The Birth of Freedom - Trailer

The Birth of Freedom - The History of Freedom.
http://www.thebirthoffreedom.com

How is freedom born? The trailer for a documentary released by the Acton Institute that tells the story of how modern understandings of individual liberty were developed. Check out http://www.thebirthoffreedom.com for information about premieres and related materials.

The American founders said that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They called this a self evident truth. 87 years later, Abraham Lincoln reaffirmed this idea on the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg. And in 1963 these same words echoed from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as Martin Luther King, Jr. urged America to fulfill the promise of its founding.

But humans are separated by enormous differences in talent and circumstance. Why would anyone believe that all men are created equal? That all should be free? That all deserve a voice in choosing their leaders? Why would any nation consider this a self-evident truth?

For the millions around the world who have never tasted liberty the question cries for an answer. And the answer it gives is the ingredient to a true free, virtuous and prosperous society.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Acton
• Institute
• Birth
• of
• Freedom
• Religion
• individual
• liberty
• history
• america
• europe
• church
• slavery
• martin
• luther
• king
• free
• and
• prosperous
• society
• virtue
• what
• is
• freedom
• true

[brianjwalton]

This verse refers to the ethical treatment of slaves, not to the ethical question of owning them at all. The bible, in fact, is silent on the latter question and you can't make an argument on silence.

You CAN, however, argue from history that Christian ideals from the mouth of Jesus helped bring an end to slavery in both Europe and the United States.

Which is the stronger argumen?

[IIXboxSucksII]

Benjamin Rush, Signer from Pennsylvania, stated:

Domestic slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity. . . . It is rebellion against the authority of a common Father. It is a practical denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common Savior. It is an usurpation of the prerogative of the great Sovereign of the universe who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men.

[markcomptube]

Comment in 4 parts as not enough room in one “bite” .Whether we are Christians or not, Americans or not, outside of the parts of the world where poverty creates all types of slavery, whether children to the fields for survival, women to men in many cultures, we are kidding ourselves

[markcomptube]

Comment 2:We exist in different forms of slavery, right now we will all be slaves to the overseers of the banking and financial debacle which was greed and selfishness, then we will be slaves to a world where commodities will be in short supply because of our greed for a new iPhone etc and them of course we will be suffer from global warming because of our selfishness in not insulating our homes driving smaller cars etc etc.

[markcomptube]

Comment 3: Whether Christian Jew or Muslim we have been slaves to greed and selfishness, Maybe, just maybe we might see the light in time and start to change our ways.........however I doubt it, despite the fact that its a theme taught by all the world’s major religion at some point. Freedom comes with responsibility, we all want the former but are not really prepared to take on the latter.

[markcomptube]

Comment4: Make a start by occasionally walking instead of taking the car, turn down the heating or air con and think good of the neighbour you don't really like - Maybe I should try that as well. Oh and lets not slag each other off on this page, surely respect and listening to each other has something to do with freedom....

[Aliothemage]

lol, what a ridiculous bunch of religious propaganda. Who buys into this trash?

[Mike10four]

Rights of: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are universal to all life from bacteria to humans; Life has the freedom in the pursuit of survival. Survival is a metaphor of Happiness fulfilling objectives of living, with the desire of procreation; life with a brain maintains an addition level of perceived objectives in the pursuit of Happiness. Therefore, these rights were here before humans and are indeed part of the Laws of Nature, transcending any human defined rights.

[Mike10four]

As in Newton's laws of motion being part of Nature's Laws, our Declaration of Independence brought forth, Jefferson's law of Rights. It can be scientifically demonstrated that these Rights are indeed part of Nature's Laws and therefore, transcends any manmade rights. Jefferson's law of Rights applies to both living and social systems. I submit that if any of these Rights were to be denied, death to the system is inevitable.

[Portubed]

Think you should rethink what you just said. Many christians look upon the exodus of the jews as one of the fundamental old testament narratives that prefigure the redemption wrought by Christ.

In fact it has been considered in that light since the early Christians.

Your clear articulation of that "doctrine" makes it sound like you're a cultist, denying the relevance of the old testament in the Bible.

[CarcharodonMeg]

Hell yeah, freedom!

Andrew Breitbart's blogs are leading the charge too. Anybody here a regular over at Biggovernment or Founding Bloggers?

Great stuff.

[chrstsm]

It needs to be noted that the Exodus verses are for the Jews who, would later be the people of Israel, which YHWH chose to have destroyed. These verses have no relevance to living the Christian life. A good understanding of slavery can be found by the Holy Spirit of God in Christ Jesus within the letter to Philemon. Love God and love your neighbor, including your enemy with His life and love -1 Cor. 13.