LIBERTY
Liberty- Perhaps no single definition can be given which will convey all that
is embodied in this precious word. For our purpose here, let us define it as
"the normal balance between desire and restraint." This would be a
proper Masonic definition. The words "normal restraint" must mean the
understanding and application of Spiritual Laws, by which a perfect and
permanent freedom is assured. The enjoyment of Liberty, or the extent of this
enjoyment, is based upon the intellect of the individual. A privilege, therefore
Liberty, is the possession of the man who feels a responsibility to give
something in return for that which he receives and appreciates; to suppress a
base desire for a nobler one; to sacrifice a temporary selfish desire for one
that means the most lasting values to the welfare of all people.
Parents dare not indiscriminately grant every wish of their children. By
doing so, an abnormal condition is set up. Desire is increased by reducing
restraint. The virtue of freedom is turned into the vice of over-indulgence, a
violation of a law of Nature, a trespass against a Spiritual Law.
In the state, frequent violations of these laws, by those governed or by
those who govern, leave only a vestige of Liberty- the form but not the fact-
the marble-like lips but not the voice. In like manner, the balance is lost when
government exercises restraint without reason, depriving the people of
privileges with which Spiritual Laws endow them. Those who govern them become
the destroyers of Liberty, instead of the interpreters.
The propagandist, who, ignoring the welfare of the people, spreads malicious
falsehoods; the newspaper that acts in the interest of a few; the religious
leader who thrives by denouncing those who do not conform to his creed; all
craftily deceive, by their cowardly claims to unlimited freedom of speech, of
press and of conscience, when they use that which is sacred as a shield to hide
their iniquity. They cry out "We demand our rights," when they mean
"protect us in our evil intentions."
Freemasonry, is the great expounder of Liberty. It teaches Equality,
Tolerance and Justice, without which Liberty cannot exist.
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