The responsibilities of freedom come into focus
Russia’s attack on Ukraine seems to be something of a Rorschach Test for Americans who have the luxury of freely voicing opinions. A Republican candidate for the United States Senate asserted that she identifies more with the Christian values of Vladimir Putin than she does with the values of Joe Biden. Television hosts seem to say something similar. “Genius” is what our most recent former president said about the Russian leader’s machinations. These aren’t healthy human responses.
As it happens, Joe Biden’s position on abortion grieves my heart. But I can’t help but see Putin in the lens of recent history and what the Ukrainian people have had to endure. There’s more to the world than the American context.
Back home, I was rattled by how some parties are talking about people who express reservations about the COVID vaccine. Some of the blanket statements I’ve heard deriding people who have chosen not to be vaccinated ignore that there are people whose doctors have recommended they not get a COVID vaccine because of autoimmune conditions. Others have moral concerns about how the vaccine was developed. Catholic theological authorities have given blessing to Catholics getting vaccinated against COVID-19, but have also stressed that vaccination should be voluntary. These are not conspiracy theories. These are people making decisions about their health. And one of the things about religious freedom is that we defend a person’s right to be wrong.
One of the reasons religious freedom is so critical is because we all seek meaning and purpose in our lives. Faith in whatever form can help. One of the opportunities the coronavirus pandemic afforded us is a moment to reflect on what we are doing with our lives. Many a workplace, including mine, changed. We saw that people didn’t have to make long daily commutes to get the job done. I know I developed a newfound appreciation for those workers whose profession required them to leave their homes daily throughout the height of the unknowns of the pandemic. And yet, I fear, any opportunities for gratitude and self-reflection have been crushed by a desire to return to “normal.” What’s normal if we are not wiser? Isn’t normal a false sense of security?
I’m vaccinated, and I’m grateful for all the people who worked to save lives. It was a terrifying time, early on. And COVID-19 was a massacre for some, especially the elderly in nursing homes. People who were caring for them remain traumatized from what they saw — the deaths, the anger of families, the politicians’ directives, some of which lead to more deaths. They were working in battlefields. But we are also living in a different time now. Shaming people who have chosen not to be vaccinated — I’m not sure of the point of that. Many of those unvaccinated have had COVID. Many of those vaccinated have, too. This a different day, and we need to move forward together.
In both politics and pandemic, we need to recognize that people can and do look at the same set of facts and come to different conclusions. Or they don’t see the full argument we are making, and maybe we need to be more creative about how we communicate. And we have got to be mature enough to recognize that just because we disagree with someone on some fundamental things doesn’t make them wrong all the time. I don’t wish Vladimir Putin were our president, and I don’t wish suffering on the Ukrainian people because Joe Biden is president. We in the land of the free and the home of the brave ought to be more generous in our regard for free will and vigilant in our efforts to guard it — despite some of our rhetoric and mandates and censorship. We can choose to focus on the larger things, choose to work for the common good. But fewer and fewer of us are making that choice.