Probably no word better describes the soul of America than the word "Freedom". Historically, it is a rare and precious thing - at times, possibly more valuable than life itself.

But what do we mean by "freedom"? Do we mean ABSOLUTE freedom, whereby anyone can do absolutely anything and everything they want? Our nation's Founding Fathers - who risked their very lives for freedom - certainly did not think so.

Benjamin Franklin - perhaps the LEAST religious of the Founding Fathers - put it in very pragmatic terms: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."

Gouverneur Morris, the penman and signer of the Constitution of the United States concurs, stating: "For avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy . . . the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments."

John Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and our 2nd President, warns:

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Note also that our Founding Fathers were well aware of so-called "Enlightenment" principles of the day, which would eventually lead to moral relativism and Atheism. While they were keen to utilize insights from enlightenment thinkers, they were also clear on the need for religion and an objective moral standard. Our first President George Washington said: "Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society."

Noting that the recognition of Natural Law underpins our entire legal system, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and U. S. Supreme Court justice James Wilson says: "Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine." - because it was clearly recognized that there could be no objective morality without God (and yes, even Atheists concede this). There are literally hundreds of quotes like this - far too many to count.

For us Catholics out there, who believe and follow the teachings of the Church and the Bible, there is complete agreement:

"There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just." (CCC 1733) St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, talks about the "slavery of sin", and that true freedom rests in being "obedient" to a righteous "standard of teaching" (Romans 6:17, RSV).

"But wait - didn't God make man free to do as he pleases?" Yes, He did, didn't He? God made man "free" to:

* Go play on the freeway (and get hit by cars).

* Put a gun to one's head and fire it off (and suffer these consequence)

* Drive on the wrong side of the road, saying "It's right for me!" (and have a head-on collusion).

Obviously, true freedom has limits. Just as there is really no freedom to violate the laws of mathematics, logic or physics, there is no "freedom" to violate moral law. And regarding moral law, legal tradition has always defined people who do not recognize it as "insane" (see my previous blogs on Atheism and Morality). Perhaps an early 19th Century (back when there was morality in the schools) grammar school primer said it best, in a simple test question:

Q: "Do just laws impinge upon our rights?"

A: "One has no right to do wrong."