What is Freedom? Why Does it Matter?

The latest issue of the Ruth Institute’s newsletter (after the break) includes a link to my conversation with Jennifer Morse as well as how you can support the Institute’s work. If you haven’t please listen to the interview and leave any thoughts you have in the comment box for this post.

While you’re at the Ruth Institute site please consider subscribing to their newsletter and making a pledge to help support their defense of marriage.

Today also starts the Fortnight of Freedom sponsored by the US Catholic Conference of Bishops. Religious freedom is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution as well as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The latter puts the matter this way:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Religious liberty is a fundamental human right, it is essential to human flourishing and for a just civil society.

Religious liberty is much more than merely the freedom to worship.

No government has the right to tell a religious community that’s its rights are limited merely merely worship.

So please support the Ruth Institute in defense of marriage and add offer your prayers in behalf of religious freedom.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Fortnight for Freedom Issue 2	June 21, 2012

Fr. Gregory Jensen interview

The Fortnight for Freedom has become necessary because religious freedom seems to be at war with sexual and personal freedom. Many Americans have the idea that freedom is nothing more than being allowed to do whatever we want. But what if there is more to it than that?

As part of our on-going series highlighting theFortnight for Freedom, the Ruth Institute will be exploring deeper and richer meanings of freedom with thinkers from a variety of disciplines and religious traditions. Today, we offer my recent interview with Fr. Gregory Jensen, an Orthodox priest, with a background in social sciences. We explore what the tradition of Orthodox Christianity has to say about spiritual freedom.

Rev. Gregory Jensen is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington DC (Orthodox Church in America). He has a PhD in spirituality and spiritual formation from Duquesne University’s Institute of Formative Spirituality, and is currently the Orthodox Chaplain at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.