One of the most fundamental values of social life is the value of freedom. It constitutes one of the indispensable points of reference for public authorities in carrying out economic, political cultural and technological policies. Indeed in the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et Spes (n. 17)freedom is considered the highest design in man, of his being made in the divine image and consequently is a sign of the sublime dignity of every human person.
Thus, every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognised as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other his duty of respect.
For example, the right to the exercise freedom especially in moral and religious matters is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person.
It is this emphasis on freedom and liberty of the individual that makes democracy one of the most appealing forms of government in modern civilized society.
For more than two decades, Ghanaians have been making all efforts to consolidate democracy in its different ramifications: rule of law, transparency, good governance, freedom of association and of the press etc.
At bottom line, it is because we see the value of freedom as an expression of the singularity of each human person, is respected when every member of society is permitted to fulfil his personal vocation: to seek the truth and profess his religious, cultural and political ideas; to express his opinion; to choose his state of life etc. This is freedom.
Freedom is not Personal Autonomy
However, the meaning of freedom understood as a social value, must not be restricted, considering it from a purely individualistic perspective and thus reducing its value to the arbitrarily and uncontrolled exercise of one’s won personal autonomy. This, to say the least, is a false sense of freedom.
Indeed, there is nothing like absolute freedom in any part of this world. Freedom, must always go with responsibility: the responsibility of ensuring that it is exercised within the juridical framework of the collective conscience of the society, as well as within the limits imposed by the common good and public order.
It exists only when reciprocal bonds, governed by truth and justice and has the tendency of linking people to one another and respect the cultural heritage of society. Freedom must also be expressed as the capacity to refuse what is morally negative, in whatever guise it may be presented.
Responsible freedom means the capacity to distance oneself effectively from everything that could hinder personnel, family or social growth.
Freedom above all, is the capacity to control one’s negative passions, to be in possession of oneself in view of the genuine good, within the context of the universal common good.
Thus, any brand of so-called freedom that does not posses any of the above-mentioned characteristics, is no freedom at all. Paradoxically, it is slavery to one’s own passions and negative hedonism.
Relativism: Global threat
Indeed, one of the greatest global threats in this century is not an atomic bomb. It is relativism. Relativism abandons the belief of one eternal truth.
It lowers the standards of excellence, the makes a relentless and senseless pursuit of novelty parading all this as the realisation of freedom.
It is a false sense of freedom and culture; a false sense of so-called freedom of choice.
This writer is of the opinion that, this posses menace for our infant democracy. In the name of “freedom of choice,” and in the name of “tolerance” and “fundamental rights,” our infant democracy may be succumbed to the push and pull of spurious logic and demands of modern society and pressure groups.
We need to remember, that we can talk of responsible freedom, within the context of our collective conscience and cultural sentiments as Ghanaians and Africans. We need to guard our cultural values and heritage that have brought us so far.
The experiences that we have been going through of late – the cocaine saga, involving a parliamentarian (a law giver!) and top State officials being implicated, as well as the recent attempt by some groups with some local Ghanaian accomplices to hold homosexual and lesbian international conference on our soil (thanks to the swift intervention of the government) need to put us on guard.
Our infatuation with democracy and its collaterals of freedom, truth and justice should not be a licence for using our country as the “entry point” for illicit conferences or the trafficking of hard drugs.
Freedom and the common good
Freedom, we repeat must not, and need not be confused with the arbitrary and uncontrolled exercise of one’s own personal autonomy. Our democratic freedom need to be seen within the context of the limits imposed by the common good and the public order, and above all, the limits set by our cultural sentiments.
Anything offensive to our collective conscience and the public order, cannot be considered “freedom” and for that matter an “infringement” on one’s freedom of choice.
We need to be restricting the meaning of freedom to uncontrolled exercise of individual autonomy. We may be financially poor as Africans, but we are certainly not poor in terms of moral values.
We can only have a vision of a future that takes cognizance of what our forbears have bequeathed to us as our cultural patrimony.
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