By Editor Bob Terry
The time was January 1941. Hitler’s Germany was having its way on the battlefields of Europe as nation after nation bowed before the brute strength of the would-be master race. England hung on by an unraveling thread. Only a miracle had saved its army at the French city of Dunkirk.
Now the Royal Air Force fought gallantly against the Luftwaffe air force that rained death and destruction down from the sky on the island nation.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Franklin D. Roosevelt had been re-elected for a third term as president of the United States with 54.7 percent of the vote. Late in the campaign, Roosevelt promised that no American boys would die in foreign wars, but he was equally determined that America would become “the great arsenal of democracy.”
In his last “fireside chat” of 1940, Roosevelt said, “The Nazi masters of Germany have made it clear that they intend not only to dominate all life and thought in their own country, but also to enslave the whole of Europe, and then to use the resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world.”
Roosevelt concluded, “They (the Nazis) may talk of a ‘new order’ in the world, but what they have in mind is only a revival of the oldest and the worst tyranny. In that there is no liberty, no religion, no hope.”
As Roosevelt worked on his 1941 State of the Union address, he dictated what became known as the Four Freedoms. According to those present, the words flowed smoothly from his lips. “We must look forward to a world based on four essential human freedoms,” he said. “The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.
“The third is freedom from want — which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation everywhere a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants. The fourth is freedom from fear — which, translated into international terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation anywhere will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor.”
Days later, before Roosevelt shared his words publicly, Winston Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom, sat at dinner with Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s personal representative. After the meal, Churchill began speaking in what one dinner guest described as an “unhesitating manner.”
To Hopkins, Churchill said, “We seek no treasure, we seek no territorial gains, we seek only the right of man to be free; we seek his rights to worship his God, to lead his life in his own way, secure from persecution. … We seek government with the consent of the people, man’s freedom to say what he will, and when he thinks himself injured, to find himself equal in the eyes of the law.”
Roosevelt and Churchill, each in his own way, voiced their understanding of freedoms worth fighting for. Neither knew the other’s words. In fact, the two men had only met once, at a party in 1918. But the values each described were remarkably similar.
These values would become beacons of encouragement during the dark days of World War II. They would become like guiding lights during the decades of reconstructing the world order that followed the surrenders of Germany and its Axis allies, Italy and Japan.
The rights outlined by Roosevelt and Churchill are not passing values like the latest fad. They are noble values that have inspired mankind to actions across the ages — the right of man to be free; the freedom of speech and expression; the right of every person to worship God in his own way, secure from persecution; government by the consent of the people; equality under the law; freedom from want, a healthy peacetime life for all; freedom from fear, no nation able to commit an act of physical aggression against a neighbor.
The list reads like foundational pillars of this nation and these rights are. One finds them reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. They are also foundational pillars of civil law in England.
More importantly, these freedoms are anchored in the Christian understanding of mankind created in God’s own image and endowed by his Creator with basic rights and freedoms, which no civil power may violate. That is one reason Roosevelt added the phrase “everywhere in the world.” These freedoms are not reserved just for the elite or for those of a particular nation. These are God-given freedoms for all humanity.
Establishing these freedoms in civil society is not always easy, and keeping them, once secured, demands vigilance. Our own national history proves it so. Our history also demonstrates how much we, as Americans, value these freedoms. On more than one occasion, we have fought that we and others might enjoy these freedoms.
The list of nations where these freedoms have not found solid footing is long. Lack of religious freedom abounds. Many of the violating nations are predominately Islamic. Some are Christian, where the national church attempts to prevent any other expression of the Christian faith.
The power of rifle butt and boot, reminiscent of the Axis powers, prevails in many places. In these places, personal freedom lives only as a dream. Scores of armed conflict or wars rage in the world today. In too many places, military forces flourish while common folk barely stay alive. Want and fear rule.
But the quest for freedom remains — personal freedom, religious freedom, freedom from want and freedom from fear. This Thanksgiving season, let us give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy and let us pray for those who still seek these four freedoms. They are worth fighting for.
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