We want to do things that we can’t do, for one reason or another, and we complain about every restriction. And yet, we really do have an incredible measure of liberty in this country. Let us count some of the ways. . . .
(1) We have the liberty to possess a Bible, without being executed for it, as happens in North Korea.
(2) We have the liberty to drink the wine of Holy Communion, without receiving 80 lashes of a whip, as happens in Iran.
(3) We have the liberty to criticize our rulers, without being sent to prison or a re-education camp, as happens in the still-Communist countries of Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, and China, as well as in the recently-communist country of Russia.
(4) We have the liberty to choose our own professions, live where we want to, travel at will, and start businesses, unlike in the former Soviet Union.
(5) We have the liberty to have more than one child, unlike in China (which recently modified its one-child policy but only under certain conditions, continuing its control of child-bearing).
You keep the list going. What are some other liberties we enjoy, while also perhaps taking them for granted, assuming they are normal instead of great blessings to be thankful for?
About Gene Veith
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