By Samuel Marshall
Freedom, in its most celebrated sense, is the absence of necessity, coercion, or restraint in one’s choices or actions. It is emancipation from domination—a state of independence long cherished as the pinnacle of human aspiration. Yet, as civilisation advances toward ever-expanding liberties, a paradox emerges: the broader the freedoms extended to man, the more impoverished his moral fibre and social discipline appear to become.
What once represented liberty within the bounds of virtue has transformed into an unbridled liberality where the self eclipses the community, and personal autonomy is prized above moral restraint. This modern condition, though hailed as progress, subtly corrodes the foundations of good manners—those quiet virtues of respect, moderation, and obedience that preserve order within human society. Good manners flourish only where conscience is awake; unbounded freedom thrives where it sleeps. Thus, the two—liberty without limit and disciplined righteousness—exist in mutual opposition, their tension increasingly visible in our time.
As the boundaries of restraint recede, humanity becomes more inclined toward self-indulgence, guided by personal whims and gratifications rather than collective conscience. The moral compass, once anchored by divine principles, now drifts upon the tides of opinion and convenience. In this atmosphere, the rejection of authority is celebrated as enlightenment, and defiance of order as a mark of progress. The cry for freedom now often conceals a deeper rebellion—against accountability, against moral law, and ultimately against God Himself.
This evolution towards legal and moral systems that glorify individual freedom beyond all measure bears prophetic resemblance to the conditions foretold in Scripture concerning the last days. The unrestrained pursuit of liberty, when divorced from righteousness, ushers in a state of spiritual decadence. In that age, humanity will appear religious yet be estranged from holiness—professing faith while denying its moral power. Guilt will be dismissed as an outdated concept; sin, as a myth of unenlightened minds.
Acts once deemed shameful—corruption, deceit, and self-enrichment—will be reinterpreted as expressions of strength or success. The corrupt official will be admired for his cunning, the immoral artist for his candour, the lawbreaker for his defiance. The moral order will invert itself, and good will be called evil, while evil is glorified as good.
In such a world, judgment will no longer proceed from divine law but from the self—each man a god unto himself, governed by the arrogance of personal conviction. Thus shall the age of extended freedoms reveal its final contradiction: that the more man exalts his liberty, the deeper he descends into bondage—bondage not to authority, but to corruption, vanity, and spiritual blindness.
The signs of that approaching hour of great tribulation are already inscribed upon the conscience of our times: an age that celebrates freedom yet drifts ever farther from truth. It is my hope that these meditations will stir within the reader a sober awareness of where the path of unrestrained liberty ultimately leads—and a renewed desire to anchor freedom once again in righteousness.***
