Tag: decline of individual freedom

Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson And George Pell

Thomas Jefferson was born on the 13 April, 1743, in the American state of Virginia.

The 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was a document Jefferson wanted to be remembered for.

These words are from this Statute: “Almighty God hath created the mind free ……. all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness ……. Truth is great, and will prevail if left to herself, that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error …….”

On April 13, 2019, the imprisoned Cardinal George Pell received a letter from an anonymous Vatican writer which included this thought: “I am afraid that now you have to pay also for your unshaken Catholicity, but thus you are very close to the Lord.”

I have no doubt at all that Cardinal Pell now rests in peace.

But while I am alive, speaking up against the injustice done to him is something I need to do.

That Freedom And Necessity Of Speech is God-given.

Praise The Lord.

Geoff Fox, 13th April, 2025, Melbourne, Australia.

Ave Matilda

For me Cecil B Demille’s 1927 film, King Of Kings, is a visual feast, one of the most unremittingly great depictions of the story of Jesus I have ever seen.

In the above footage from the post Last Supper portion of DeMille’s film, Ave Maria is an obvious choice of melody for the relationship between Jesus and his mum.

Waltzing Matilda, which comes in at the half way mark of this clip, when the focus shifts to Peter, is less obvious.

Peter, an individual, betrayed Jesus, by denying knowing him three times, and thereby betrayed the group of individuals to which he belonged. His own conscience troubled Peter very deeply.

Waltzing Matilda, often called Australia’s unofficial national anthem, is also about betrayal. But it is the betrayal of the human rights of an individual denied his basic right to food by an unjust society.

The swaggy is driven to suicide, whereas Peter recovers to become the rock upon which the Christian church was built.

For me the fusion of these two different types of betrayal is very beautiful.

Perhaps a strange universality but it works for me.

But maybe in a world where there are so many more people than were alive 2 millennia ago, there was more individual freedom, and less betrayal of individuals by groups than happens now.

Something to think about.

And thinking is what living in The Word is all about for me.

Geoff Fox, Sunday, April 6, 2025, Melbourne, Australia