Freedolatry!

FREEDOLATRY
~ When Freedom Becomes an Idol
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A teenager can no longer stand living under her parents' roof because of their restrictive rules and so she runs off and moves in with her boyfriend; a college couple decides that now is just not the right time to have a child and so both parties agree that the mother should have an abortion; a group of states and colonies decide they no longer want to pay high taxes and be part of a unified government and so they form an army to fight and kill in the name of their individual rights. - What do all of these have in common?

All of these situations involve clear violations of the Ten Commandments of YHVH and are classic examples of what I call “Freedolatry”. Any time something becomes so valuable to us to the point where we are willing to pursue it at all costs, rather than obey the One True God…that is idolatry. And in America, freedom is chief among this list of misguided pursuits. In truth, any supposed "freedom" outside of the laws of God is no freedom at all. It’s actually bondage. The Apostle Paul wrote:

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
– Romans 6:16 (NKJV)
Although many overlook this, it is terribly fitting that one of the chief symbols of America’s craving for independence, the graven image of the Roman goddess Libertas, is in itself a violation of God’s command. The 2nd of the Ten Commandments reads:

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.”
- Exodus 20:4&5a (NLT)

At this point you might be thinking as I did long ago: “That’s silly, we don’t bow down or worship any idols or graven images today. And surely no one worships the Statue of Liberty!”

Well, pretending that actual idol worship does not still exist in various places in the world today, let’s take a quick look at the definition of “worship” found at dictionary.com. Worship is defined as…

“reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage,
or to any object regarded as sacred”
You can be certain that around the world and definitely in the United States, the goddess Libertas and her graven image is most definitely honored and paid homage. It is reported in a NYC tour guide (nyctourist.com) that an estimated 3.2 million people go to the expense of visiting the giant-sized image of the goddess in New York each year. This same goddess is featured as an icon on coins, flags, and many other items of everyday life.

You see, the U.S. nation was founded on the notion of freedom first, at all costs. My particular high school was named after Patrick Henry who is famous for stating “Give me liberty or given me death!” This is the spirit of independence on which America was founded and it still reigns in this nation today. I myself, over an eight year period, proudly served in two different branches of the United States armed forces. This was all in the name of freedom and independence. In reality, I had sworn an oath of allegiance to be willing to kill or be killed, all in service to the false gods in my life; gods such Libertas. Contrarily, in both Old and New Testaments, the One True God instructs me to love my neighbor which now specifically includes my enemy. I’m not to murder my neighbor with guns or grenades. Nor am I to support the killing of babies while in the wombs of mothers; or violently rebel against my government because I don’t agree with its policies.

Does all of this make political sense? – Not necessarily. It’s not intended to…just as the Son of God did not come in the flesh with the intention of fixing the Roman government. As a saint, politics are not to be my primary concern. My primary concern is to be modeling my life after my savior Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and serving Him and His Kingdom, no matter the earthly consequence. Rather than follow the ways of this world, Yeshua obeyed the will of the Eternal Father and all saints are to faithfully do the same.

- Amen