Liberty .... not all its cracked up to be

[shikamaru]

Liberty from Bouvier's Law Dictionary ...

LIBERTY. Freedom from restraint. The power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, except from the laws of nature.

2. Liberty is divided into civil, natural, personal, and political.

3. Civil liberty is the power to do whatever is permitted by the constitution of the state and the laws of the land. It is no other than natural lib-erty, so far restrained by human laws, and no further, operating equally upon all the citizens, as is necessary and expedient for the general advantage of the public a privilege held by grant or prescription, by which some men enjoy greater benefits than ordiuary subjects. A liberty is also a territory, with some extraordinary privilege

[motla68]

5. Natural liberty is the right which nature gives to all mankind, of diposing of their persons and property after the manner they judge most consonant to their happiness, on condition of their acting within the limits of the law of nature, and that they do not in any way abuse it to the prejudice of other men. Burlamaqui, c. 3, s. 15; 1 Bl. Com. 125.

Life, liberty and happiness, it is all connected. Should we have the same right to proclaim what the signers of the Declaration of Independence proclaimed for themselves?

[shikamaru]

5. Natural liberty is the right which nature gives to all mankind, of diposing of their persons and property after the manner they judge most consonant to their happiness, on condition of their acting within the limits of the law of nature, and that they do not in any way abuse it to the prejudice of other men. Burlamaqui, c. 3, s. 15; 1 Bl. Com. 125.

Life, liberty and happiness, it is all connected. Should we have the same right to proclaim what the signers of the Declaration of Independence proclaimed for themselves?

Civil liberty is constrained by positive law i.e. the will of the possessors of political power.
Natural liberty does not exist within a civil society.

[motla68]

Civil liberty is constrained by positive law i.e. the will of the possessors of political power.
Natural liberty does not exist within a civil society.

It is my conscience that Liberty is in the eye of the beholder, not constrained by outside influences, the third eye to be exact unless consent otherwise or by against ones free will.

[Mark Christopher]

Yes a great twilight zone episode. Funny you mention that phrase almost like a prison without walls. We wrap ourselves in these phrases but we do need to remember not to operate in a vacuum. I behold a world that we are all honest and help each other. Naive to some but none the less my reality I would like to behold. Shika I like the 8 defs you posted, but we always come to the point when someone mentions Liberty you have to say, which one do you speak? I wonder what the framers were thinking when they wrote it in the DoI?

This is from the last paragraph of the DoI "That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought...". What is a Right? it can be a privilage of a particular property. Hmm... Shika I think you hit it with #8. Really opens a whole new perspective. Thanks
MC

[SecuredAmerican]

Leviticus 25:10
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Leviticus 25:9-11 (in Context) Leviticus 25 (Whole Chapter)
Psalm 119:45
And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
Psalm 119:44-46 (in Context) Psalm 119 (Whole Chapter)
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isaiah 61:1-3 (in Context) Isaiah 61 (Whole Chapter)
Jeremiah 34:8
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
Jeremiah 34:7-9 (in Context) Jeremiah 34 (Whole Chapter)
Jeremiah 34:15
And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
Jeremiah 34:14-16 (in Context) Jeremiah 34 (Whole Chapter)
Jeremiah 34:16
But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
Jeremiah 34:15-17 (in Context) Jeremiah 34 (Whole Chapter)
Jeremiah 34:17
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Jeremiah 34:16-18 (in Context) Jeremiah 34 (Whole Chapter)
Ezekiel 46:17
But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them.
Ezekiel 46:16-18 (in Context) Ezekiel 46 (Whole Chapter)
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:17-19 (in Context) Luke 4 (Whole Chapter)
Acts 24:23
And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.
Acts 24:22-24 (in Context) Acts 24 (Whole Chapter)
Acts 26:32
Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
Acts 26:31-32 (in Context) Acts 26 (Whole Chapter)
Acts 27:3
And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.
Acts 27:2-4 (in Context) Acts 27 (Whole Chapter)
Romans 8:21
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Romans 8:20-22 (in Context) Romans 8 (Whole Chapter)
1 Corinthians 7:39
The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:38-40 (in Context) 1 Corinthians 7 (Whole Chapter)
1 Corinthians 8:9
But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
1 Corinthians 8:8-10 (in Context) 1 Corinthians 8 (Whole Chapter)
1 Corinthians 10:29
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?
1 Corinthians 10:28-30 (in Context) 1 Corinthians 10 (Whole Chapter)
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (in Context) 2 Corinthians 3 (Whole Chapter)
Galatians 2:4
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
Galatians 2:3-5 (in Context) Galatians 2 (Whole Chapter)
Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:1-3 (in Context) Galatians 5 (Whole Chapter)
Galatians 5:13
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:12-14 (in Context) Galatians 5 (Whole Chapter)
Hebrews 13:23
Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.
Hebrews 13:22-24 (in Context) Hebrews 13 (Whole Chapter)
James 1:25
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
James 1:24-26 (in Context) James 1 (Whole Chapter)
James 2:12
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
James 2:11-13 (in Context) James 2 (Whole Chapter)
1 Peter 2:16
As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
1 Peter 2:15-17 (in Context) 1 Peter 2 (Whole Chapter)
2 Peter 2:19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2 Peter 2:18-20 (in Context) 2 Peter 2 (Whole Chapter)