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The effect of freedom depends on how you define it. Father Len reveals how God defines freedom and how other definitions can produce destructive consequences.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

• Freedom involves being free from something in order to be free to become something.
• The American Revolution was about becoming free from the tyranny of a king and the injustices and oppression of a political system.
• 70% of Americans say they are free or mostly free.
• Two thirds of Americans define freedom as being “free to do whatever I want.”
• Being “free to do whatever I want” is an immature definition of freedom and the least likely to lead to happiness.
• Being “free to do whatever I want” is a form of tyranny that allows you to intrude on the life and liberty of others.
• “The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos” by Sohrab Ahmari
• We create laws to set the parameters for a working society.
• To be free theologically means that we are always working on freedom. Working to become free from the tyranny of selfishness, oppression, and injustice.
• When the people of a country define freedom as selfishness, it will always be divided and destroyed.
• People who report the highest level of happiness tend to be religious and meditate regularly.
• People who report the most freedom from moral constraints tend to be the least happy.
• “Suicide, A Study in Sociology” by Emile Durkheim
• The really hard part of becoming freer is wrestling with our own egos and recognizing when we’re being selfish.
• “If your definition of freedom is, I get to do whatever I want, just historically, it ends terribly. If our country just believes, I’m free to just think about myself, that’s a loss of freedom. I think it destroys our country.” – Father Len
• Christians who believe giving up liberties for the sake of others makes them less free don’t understand the freedom of the cross of Christ.
• Support the work of Wrestling with God Productions by making a financial donation here: https://www.givesendgo.com/wwgproductions

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Father Len explains what it takes to become truly free and how the common American understanding of freedom leads to selfishness and narcissism.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

• Freedom involves being free from something in order to be free to become something.
• The American Revolution was about becoming free from the tyranny of a king and the injustices and oppression of a political system.
• 70% of Americans say they are free or mostly free.
• Two thirds of Americans define freedom as being “free to do whatever I want.”
• Being “free to do whatever I want” is an immature definition of freedom and the least likely to lead to happiness.
• Being “free to do whatever I want” is a form of tyranny that allows you to intrude on the life and liberty of others.
• “The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos” by Sohrab Ahmari
• We create laws to set the parameters for a working society.
• To be free theologically means that we are always working on freedom. Working to become more free from the tyranny of selfishness, oppression, and injustice.
• When the people of a country define freedom as selfishness, it will always be divided and destroyed.
• People who report the highest level of happiness tend to be religious and meditate regularly.
• People who report the most freedom from moral constraints tend to be the least happy.
• “Suicide, A Study in Sociology” by Emile Durkheim
• The really hard part of becoming more free is wrestling with our own egos and recognizing when we’re being selfish.
• Christians who believe giving up liberties for the sake of others makes them less free don’t understand the freedom of the cross of Christ.