The Fight for Freedom

Freedom. Freedom of association. Freedom of belief. Freedom of religion. Freedom of speech. Freedom of expression. Freedom of the press. Liberty. Defined as:

“Familiarity or openness in speech or behavior”

“The state of being physically unrestricted and able to move easily”

“The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved”

“The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint”

“The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.”

“A right or privilege, especially a statutory one.”

Fundamental humanitarian rights. Rights that must be consistently defended to maintain. Our basic rights as humans where regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, education, age, marital status, political affiliation, socioeconomic status and more, we all struggle to keep our freedom daily. Some more than others.

When we start feeling the walls closing in, the weight of restrictions like a cloud looming over head. Time, Place, Manner. The belief that we must restrict our freedoms at work, at school, at church, in the library, in the white house, in a job interview, during war, during a recession, during a pandemic. There’s a fine line between placing recommendations and restrictions versus becoming a dictator.

Luckily many of us may fight daily for our small freedoms, and so we should. But when you compare our freedom restrictions to those of people in other countries our fights seem almost trivial, petty. We fight the small battles so we don’t end up with a war. Maybe we should also advocate and help our neighbors fighting wars so they too can someday only worry about the small battles.

Look at Ukraine’s current situation. These people are fighting for their freedom and their survival, for food, for democracy, for their homes and cities, for their families. This is what defending freedom really looks like on a larger scale. The Ukrainians are fleeing their homes and picking up arms to defend their country. They are hiding from missile strikes, saying goodbye to their loved ones.

What about the Indigenous people in Canada and the cultural genocide that happened in residential schools in the late 1870’s until 1996. Children from the ages of 4-16 were ripped away from their families and forced to attend residential schools where the government of Canada attempted to “civilize” Indians to become members of society. They were forced to abandon their way of living, their native languages, and their religions. They were forced to pray, cut their hair, wear certain clothing. Contact with their families was forbidden. They were starved, burned, confined, sexually assaulted, electrocuted, unable to get medical attention, beaten, had forced abortions, segregated, and abused in every way imaginable. 150000 children attended these residential schools, at least 3200 of these children died at the schools, and their families were never notified. Parents had their children ripped from their arms and taken, never to be seen or heard from again. This is what losing freedom looks like. This is what lack of humanity does.

Let us never forget the ugly side of humanity and continue to fight tooth and nail for every tiny battle and every big war to protect our freedoms. From Ukraine to Canada and all across the globe, let us join together and support the global fight for freedom!

Please think about donating to a relief program to provide humanitarian aid to those fighting to keep the peace! I’ve attached a link below, but there are many other places where your donations and support can be used for the greater good as well! Please join the global movement and become a freedom fighter!

https://www.samaritanspurse.ca/ukraine-response-2?sc=SD222DGAUR&utm_source=sp-google-search-ukraine&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ukraine-response&utm_content=sp-google-search-ad-ukraine&gclid=CjwKCAiA4KaRBhBdEiwAZi1zzvhgNtzlwoE-TZ__bu4Qh_FBfUUU6CRMKHj68WIYS-5nzh15VKu-uRoCmwYQAvD_BwE