Embracing Rights and Responsibilities in Democracy

Government-enforced laws and rights are not enough. Something else is needed, something that can't be mandated, namely individual responsibility. And here's what I mean by that. When it comes to freedom, most of us think in terms of individual freedom, not collective freedom. But here's something we all know from personal experience, especially if you're a parent: rights must be coupled with responsibility, or things go, well, they go terribly wrong, right? [00:02:04]

Our founding fathers understood this relationship. They knew they couldn't enforce individual responsibility, that that was up to the individual. In fact, John Adams, the second president of the United States, he put it this way. He said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." And then listen to this, he says, "It is wholly inadequate to the governing of any other." [00:02:48]

Truth be told, our Bill of Rights guarantees us the right to be irresponsible. But if enough Americans exercise that right, again, things will go terribly wrong. In fact, my guess is that the issues that currently concern you the most about our nation are connected to the irresponsible behavior of some of its citizens. Right? Laws are limited. [00:03:27]

Laws tell us how low we can go before we go to jail. Rights tell us what we can demand for ourselves. But there's something neither constitutional law nor the Bill of Rights can do. They can't inspire us to greatness. They don't create a love of virtue or an appreciation of doing the right thing simply because it's the right thing to do. [00:03:48]

To sum it up, the Bill of Rights reflects what we are entitled to. Federal, state, and local laws tell us what we're allowed to do. But that's not enough. Those two alone actually foster division. To John Adams point, a third component is necessary. To use one of his terms, the third component necessary is morality. [00:04:48]

While laws tell us what we must do, morality tells us what we ought to do. Rights divorce from personal responsibility eventually undermines personal freedom. Rights apart from responsibility actually breeds anarchy, because eventually my expression of freedom is gonna infringe on yours. So in short, liberty, apart from responsibility, eventually undermines somebody's liberty. [00:05:11]

Here's what the Apostle Paul wrote, he wrote, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free." In other words, freedom was God's idea. But he knew what we know. We have a tendency to abuse our freedoms, right? So he issues this warning. He writes, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge yourselves." [00:05:43]

He writes, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge yourselves, rather serve one another humbly in love." His point: don't be selfish with your freedom. Be responsible with your freedom. We don't have to. You have a right not to. But the world changes if we all decide to, decide to put one another first. [00:06:32]

If you bite and devour each other, in other words, if you demand your way at the expense of others, "if you bite and devour each other, watch out," he says," or you'll be destroyed by each other." Look around. Isn't that exactly what's happening? Our division and our nation is consuming us. We are devouring one another. [00:07:13]

Our enemy is not the other party. Our enemy is division caused by laws and rights divorced from personal responsibility. Selfishness is dividing us. Selfishness always divides. Selflessness always unites. But you can't legislate selflessness. You can't legislate love. It's always a choice. So, let's choose it. [00:07:38]

Let's obey the law. Let's exercise our rights. But let's not stop there. Let's be more than simply law abiding, rights demanding citizens. Let's be responsible citizens. Let's go beyond that. Let's embrace Paul's mandate to refuse to leverage our freedoms and rights to indulge ourselves at the expense of other people. [00:08:04]

Let's refuse to exercise our rights in ways that harm or infringe upon the rights of other people. Instead, let's look for opportunities to, in his words, "serve one another humbly in love." Let's participate politically, but let's go the extra mile. Let's live responsibly. [00:08:29]