People don’t dig tunnels to slavery. They don’t voluntarily risk their lives in a mad dash into the jaws of the enemy. However, they do these things in their quest for freedom. Can you imagine how prisoners of war must have felt when they escaped the prison camp, or were liberated by the efforts of others? Or how about the giant relief of an inmate who was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and then later freed, when evidence proved his innocence? If he wasn’t consumed by anger over his false imprisonment, the high of his elation at being freed would be immeasurable.

But the perception of the freedom anyone may seek, is misunderstood by most. In general, freedom means the right to choose what one wants to do, but in essence, it is not unlimited freedom. You are not free to choose your parents. You are not free to choose the environment in which you grow up. You are not free to choose whether to eat, drink, sleep, eliminate, or procreate. These necessary requirements of life are pre-programmed into you by the act of creation. Oh sure, you can choose not to do these things, but since your life depends on at least four of those requirements, any choice to ignore them would be an act of suicide.

Your body was not meant to fly, so you do not have the same freedom as a bird. You cannot stay underwater like a fish, so your freedom is fairly well limited to living on dry land and breathing oxygen enriched air. You are not free to fly into space without very expensive vehicles and space suits to protect your life.
Like most living things, human freedom has limits.

American human freedom was defined succinctly in our two founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution. Generally, an American’s freedom was defined as the sanctity of his or her life, the inviolate right to liberty from government oppression and aggression, provided you bring no harm to others and the wide opportunity to pursue happiness, fully depending on an individual’s perception of just what happiness is.

Since the ink was barely dry on the U. S. Constitution, efforts to dilute the freedoms contained in that document have been relentless. Presidents, the U. S. Congress and the courts have continually acted against the limits placed on them by the Constitution. The demand that government preserves, protects and defends that constitution and individual liberty, have fallen largely by the wayside. That constitutional mandate on government was allowed to erode for two major reasons: 1) honor, integrity and honesty of those in power became passé, in their pursuit of power and wealth and 2) the people forgot that “….. eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

Having said that, never underestimate the power of freedom, even if it has been ignored for more than a century. As governments make extended reaches for more power, memories of freedom and revolution are re-ignited in the masses, whether urban or rural. Tea parties, as a form of peaceful protest, regain popularity. The reasons behind the 2nd Amendment begin to play out in general conversation. Discussions and debate about what the Founding Fathers gave us in their documents of freedom and how what they gave us, defines our contemporary thought and action. States suddenly claim their sovereign rights under the 9th and 10th Amendments in response to increasing federal power. The call to peaceful arms is on the lips of all who claim freedom as their birthright. Americans have tasted freedom like no others and it will not be denied, no matter what it takes in the process of reclamation, but reclaimed it will be in one form or another.

Next week we will tell the story of a landowner that went to jail for over 150 days for cleaning out a ditch on his land.