“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10; it is this verse that is inscribed on the Liberty Bell).

I love the movie Braveheart.  When it was first released in 1995, my wife and I went to see it in the theater.  Afterwards, people asked me what I thought.  My standard reply was, “Well, except for the nudity, profanity, and gory violence—it was a great movie.”  And it is.  I do wince still at some scenes.  There are some parts of the movie that I wish were not there.  But all in all, I do love that film.  One reason is that it is about William Wallace, a Scottish national hero.  Being of Scottish descent I love all things Scottish.  (My maternal grandmother was a Crawford; on my father’s side there are Baileys and Fraziers—all transplants from the sod of Alba.)  But there is another reason.  The film portrays a man who was committed to seeing his own people live in freedom, completely delivered from tyranny and oppression.  The movie ends (spoiler alert) with Wallace being drawn and quartered for his war with the English.  As he dies, he cries out one resounding word—“FREEDOM!”  This is a powerful climax to a moving film.

Freedom.  The very word can evoke powerful emotions in anyone’s breast.  There is an innate longing deep within us that yearns to be free.  We abhor the very images of bondage, despotism and slavery.  Chains and shackles are the symbols of cruelty and subjugation.  We hunger for the opposite, for freedom.  We value it so highly that we think it is of greater worth than life itself.  We honor the noble women and men who have given their lives to possess freedom, and to purchase and maintain it for all of us.  Freedom is worth dying for.  It is worth fighting for.  It is worth living for. Continue reading →