The Law & Liberty

Some people have the mistaken belief that laws or rules degrades freedom.  This isn't true.  In fact, laws create and maintain freedom.  

Imagine trying to play a football game without creating boundaries.  It would be impossible to play the game.  Establishing the side lines, end zones, and yardage markers makes the game possible.  

It's the same in life.  Without establishing boundaries, laws and rules over behavior, life would be chaos.  

Cecil B DeMille, producer of Hollywood's Ten Commandments, gave the Commencement address at Brigham Young University in 1957.  In that speech he said, 

"We are too inclined to think of law as something merely restrictive—something hemming us in. We sometimes think of law as the opposite of liberty. But that is a false conception. That is not the way that God’s inspired prophets and lawgivers looked upon the law. Law has a twofold purpose. It is meant to govern and it is also meant to educate. Take, for example, one of the most ordinary, everyday laws affecting all of us—the traffic regulations. The traffic laws, when they are observed, prevent accidents. They also produce good drivers. That is their educational function." (read entire speech here)

Doctrine & Covenants 38:22 states, "Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people" Obedience to God makes us free.  Obedience to just laws allows us to live our lives in peace and freedom.  

True freedom is the ability to act rather than be acted upon.  Some people believe freedom meaning being able to act any way they want.  They believe laws limit their actions.  Let's examine this mode of thinking.

Laws limit the speed you can drive on a roadway.  So yes, the law is limiting your speed, but at the same time, the law is freeing you from the consequences of driving too fast.  The law that limits you from driving too fast, frees you (and all the rest of us) from death, injury, and property damage.  

The universe is ruled by cause and effect, or in other words... law.  Obedience to universal law creates freedom to continue acting.  Disobedience results in you being acted upon by the effects that you, or someone else, caused through failure to obey the law.  When you are "acted upon", you are not free.  

The peace and freedom we enjoy is the result of just laws and the fact that most people respect and obey the laws.  It requires maintenance.  It doesn't just happen on its own.