Conditional and unconditional liberty

[catecumen]

I passed a sign on a church today that said, "If we forget the fallen hero, we forfeit our right to liberty."

But did our fallen heroes die for conditional liberty?

Did they fight and die for a freedom which depends upon our doing or saying or thinking what someone else considers to be the right thing?

Did they fight and die for the freedom to behave correctly (according to the definitions created by whoever is running things at the moment)?

Or did they, perhaps, fight and die for the kind of freedom which would be recognized as the unconditional right of everyone, a right to be extended even to those with whom we disagree?

Comments

[branchandroot]

This, yes. Few things are likelier to get me up on my soapbox than someone, especially a Statesider, waving the flag for "Liberty! Freedom! But wait one sec while I prune off all these bits of it I don't like..."

[catecumen]

Sort of like Liberty University deauthorizing the student Democratic Club, yes - one gets the feeling that they miss the point on what "liberty" means.