"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four. If that is granted, all else follows."
--George Orwell, 1984.
Why would anyone deny that 2+2=4? If you have two donuts and you buy two more you obviously have four. Or if you have two children and then have twins you then have four children. Even more than that, if you are two years old and live for two more years you are then four years old. With all these examples, why would anyone argue? Isn't this a basic math equation, an absolute in the world of mathematics?
If there was someone who believed that 2+2=5, what would you do? Would you tell them that that is not correct and kindly help them find the right answer to the equation? What if they told you that they believe that five really is the answer and that you are wrong for saying four is the only correct answer?
We live in a world where absolutes are hidden, questioned, and attacked. Telling anyone they can't do something because that's "not the way it is" is an affront to everyone's right to everything, and therefore you are a bigot for saying so. News sources love to jump on anything anyone says that is politically incorrect or a freudian slip because that is what makes the news today: Whose rights are being infringed upon today?
Not that I'm saying there's anything bad about making sure people have rights. Each and every person on this earth is a child of God, and therefore have the rights. According to the founding fathers, we all have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (The Declaration of Independence). The Book of Mormon tells us that "[men] are free to choose" (2 Nephi 2:27). Everyone on this earth has the right to live and to make their own choices. But what happens when our freedom begins to infringe upon the freedom of others?
The past few years there have been huge movements in the LGBT community. Gay marriage has been legalized, bathrooms declared ungendered, and the first LGBT national monument created. This has been thrilling to those in the LGBT community and its supporters. However, not all the changes have been good.
There are multiple accounts of bakers who feel baking a cake for a gay or lesbian wedding goes against their religion are fined large amounts of money for refusing their services (one example showed $135,000). Instead of LGBT rights being denied, religious rights are considered unimportant by the courts. So whose rights should have been upheld?
My answer: Both! I don't agree with gay marriage, but that doesn't mean anyone should be cruel to those who live that lifestyle. However, most stores have a policy that allows them to refuse service to anyone, and that doesn't just mean they disagree with the marriage they are being asked to make a cake for. The couple could have found a different bakery, taking their business and money elsewhere. The baker did not need to be fined exorbitant amounts of money for wanting to stick to their religious beliefs. I have no doubt LGBT-only bakeries will be opened soon, and that they will not be considered bigoted for only serving those couples. However, a Christian baker who will only serve traditional marriages isn't just labeled a bigot, but their name is completely ruined after having been sent to court and fined. (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/court-ruling-colorado-baker-refused-gay-wedding-cake/)
The goal with this post isn't to argue over the right and wrong of this rather outdated example, but to show how focusing on the freedoms of one specific people takes away the freedoms of the others. Honestly, I'm afraid I will lose friendships with this new blog, but I cannot be silent any more. Everyone deserves to be loved, yes, but "everyone" means blacks, Muslims, gays, and women only anymore. I feel badly for my husband: He is a white, straight, Christian, politically conservative man who has no hope of ever being listened to because his entire existence labels him a bigot, a homophobe, and a white supremacist. He deserves to be loved and respected just as much as any of the LGBT's who are gathering for a rally.
I'm not denying the existence of right and wrong. In my mind "2+2=4" is just as basic as the fact that a family is made of a man and a woman. But that's not the point of this post. The point is that at the rate we're going, 2+2=4 could go the same way as man+woman=family: It could become outdated, discriminatory, even dangerous.
If "freedom is the freedom to say two plus two makes four" without fear, then it is also the freedom for me to say on social media, "God lives, He has decreed right and wrong, and He has a plan for all of us" without fear. That's what this is: This is the beginning of my freedom without fear, because I know that there is a right and wrong, and that God loves every single one of us, no matter how much wrong we choose, and we all choose it. The point is that, along with our freedom to choose wrong, we are also free to choose to return to God. That is the most wonderful freedom of all.
