Used carelessly, words can be misleading. This is true of the word freedom which can have two starkly different meanings. In the first sense, that is, the classical Christian sense, freedom consists in the power to choose between different courses of action — this is called free-will. It is a faculty possessed by rational man alone and differs from the instinctive automatism of the lower animals. However, man’s legitimate exercise of his free will is constrained by the precepts of the moral law. Therefore, free-will is the freedom to choose between submission and revolt, between obedience and disobedience to the eternal law of God; and true freedom not only implies obedience to the moral law, but obedience to the moral law is the fundamental prerequisite for true freedom.
Contrariwise, there is another sense in which the word freedom is commonly used. This is the doctrine of freedom emanating from the philosophy of liberalism. In short, this theory of freedom asserts that every man has an inalienable right to do as he pleases, free from external restraint. As a child of liberalism, this kind of freedom is rooted in rationalism, that is, in an almost unlimited confidence in the power of human reason to attain truth unaided by divine revelation. It follows naturally from the rationalist thesis that man must be free, that is, free to do whatever his perception of reason tells him is acceptable. This version of freedom is evidently antithetical to the Chrisitian conception and has been the cause of many great evils in post-Christian society.
It is clear that there are profound differences between these two ideals of freedom. It is not difficult to see to what abuses liberal freedom can lead: for if true freedom necessitates obedience to the moral law, and if obedience to the moral law is the essence of true freedom, it follows that the alternative — rebellion — can lead to nothing but slavery.
How does the freedom of liberalism lead to slavery? It does so by making man a slave to his passions. For when moral laws are rejected, freedom becomes the freedom of instincts, the kind of freedom possessed by animals, and eventually the subordination of self to disordered urges. Animals are not slaves, however, because their instincts are proportionate to their needs according to their nature. But man, unlike animals, possesses imagination and his inner urges are therefore capable of being imaginary as well as instinctive. For this reason, liberal freedom leads only to slavery and tyranny.
Perfect freedom, the freedom envisaged by Christianity, exists in the Angelic Hierarchy. This is the result of the Angels’ perfect obedience to God, their Father and Lord. They are free because they are obedient. This obedience to the moral law is rejected by the modern liberal democracies that govern western civilisation. Freedom of action is the hallmark of liberalism and democracy and both systems are based on the private judgements and opinions of people, not on the truths of divine revelation. The natural outcome of such a system is the erosion of moral values. Where moral standards do exist under liberalism, it is merely a hangover from the Christian era — their complete disappearance is only a matter of time.
Once Christian morality has all but faded away, no restraints will be placed on fallen man’s desire for total freedom: anarchy and destruction are the inexorable result of such a process. Before this stage is reached, however, legislation of an increasingly subversive nature is enacted since, according to a fundamental principle of liberalism, laws must correspond to the will of the majority. Accordingly, grave evils such as abortion, divorce, and homosexuality are made legal.
Thus, what liberalism exalts as freedom is, as we have seen, rebellion leading to slavery. Total liberation from moral constraint makes man a slave to his baser and disordered passions. It is nothing more than a revolt against Divine law — and thus a revolt against God Himself. Since modern democracy is based on liberalism, it too is a revolt against God. The immoral laws it promulgates are evidence of that. True freedom, the kind of freedom enjoyed by the Angels, can only be attained if man adjusts his conduct to the dictates of the moral law of God, that is, perfect freedom is only obtainable through perfect submission to the moral law.