FREEDOM: The quality or state of being free: such as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.

Alexander Hamilton, “When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense — to fight the government.”

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” President Ronald Regan.

Many great men define what Freedom has meant to them, but those words that we preserve, speak to what Freedom means to each of us.

Recently the question was posed to me, by my friend. ” What Freedom do you believe you have lost?” In all honesty I had not taken the time to ask myself that question, I just assumed that because I believed something I always prized in my life had gone missing, and now I felt the loss inside of me. And my friend wanted to know what it was. But what could this thing that I defend so strongly be, if I could no longer place my finger on it when asked.

Reflecting on the question, I realized in West Virginia, 600,000 people have lost medical coverage due to increased costs they can no longer afford. The state legislature now requires that women who changed their name in marriage must be able to show the change in writing along with proof of their original name before voting. If they have been married more than once it becomes a problem in assembling the papers to verify their identity changes.

Children often go hungry when snap benefits are reduced or taken away. By month’s end money they receive is nearly gone and the only meal they may get is the one the school system provides. Many of those affected, work 40 hours a week for minimum wages and barely get by. Loss of these lifeline benefits gives them the freedom to go to bed hungry. Do any of these losses affect me, no, not directly. But if I believe God wants me to do good for all men and women, am I supposed to turn, and look away from the loss of freedom for my fellow man?

The question was in response to a video post on Facebook. I asked protesters at the local “No Kings Rally” what Freedom and Liberty meant to them. Not what had they lost, but simply what those words meant to each of them. They spoke of their grandchildren and the future. Others told proudly of their family members who stepped up, and served their country. A couple people spoke about a government that spoke for the people, and not against their political beliefs to divide them. Were the people to whom I spoke defining what they had lost in Freedoms? Yes, they told of things that are not tangible or held in hand. Their lost Freedoms were in their Hearts.

Inside their words were loss of trust, loss of rights for women, restrictions on the act of voting, personal beliefs they held strong, respect for all classes of Americans both rich and the poor. They wanted their words heard. Those Rights to Freedom are part of the very first Amendment.

Some of those who asked me the question, “What Freedom I had lost” at times stood beside me on picket lines, defining a right and freedom to say we wanted a fair work contract. We had given our work lives to a company and we felt we were justified in asking for a portion of their profits. Not an unjust share, just a fair share. My friend stood with me and we exercised our Freedom. So my friend, I ask you, what is the big difference?

What Freedom have I lost… Fifty-seven years ago, I stepped forward to defend my country. I took an oath; I, Chuck Clegg do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (So, help me God).”

I believed in those words then, and still do today. But as I spoke those words, my faith in the integrity of our country’s leaders was never in question. They were doing the best they could for all Americans, and my obligation was to do the same. The world is different, and I once defined the rights of America to be fairly treated, both rich and poor. Has that Freedom been taken away, I believe it has moved farther away from the people. That is my answer, old friend, as I look Through the Lens.