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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

What is freedom?

The name of this blog claims a link between finding God and finding freedom.

What is freedom? This is perhaps a question few of us would expect to be asked. After all, surely everyone knows the answer. We hear it mentioned regularly. Is not freedom having the right to vote?

Many South Africans were deprived of a vote, and then a vote of equal value to the Whites. Today everyone has the same vote, and that is why we are all free.

People in many countries have the vote which is meaningless because of “rigging”, a sanitized word for fraud. Freedom, you may say, is having a vote in a free and fair election. So, if independent monitors declare an election free and fair, it means we are free people, such as the Afghans.

Having a vote in “free and fair” elections has nothing to do with being free.

Let me illustrate this with an example which may be considered somewhat extreme.

Imagine that we are slaves on a plantation. We demand that our voice be heard. Our master accedes to our wishes and decides to hold elections. We will each have a vote to choose the person who will represent us concerning our grievances. The candidates are our master, his daughter and his son. Having a vote does not necessarily mean freedom. Even if we were choosing one of our own to represent us before the master, it would not mean that we are free. Our world is very much like this, if only we could see it.

The democratic process that we are a part of gives us the opportunity of deciding which party will rule over us, not which people will act in our interest, and there is a very big difference between the two.

Democracy and elections have nothing to do with freedom.

To understand this we need to compare a free man with his opposite, the slave.

What is it really about a slave that makes a person a slave? Is it the chains? Is it the inability to act as he pleases? Is it the restrictions on movement? Is it being forced to do things he does not want to? Is it about submitting to the whims of someone with consequences for failing to do so?  Is it about being monitored all the time? Is it about the lack of justice? Is it about not having any rights over the fruit of our labour – (they belong to the master)?

Being a slave involves all of these. Examine ourselves and see if our situation is really any different. Our “slave” camp is not so restricted, but it is a defined area with a name and we call these “countries”. We are not “branded” like cattle, but we do have ID documents and passports which serve the same purpose.

We may not leave without a passport (consent to leave), and movement is sometimes restricted by the requirement of visas (consent to enter).

We are burdened with compulsory taxes which are the chains that tie us. We do not own the fruit of our labour. By law, everything we earn belongs to the government and we are allowed a small amount to subsist, and this amount is adjusted by varying the rate we are taxed. The true rate is obscured by many hidden taxes, such as licenses and various fees. New taxes are introduced regularly to siphon off even more. By many estimates, more than 60 cents in every rand ends up as taxes.

What ever we do must be authorized in some way. Purchasing property involves a transfer process which will not be allowed under certain situations. We pay a tax every time we transfer the right to occupy property. No one owns property except the government and we pay a monthly rental called rates.

If we own a car, we may not use it without permission, obtained by purchasing a “consent” or license.

We are forced to act in predetermined ways. We may not build on “our” land without permission, including how it will be built and what materials may be used etc. We may not drive except at speeds which are pre-determined. We may not trade without permission (license).

Intrusive surveillance is becoming commonplace with cameras appearing just about everywhere.

Abiding by every new law which violates are free will is submitting to the whims of those in Government.

As is becoming more apparent by the day, Democracy does not deliver justice. I can say this without fear of contradiction because the duty of the Department of “Justice” is to interpret the Law as enacted by Government, not to ensure justice.

The slave masters used to reward the acquisition of certain skills above others because of their need for these artisans. As the numbers of such people have increased (doctors, accountants, lawyers, scientists etc), the need to keep up this differential payment is falling away and the true slave system will reveal itself as each person will be forced to receive the same “stipend” irrespective of occupation, and refusal to work will be a crime.

Our area of movement is larger than in the past. We have certain liberties which were denied to slaves in the past such as choosing which clothes we wear, having a greater variety of entertainment etc, but with this has come with a loss of our guarantee of housing, clothing, health care and food. Despite these cosmetic differences, the essence of slavery still exists.

We are slaves in everything but name but we think we are free because we have a vote. This is the best type of slave; one who does not see the link between his miserable life and the fact that it is due to his being a slave. We will never search for the identity of the slave master in order to free ourselves because we are unaware that one even exists.

The guidance from God opens our eyes to our true situation and guides us out of our slavery.

Under shariah no one is competent to make laws that bind his fellow man. We are free to live as we please as long as we do not violate the rights of someone else, and if we do, courts exist where justice is served, not the blind adherence to some predetermined man-made law.

Only four activities are defined as crimes; adultery, perjury, robbery and theft. In every other instance, nothing we do is “inherently” a crime, and we are free to act as we please. No one can compel us to provide a justification for anything we do. Under current law systems, almost everything is regulated and acting contrary to these “laws” makes our actions criminal by definition. We either pay a penalty or attempt to justify our actions, and our explanation may not be accepted, and a penalty incurred despite the fact that our conduct violated the rights of no one.

As believers in God we know that we are accountable for our actions. There is a Day of Judgment. We are guided to ensure the safety of those around us and in so doing we have a formula for peaceful co-existence. The greeting of “peace” is a promise of safety to the person, his family and his property.

God safeguards our free will, and as His representatives on earth, we are duty bound to do the same. We may not force our belief, practices, ideology, nuances or preferences upon anyone else and we may not allow anyone else to do this to us. We protect our freedom (absence of slavery) because without it we cannot be worshippers of God alone, the first principle for acceptance in the community of true Believers.

Acting is this way we are following the practice of the Prophets, we are practicing their shariah.

The slave masters of today will do-everything in their power to keep us enslaved. The benefits they offer us to serve them and act against our own is a poison which destroys us and will be a curse on the Day of Judgment.

The guidance is there and we can be free, but for this to happen we have to put the guidance into practice.

Until next time.

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