© 2014 Jean Royer
© 2014 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
It should first be noted that the French word liberté translates two English words: liberty (163 times) and freedom (88 times). The difference between these two terms is not obvious. We will let the exegetes of the future discuss it. However, the word freedom is not always translated as liberté.
Here is what one commentator says: Freedom is a state in which one can make decisions without external control. Liberty on the other hand is that which has been granted to someone by external control. We can also note that neither Spanish (libertad) nor Italian (libertà), nor Esperanto (libereco) nor even German (freiheit) have two words to translate freedom. Without wanting to Chineseize, UB Chinese uses the same term ‘ziyou’ which means absence of constraint, a term also used in law. This is why we will most often note the English word used.
What freedom is this? The Urantia Book refers to: personal freedom (liberty) 393:8, spiritual freedom, (liberty and freedom) religious freedom, mental freedom (freedom), social freedom (liberty), political freedom (freedom, liberty), freedom of speech (freedom), universal freedom (freedom) and distinguishes true freedom from false freedom. Jesus deals mainly with spiritual freedom which he often associates with joy and speaks little of social freedom.
Of all the perplexing problems arising out of the Lucifer rebellion, none has occasioned greater difficulty than the inability of immature evolutionary mortals to distinguish true freedom from false freedom. UB 54:1.1 True liberty is the quest of the ages and the reward of evolutionary progress. False liberty is the subtle deception of time error and space evil. Enduring liberty is founded upon the reality of justice—intelligence, maturity, brotherhood, and fairness. UB 54:1.2 True liberty is associated with sincere self-respect; false liberty is the companion of self-admiration. True liberty is the fruit of self-mastery; false liberty is the pretension of self-affirmation. Self-mastery leads to unselfish service; self-admiration tends to exploit others in order to secure personal advantages for the erring individual, willing to sacrifice accomplishment in righteousness for the possession of unjust power over his companions. UB 54:1.6.
No error is greater than the kind of self-deception which leads intelligent beings to the thirst to exercise their power over other beings, in order to deprive them of their natural liberties. The golden rule of human equity rises against all these frauds, injustices, selfishness and lack of righteousness. Only authentic and true liberty is compatible with the reign of love and the ministry of mercy. UB 54:1.8
Liberty is a self-destructive technique of cosmic existence when its motives are unintelligent, unconditional and uncontrolled. True freedom progressively connects with reality and always remains full of regard for social equity, cosmic equity, universal brotherhood and divine obligations. UB 54:1.3
Liberty is suicide when divorced from material justice, intellectual righteousness, social long-suffering, moral duty, and spiritual values. Liberty is nonexistent outside of cosmic reality, and all personality reality is proportional to its relationship to divinity. UB 54:1.4
Unrestrained autonomous will and uncontrolled self-expression amount to unmitigated egoism, the height of impiety. Liberty unaccompanied by ever-expanding victory over oneself is a fiction of a selfish mortal’s imagination. Liberty motivated by the self is a conceptual illusion, a cruel deception. License disguised under the garments of liberty is the harbinger of abject servitude. UB 54:1.5
Freedom subject to collective rules is the legitimate goal of social evolution. Freedom without restrictions is the chimerical and vain dream of the minds of unstable and superficial humans. UB 81:5.7
Thus the Lucifer manifesto, disguised under the guise of liberty, stands in the clear light of reason as a monumental threat to consummate the theft of personal liberty, and this on a scale never before approached before in the entire history of Nebadon. UB 54:2.3
No being in the entire universe has the legal liberty to deprive another being of true liberty, of the right to love and be loved, of the privilege of worshiping God and serving one’s neighbor. UB 54:2.5
For Urantians, the story begins with the rebellion of Lucifer who proclaims his Declaration of Liberty under three headings: he challenges UB 53:3.2 1 the reality of the Universal Father; UB 53:3.3 2 the universal government of Michael, the Creator Son; UB 53:3.6 3 the attack on the universal plan of education of ascending mortals.
UB 53:3.4 He very violently attacked the right of the Ancients of Days - “foreign potentates” - to interfere in the affairs of local systems and universes. And so he declared himself “the friend of men and angels” and the “God of liberty” (liberty).( UB 53:4.1
And what was to happen happened: Great confusion reigned in and around Dalamatia for nearly fifty years after the instigation of the rebellion. An attempt was made to radically and completely reorganize the entire world; revolution took the place of evolution as a policy of cultural progress and racial improvement. A sudden advance in cultural level appeared among the superior and partially educated elements residing in or near Dalamatia, but when attempts were made to apply these radical new methods to the distant peoples, indescribable disorder and racial pandemonium immediately resulted. Liberty was quickly transformed into license by the primitive, half-evolved men of that time. UB 67:5.1
Although the ideal of society is universal liberty, idleness should never be tolerated. Every able-bodied person should be forced to do at least enough work to support himself.UB 69:8.11 3. The desire for liberty and leisure. In the early days of social evolution, the control of the group over individual income was practically a form of slavery; the worker became the slave of the idler. The self-destructive weakness of this communism was that the improvident got into the habit of living off the thrifty. Even in modern times, the improvident rely on the state (on thrifty taxpayers) to take care of them. Those who have no capital always expect to be fed by those who have. UB 69:9.5
Private property increased freedom and strengthened stability; but private possession of land received social sanction only after the failure of control and direction by the community. It was soon followed by the successive appearance of slaves, serfs and social classes without land. But the perfection of machinery gradually freed man from the slavery of servile work. UB 69:9.16
However, great caution must be exercised in evolution: The present social order is not necessarily just—it is neither divine nor sacred—but humanity will do well to move slowly in making changes. The system you have established is far superior to any known to your ancestors. When you change the social order, be sure that you do so for a better order. Do not be persuaded to experiment with the formulas rejected by your forefathers. Go forward, do not retreat! Let evolution continue! Do not take a step backward. UB 69:9.18 The revelators do not hesitate to take a stand on human rights. According to them, they must be the guarantee of freedom of religious practices so that all other social activities can be exalted by becoming spiritually motivated. UB 70:9.12
In the beginning, law is always negative and prohibitive; in advancing civilizations it becomes more and more positive and directive. Primitive society operated negatively; it granted the individual the right to live by imposing on all others the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” Any grant of rights or freedoms to one individual implies a restriction of the freedom of all others, which is effected by taboo, primitive law. The whole idea of taboo is inherently negative… UB 70:11.2
If men want to preserve their freedom, they must, after having chosen their charter of liberation, arrange for it to be interpreted wisely, intelligently and without fear, in order to prevent: UB 70:12.6 among others
The Urantia Book tells us what will make this freedom effective in a progressive society: UB 71:2.9 The evolution of a practical and effective form of representative government involves the following ten steps or stages:
The methods now used for appointing representatives do not yet take these imperatives into account, which is why there are still so many corrupt politicians. Savages are the slaves of nature, but scientific civilization is slowly giving mankind an increasing liberty UB 81:2.14. Society thus becomes a cooperative plan for obtaining civil freedom by institutions, economic freedom by capital and inventions, social liberty by culture, and freedom from violence by police regulations UB 81:5.5. Public opinion, common opinion, has always retarded society. It is nevertheless valuable, because, while it slows down social evolution, it preserves civilization. The education of public opinion is the only sound and sure method of accelerating civilization. Force is only a temporary expedient, and cultural growth will be accelerated the more as rifle bullets give way to ballot papers. Public opinion (morals) is the fundamental and original energy in social evolution and the development of the State; but, to have value for the State, its expression must be devoid of violence. UB 71:2.7
The measure of the progress of a society is directly determined by the degree to which public opinion succeeds in controlling personal conduct and state regulations without resorting to violence. The appearance of the first truly civilized government coincided with the time when public opinion was invested with the powers of the personal franchise. Popular elections do not always decide the right thing to do, but they represent the right way to commit even a mistake. Evolution does not produce instantaneous superlative perfection, but rather a comparative adjustment with practical progress. UB 71:2.8
Some remarks more specifically directed to women’s freedom: Women have always been subject to more restrictive taboos than men. Primitive mores allowed unmarried women the same degree of sexual liberty (sex liberty) as men, but wives have always been required to be faithful to their husbands. Primitive marriage did not greatly restrict the sexual liberties of the man, but it made the continuation of sexual license taboo for the woman UB 82:2.5. The social pressure of status in the community and of property privileges have always been powerful in maintaining the taboos and mores of marriage. Throughout the ages, marriage has made steady progress and stands in the forefront of the modern world, although it is under menacing attack from a widespread discontent among peoples where individual choice—which is a new freedom—(liberty) plays a preponderant role. These changes of adaptation appear among the more progressive races as a result of the sudden acceleration of social evolution, but among the less advanced peoples marriage continues to flourish and slowly improve under the guidance of the old mores UB 83:7.4. The high degree of imagination and the fantastic romance displayed in courtship are largely responsible for the increased tendency to divorce among modern Western peoples; the picture is further complicated by the greater freedom of women and their increased economic independence. Easy divorce, when it results from a lack of self-control or from the failure of normal personality adjustment, leads straight back to the old, crude stages of society from which men have so recently emerged as the result of so much personal anguish and racial suffering. UB 83:7.7
These changes tended to free women from domestic slavery; they brought such a modification to her status that she now enjoys a personal liberty and a power of decision, in sexual matters, which makes her practically the equal of man UB 84:5.8.
One day man must learn to enjoy liberty without license, food without gluttony, and pleasure without debauchery. Self-control is a better human policy for regulating conduct than extreme self-denial. Jesus never taught these unreasonable views to his disciples UB 89:3.7.
UB 70:9.1 Nature gives man no rights. It gives him only life and a world in which to live it. Nature does not even grant him the right to remain alive, as can be seen by imagining what would probably happen if an unarmed man met face to face with a hungry tiger in a virgin forest. The primary gift that society gives to men is security.
UB 70:9.2 The company has gradually asserted its rights which, at present, are as follows:
UB 70:9.3 1. Assurance of a food supply.
UB 70:9.4 2. Military defense — security through preparedness.
UB 70:9.5 3. Safeguarding internal peace — prevention against personal violence and social disorder.
UB 70:9.6 4. Sexual control — marriage, the institution of the family.
UB 70:9.7 5. Property — the right to own.
UB 70:9.8 6. The encouragement of individual and collective emulation.
UB 70:9.9 7. Making arrangements to educate and train youth.
UB 70:9.10 8. The development of trade and commerce — industrial development.
UB 70:9.11 9. Improving the conditions and remuneration of workers.
UB 70:9.12 10. Ensuring freedom of religious practices so that all other social activities can be exalted by becoming spiritually motivated.
UB 70:12.6 If men want to preserve their freedom, they must, after having chosen their charter of liberation, arrange for it to be interpreted wisely, intelligently and without fear, in order to prevent:
UB 70:12.7 1. The usurpation of unjustified power by the executive branch or by the legislative branch.
UB 70:12.8 2. The machinations of ignorant and superstitious agitators.
UB 70:12.9 3. The delay in scientific progress.
UB 70:12.10 4. The impasse of domination by mediocrity.
UB 70:12.11 5. Domination by corrupt minorities.
UB 70:12.12 6. Control by ambitious and skilled would-be dictators.
UB 70:12.13 7. Disastrous dislocations due to panics.
UB 70:12.14 8. Exploitation by unscrupulous men.
UB 70:12.15 9. The transformation of citizens into tax slaves of the State.
UB 70:12.16 10. The lack of social and economic equity.
UB 70:12.17 11. The union of Church and State.
UB 70:12.18 12. Loss of personal freedom.
UB 71:2.1 Although democracy is an ideal, it is a product of civilization, not evolution. Go slowly! Choose carefully! For here are the dangers of democracy:
UB 71:2.2 1. The glorification of mediocrity.
UB 71:2.3 2. The choice of ignorant and vile leaders.
UB 71:2.4 3. Failure to recognize the basic facts of social evolution.
UB 71:2.5 4. The danger of universal suffrage in the hands of crude and indolent majorities.
UB 71:2.6 5. Servile obedience to public opinion; the majority is not always right.