{"id":707,"date":"2024-07-20T22:32:34","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T21:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=707"},"modified":"2024-07-20T22:32:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T21:32:35","slug":"free-and-unfree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=707","title":{"rendered":"Free and Unfree"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Reflection #81 (21st January 2024 at Essex Church \/ Kensington Unitarians)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I said at the top of the service, this theme of freedom and unfreedom is a big, big topic, and we might as well accept upfront that we are barely going to scratch the surface of it today \u2013 I hope it\u2019s one we\u2019ll return to again and again, and approach from different angles, in the months and years to come. After all, it\u2019s a theme beloved of Unitarians \u2013 historically we\u2019ve made a lot of \u2018freedom, reason, and tolerance\u2019<\/em> as our guiding values \u2013 we call ourselves \u2018a free religious faith\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s a theme which means a lot to me personally too, though I tend to speak in terms of liberation more than freedom, as the two words have slightly different connotations for me. When I had my ordination service a few years ago I wrote a statement of my vision for my ministry \u2013 I tried to articulate my own sense of calling \u2013 and liberation was a big part of what I hoped my future ministry would be about (perhaps that\u2019s why I picked this topic the week before our big induction service).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve long been inspired by the liberation theology tradition, this idea that God cares especially for the oppressed, the unfree, and that we are all called to join in the struggle for the liberation of everyone <\/em>\u2013 to create the conditions where all human beings are in a position to flourish and thrive \u2013 it\u2019s a big ask, of course, but I believe in those words of Fannie Lou Hamer: \u2018nobody\u2019s free until everybody\u2019s free\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does it really mean to be free? Or to be unfree? Often we hear talk of freedom from people asserting that they should be free to do whatever they want \u2013 but to my mind that\u2019s framing freedom in a very individualistic, even libertarian, sense \u2013 asserting our rights to do what we like, in pursuit of our own pleasure and happiness, whatever consequences or \u2018collateral damage\u2019 we might cause to any poor soul who has the misfortune to be in our way. I don\u2019t suppose you\u2019ll be surprised to hear me say: I think this this is a pretty problematic way to think about freedom. It brings to mind that well-known quote: \u2018your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.\u2019 <\/em>There seems to be an unavoidable tension between individual liberty and collective well-being and we each need to work out a way to live which takes both sides of the equation into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We heard that tale of the Dog and the Wolf earlier, and as I hinted, I have rather mixed feelings about it. It seems to present just two options for life: you can be wild and free, like the lone wolf; or you can give up your freedom, like the poor old dog, who has chosen domestication and captivity. The story offers a binary choice: you can be independent or dependent (and trapped). But surely there\u2019s a middle way between these two \u2013 what would it look like if we acknowledge our inter<\/em>dependence \u2013 that we are embedded in an \u2018inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny\u2019<\/em> (to quote Martin Luther King) and our action (or inaction) will always have an impact on others whether we intend it or not. If we look at freedom through the lens of inter<\/em>dependence we might opt to voluntarily give up some of our own freedom, to constrain our own actions, in order to minimise harm to others and act in service of the common good. And I think most of us do this in our daily lives, we accept some limits, as part of the social contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an essay on freedom by the philosopher Shay Welch that adds something important, I think. She writes: \u2018Part of the importance of social freedom to individuals is the ability to shape their life and express their personality. Social freedom is essential if people are to meaningfully live their lives by making plans, commitments, curious endeavours and inquiries, personal expressions, and relationships. These activities require that individuals be able to choose freely\u2026 Yet all choices are constrained\u2026 Social oppression leads to unjust, predetermined, limited options, that direct members of certain social groups toward specific and similar\u2014stereotypical\u2014life paths.\u2019 Words by Shay Welch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s make this a bit more concrete now and consider just a few of the many ways in which freedom or, more to the point, unfreedom are manifested in people\u2019s real lives. We might think through the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions. Some people are unfree in the most basic sense \u2013 locked up in prison or otherwise in physical captivity \u2013 we\u2019d better leave consideration of the prison system as a topic for another day (though I think Sarah preached on this not that long ago). Some people\u2019s freedom is constrained as a result of various laws which prohibit certain behaviours \u2013 including some laws which we might consider unjust \u2013 such as those limiting the right to protest in the UK or those which still criminalise LGBTQ+ people in many countries worldwide. Some people\u2019s life choices are limited due to being trapped in poverty and debt (and more and more people are falling into this category, I would say, living precariously, and working more hours for less pay, due to the ever-increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of the few). Some people are constrained by social and cultural convention or family obligations which they feel unable to escape. Some are boxed in as a result of prejudice, stereotype, or discrimination which might even make it dangerous for them to simply go about their everyday lives in public \u2013 we only have to think of the terrible incidents the Black Lives Matter movement brought to the fore \u2013 and those same factors block people\u2019s access to education, jobs, or the resources they need to get by. Some of us are un-free because of addiction or other compulsive behaviours; and some through fixed habits of thinking they can\u2019t break out of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a long list. And an incomplete list, of course. There are very many ways in which we can be unfree. And I recently came across an essay from a young New York based philosopher, Yarran Hominh, who\u2019s been doing a lot of work on the notion of \u2018unfreedom\u2019. This is a long-ish excerpt adapted from his writing but I think it\u2019s important so I want to share his insights with you. He writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018To speak of \u201cLiberation\u201d invites the question: liberation from what? So, the first step in liberation is to understand the conditions of unfreedom from which we want to liberate ourselves. Unfreedom involves an experience of constraint or denial. There is something I should be able or want to do or to achieve and cannot. This feeling of frustration is the experiential guide to unfreedom. It asks us to understand the causes of that frustration and what might relieve it. Of course, unfreedom takes many specific forms, from slavery to authoritarianism to group-based forms of oppression and domination. Unfreedom is right before our eyes. Workers are bound to alienating and exploitative work, where they can get it. Women are forced to pay impossible amounts of money, and travel impossible distances to get abortions, where they are legal. Black people and other communities of colour are pushed into ghettoes, and then when those areas become desirable, they are forced out by rising rent and costs of living. People living with disabilities are unable to access basic infrastructure, and are left without the support necessary to live a decent life. The global South is trapped in cycles of debt and locked into economic policies that serve not their citizens, but only the short-term interests of multinational corporations. Unfreedom not only normal, it is systemic.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powerful words from Yarran Hominh about just a few of the aspects of unfreedom that seem to be baked into our contemporary globalised society. And, like he says, the first step toward liberation is to understand the conditions we might want to liberate ourselves from. The first step toward liberation is awareness of the problem, in all its complexity, and acknowledgement of the suffering it causes to all who are unfree. Which is, ultimately, all of us, because \u2018nobody\u2019s free until everybody\u2019s free\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So where does that leave us? (for today, at least, as I think this is a subject we\u2019ll keep returning to). I wonder if our calling as a free religious faith community is to keep that awareness front and centre \u2013 to make liberation a guiding principle as we go forward \u2013 and to resist, disrupt, and unlearn the ways of the world that are unjustly keeping us \u2013 all of us <\/em>\u2013 from thriving, flourishing, and living free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I very much hope that\u2019s where we\u2019re headed. May it be so, for the greater good of all. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection by Jane Blackall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An audio recording of this sermon is available:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nhttps:\/\/www.kensington-unitarians.org.uk\/pod2011\/KU_jane.blackall_hybrid_sermon_21.01.24.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n