On Freedom – Reading and sermon preached by Rev. Carolyn Patierno
July 5, 2009

Readings

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are people who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want the rain without thunder and lighting. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.

This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.

Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never did and it never will.

Find out what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice which will be imposed upon them. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

Frederick Douglass

Sermon

Inspired as I am by Frederick Douglass’ words, this reflection is less about freedom itself than the nature of the struggle for freedom. To reflect together, let’s conjure two images. I invite you to turn your attention to our rather primitive but nevertheless effective audiovisual system: our memories & imagination.

It is June 5th, 1989. From the place within your soul, where we hold such images, conjure up the one of a young man – a student. The whole world is watching as events unfold in Tiananmen Square, a Beijing gathering place in the People’s Republic of China where the day before the government ordered the military to open fire on its own citizens. Still, this next day millions gather seemingly undaunted. But they are human and so we watch knowing they do so certainly with fear in their brave hearts, knowing the stakes are high. They march out into the light of day. Tanks roll through the streets all in a row. And this young man – out of love for his country, out of love for freedom – steps in front of the tanks. The tanks seem to attempt to move around him but to no avail. This young man will not be moved. Let’s call up that stunning image and place it here. See and honor that nameless young man and as we do, let us honor, too, the nameless, faceless soldier inside that tank ... the one who put his or her foot on the break rather than run over a fellow countryman.

We are reminded:

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are people who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want the rain without thunder and lighting. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.

This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.

Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never did and it never will.

And now our second image.

It is June 20th of this year. The whole world is watching as a Green Wave of righteousness has crashed upon the streets of Iran in the wake of gross injustice. On this day, a 16 year-old girl named “Neda” – a Farsi name meaning “voice” - and her father are two among a crowd of thousands. In Tehran as in Beijing, the government has ordered the military to turn on its own citizens. Nevertheless, see here image after stunning image of Iranians speaking truth to power seemingly undaunted. But we know that being human they speak certainly with fear in their brave hearts, knowing the stakes are high. Still, they march out into the light of day. And Neda an ordinary citizen, young and not particularly political, puts herself into this crowd out of love for her country, out of love for freedom. And although we can hardly bear it, see here the shocking image of Neda struck down by a sniper and in death this image, this young girl, becoming for the whole world the face of the struggle for freedom. See and honor Neda in life and in death.

There are so many in Iran deserving of our respect and honor. Another one of which a young Iranian medical student who with several of his classmates risked their careers and lives to tend to those injured and dying in the streets. This young man posted this observation on the website Tehranbureau.com:

As we sewed up gashes and patched up wounds on the beautiful battered faces of our dear Iranians, we kept asking ourselves, “What have they become? Have they no regard for the life for a fellow human being? For the life of a fellow countryman? For the life of a neighbor? For the life of a cousin? For the life of a brother? For the life of a sister?”
Maybe this will be our legacy. Maybe years from now, we will recount the stories of these days to the generation after us as the turning point that made all the difference, if not in our lives, perhaps at least in theirs.
We are reminded that ...
Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are people who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want the rain without thunder and lighting. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.

This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.

Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never did and it never will.

This Fourth of July weekend, let us admit that we Americans take an awful lot for granted, not the least of which is our freedom. We may say what we will about our government’s flaws but in doing so, we must also give thanks for the right to say what we will. We too may fear repercussion as our history is rife with violent examples of silenced dissent but still, we live upon a foundation that professes that all people are created equal which in 2009 in countries all over the world is still a radical notion. Just ask our brothers and sisters in China and Iran ... and this week, Honduras. In the face of these images we’ve conjured, images of struggle, comes an implied demand – a demand that we pause to ask ourselves: “To how much injustice am I willing to submit? How much oppression – my own and that of my fellow countrymen and women - am I willing to endure? Do I profess to love freedom and yet shy away from the struggle?” What are you doing to demand that our country live up to our highest ideals? What are we doing as a congregation to ensure the same?

In another posting on tehranbureau entitled The Writing on the Wall the writer comments on a dramatically visible sign of post-election unrest: the graffiti that covered the walls of the city with freedom slogans. He reported this green-colored graffiti is inevitably and quickly painted over in black and white. He notes that despite the effort to silence yet another form of protest, the outline of these visible cries for justice and freedom cannot be obscured.

Indeed. The human spirit cries out for freedom. The extraordinary and self-evident freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness in its many forms without the government of the country we love turning on us – or others – violently. Without turning on our highest ideals. For freedom shines through even the most ardent attempts to obscure its shining light.

Which brings us to this final and most enduring image, Friends.

(at which point I unveiled a green spray-painted banner of the word “Freedom”)

God bless all countries – no exceptions – in Peace. Salaam. Shalom.

Amen.

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