependent on government, that's when the government has control over us, and freedom is no more.  Freedom requires personal responsibility.  The Bible teaches us how to be responsibility for ourselves.  A good example is the book of Proverbs.  And the epistles as well, teach Christians to be responsible people.

The Bible is the only place to find this combination.  Islam means submission, and is there any freedom in Islamic countries?  Pagan religions do not have a moral standard.  In fact, paganism is less of a religion and more of a culture.  And there is no condemnation for evil in paganism.  There is no definition of what evil is.  And with so many gods, there is no God; everything just meshes into a grey pot of relativity.  There is no ideal in atheism.  Nor is there any teaching in atheism, let alone a moral standard to go by.  If there is no God, men are left to define morality however they want to, and men tend to define morality by their desire to do evil.  So its no surprise that the officially atheist Soviet Union was also very oppressive.  The Bible is the only source and teaching that has ever brought men freedom.  Even when pagan civilizations like Rome were relatively free, it did not last long.  Christ came into the world, and Christianity came upon the Roman Empire like the deluge of a broken dam.  Since then freedom has been achieved like never before.  China was more advanced in the days of Christ, and you would think that they would have outpaced Europe in achievement.  But China fell in on itself, because there was no foundation; neither greatness nor freedom could be established in pagan China.  Christian Europe, on the other hand, advanced in both greatness and freedom.  No one says that Christian Europe was perfect, but the darkest days in Europe were also the least Christian days.  Even now, as Europe abandons its historical religion, Europe is collapsing into a financial disaster.  History will tell you, if you do not believe Horace Greely, the Bible is the foundation of freedom and the groundwork of any good society.