Liberty of Conscience...

Liberty: According to the 1828,
1. The state of a free person; exemption from subjection to the will of another claiming ownership of the person or services; freedom; -- opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection.
But ye . . . caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection. Jer. xxxiv. 16.
Delivered fro the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Bible, 1551. Rom. viii. 21.
2. Freedom from imprisonment, bonds, or other restraint upon locomotion.
Being pent from liberty, as I am now. Shak.
3. A privilege conferred by a superior power; permission granted; leave; as, liberty given to a child to play, or to a witness to leave a court, and the like.

John Locke, in Of Civil Government states it this way: "...we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions, and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the Law of Nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man." He comments on this state of nature, that all men are equal IN this state of liberty, and none has any more liberty or less than another. And later, "But though this be a state of liberty, yet it is not a state of licence." Don't we all click our tongues at those who refuse to care for themselves in a proper manner? The "how" might be subjective, but it is a law of nature that one ought to consider how to care for his person and possessions.

When looking at internal property, such as conscience, it stands to reason, then, that we have the privilege to use and dispose of our conscience as we see fit. It is ours, and we have exclusive right to it. Shall we go further, then, and say that no other man can operate our conscience? The choosing of an action or inaction preceded the action or inaction, and is internal, unseen.

By way of further explanation, let us examine the nature of liberty. Liberty falls into two categories - internal and external. In my previous post, I suggested that internal is causative of external. There must, then, be an internal liberty that is causative of external liberty.

Internal liberty consists of spiritual liberty and liberty of conscience. Spiritual liberty is the exclusive right of the individual to choose what he will believe. Can the individual be deceived? Most definately! But it is his choice to believe what he will. No one can force him to believe something contrary to that choice. This is significant for parents as we teach our children about the Scriptures. For a time, they follow our belief. But it is the Law of Nature that they come to a place of decision and choose their own belief. This comes as they labor over the Scripture, given that labor is the precursor to ownership. Liberty of conscience, then, is the exclusive right of the individual to choose an action or inaction and judge the lawfulness or unlawfulness of that action or inaction.

Regarding External liberty, our nation was founded upon the understanding of internal liberty. This is why we have enjoyed such strong and lasting external liberties. These liberties include: religious, economic, civil and political. Our founding documents were written with the understanding of spiritual liberty and liberty of conscience - the right to believe as we choose, and the the right to choose as we believe. Our form of government was based upon the biblical idea of such liberty. Thus, we have a Constitutional Federal Republic.

More on conscience later.