In his

recent appearance on Meet the Press, Bill Bennett

commented that something is radically wrong with a nation

in which students can, with impunity, walk the halls of a

school building shouting, "Heil, Hitler!",

while other students can be taken to the principal's

office for walking those same halls shouting praises to

Almighty God.

Something is, indeed,

radically wrong. When our forefathers established the

Republic of the United States of America, they envisioned

a country in which freedom and peace would prevail. In

fact, one of the reasons for the establishment of our

Constitution, as stated in the preamble of this august

document, was to "insure domestic tranquility."

Yet the swelling turmoil of

the closing half of this century has made a mockery of

this Constitutional imperative. For what we have been

witnessing in our land is not the promotion of domestic

tranquility but, on the contrary, the promotion of

domestic tyranny.

While there are many

reasons for such a sad turn of events, I would propose

that one of the chief reasons has to do with our present

culture's understanding of the word freedom.

Freedom can be defined as

that state of being which is characterized by a knowledge

of absolute truth and a responsible adherence to and

application of that truth.

The key word here is

responsible, for without responsibility, there can be no

freedom. There can be only license. Indeed, Webster

defines license as "freedom...used with

irresponsibility." License, in reality, is false

freedom. Such is the state of affairs in which our

culture presently finds itself.

We are a culture in which

the term freedom has become synonymous with license. The

two words, however, are not interchangeable. On the

contrary, they are diametrically opposed. For whereas

freedom leads to tranquility, license leads to tyranny.

Like every other good and

worthwhile thing in life, freedom exacts a price. That

price is the sacrifice of the self - the putting

aside of doing what feels good in order to do what is

right. Freedom requires laying aside expediency and

taking up the standards of duty and honor.

Throughout the history of

this great country of ours, there have been men and women

who have willingly and gladly paid that price, even to

the point of death. When, however, the price of freedom

is not paid, license ensues, and license left unabated

leads to tyranny.

In order for a society to

be free, it must be built on internal discipline. Doing

what is right instead of doing what feels good requires

internal discipline. Failure to exercise internal

discipline will inevitably necessitate external

discipline and, eventually, produce a tyrannical state.

Jesus Christ pointed to the

only source of true freedom: "You shall know the

truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John

8:32). It is the knowledge and application of absolute

truth - God's truth - that alone will guarantee

freedom and, in so doing, insure domestic tranquility.

This concept our

forefathers understood well and built our country on it.

More than 100 years ago, English clergyman Charles

Kingsley said, "There are two freedoms, the false

where one is free to do what he likes, and the true where

he is free to do what he ought."

If we are to continue to

live in true freedom in these United States of America,

we must turn away from the false freedom that is license,

and we must return to the standards of true freedom to

which our founding fathers adhered.

We must realize that unless

we stop doing what we please and begin doing what is

right, we may soon slip unawares into the fearsome and

stifling clutches of tyranny.

Then, to our horror, it

will be too late.

["Real

Answers" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation

Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy

Foundation, write or e-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing,

MI 48901-6091; [email protected]. Visit the website at www.amyfound.org .

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