FREEDOM IS…
Freedom is a hot news topic lately!
FREEDOM.
Three major religions have something to tell us.
The Judeo-Christian message is utterly about freedom.
The Hebrew Testament has stories about God sending Moses to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
And Hannah's prayer (1 Sam. 2:1-10) is a call for societal rebalancing to provide equity for the poor and lowly.
The Christian Testament has stories of Jesus calling people to freedom from their attachment to sinful ways; and of his freeing many from physical maladies.
And Mary's prayer (Magnificat) (Lk.1:46-55) echoes Hannah's in its call for an egalitarian society. ~~~~~~~
In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama wrote in April1993: "because people have an innate desire for freedom, the forces of liberty and oppression have been in continuous conflict throughout history."
"Buddhism...recognizes that human beings are entitled to dignity, that all members of the human family have an equal and inalienable right to liberty, not just in terms of political freedom, but also at the fundamental level of freedom from fear and want."
OTHER QUOTES BY WELL-KNOWN THINKERS
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Freedom is never really won; you earn it and win it in every generation.” — Coretta Scott King
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” — Nelson Mandela
“Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life.” — Bob Marley
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”
— Gloria Steinem
“Literature was the passport to enter a larger life; that is, the zone of freedom. Literature was freedom. Especially in a time in which the values of reading and inwardness are so strenuously challenged, literature is freedom.”
— Susan Sontag
“I suggest to my students that they write under a pseudonym for a week. That allows young men to write as women, and women as men. It allows them a lot of freedom they don’t have ordinarily.” — Joyce Carol Oates
“Free To Be…You And Me” — Marlo Thomas
ON FREEDOM:
TEEN GIRLS
SPEAK THEIR OWN TRUTH
AMEN.
