We are obsessed with freedom. The rugged individualism in American culture is one of the mindsets that has made this experiment so successful. It correctly respects the importance and autonomy of the human person, but when untethered from faith and philosophy, it makes a fatal error. Yes, the human person ought to be free, but free to do what?

Freedom is thought to be the ability to do whatever someone wants, as long as it doesn’t impact another. This definition trivializes what freedom is because it severs the connection between choice and purpose. I could do any number of things that would not affect others and would be profoundly harmful to me. That’s not freedom.

Unlimited freedom is as destructive as no freedom. We are free to do what we want, but are we free to do what we ought to do?

True freedom, that which is actually freeing, allows the person to do more of what makes them human. It is the guardian that protects us from harmful errors, while enabling us to be the people we were made to be. God’s plan and law is ordered towards our freedom. This turns the agendas of individuals, groups, and governments on its head. Secular freedom is ordered toward personal gratification. Freedom is ordered toward the glory of the human person.

I am free to do what I wish, but am I free to do what I ought to do? The difference is that one makes me more of what I am, and the other can easily destroy my nature.