Global Change Teachings for the New Millennium

Presented by Niánn Emerson Chase

to members and guests of Global Community Communications Church at a World-Wide Sunday Service

(Also available in the book,Global Change Teachings for the New Millennium, Series Three)

The Fourth of July is an American celebration of freedom within democracy. Some other countries have their celebrations of freedom within their form of government. I had been taught in school and instructed by my parents that the Fourth of July was a celebration of our country breaking free from England and pursuing democracy. I also learned very early that the fireworks that seemed so colorful, but noisy, represented bombs bursting in air. My family celebrated the Fourth by getting together with family and friends and picnicking and sometimes going to see the fireworks. But often we were out in the wilderness somewhere and had a quiet alcohol-free celebration under the stars, enjoying the companionship of close family and friends. I observed how many other Americans celebrated and was not at all impressed. I’m still not impressed with all of the noise, the drinking, the partying, and the “bombs bursting in air” that seem to go along with the Fourth of July. I’m also turned off to the world of advertising that takes advantage of any holiday, sacred or secular, to make more money. The Fourth of July seems to be an empty, superficial acknowledgment of America’s free way of life as a result of democracy.

A Nigerian musician who has passed on, used to sing a song about what democracy meant to the Nigerian people, and it definitely had nothing to do with freedom for them. In fact, he pronounced democracy “demo-crazy,” because the democracy that the so-called “free world” run by white capitalists brought in for the Nigerians was a demonstration of craziness. Obviously democracy and freedom are terms of relativity and mean different things to different people. The founding fathers of the United States of America had a vision of a new order, a new government founded on freedom. Their first official act of declaring their freedom was to create and sign the “Declaration of Independence”—freedom from the rule of a monarchical government across the sea, freedom from an imposing church that demanded religious worship within its confines, freedom from the social and political structures that kept hundreds of thousands of individuals in poverty, and freedom to explore other ways of governing, other ways of worshipping, other ways of living, and other ways of pursuing happiness and fulfillment.

What Really Is Freedom and Liberty?

The tenth edition of Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines freedom as, “liberation from slavery or restraint, or from the power of another; independence. Freedom has a broad range of application from total absence of restraint to merely a sense of not being unduly hampered or frustrated. Liberty suggests release from former restraint or compulsion. License implies freedom specifically granted or conceded and may connote an abuse of freedom. Freedom without responsibility may degenerate into license.” “Webster’s” defines liberty as, “the power to do as one pleases; freedom from physical restraint; freedom from arbitrary or despotic control; the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges; the power of choice.” The dictionary goes on to define liberty as, “an action that goes beyond normal limits; a breach of etiquette or propriety; familiarity; a violation of rules, or a deviation from standard practices; a distortion of fact.” From these definitions we see that there are two sides to the coin of liberty and freedom. There is the positive aspect of freedom and then there is the negative aspect of freedom. “Webster’s” points out that freedom without responsibility turns to license.

True and False Liberty

We URANTIA Book readers immediately recognize in these definitions of freedom and liberty that the positive ones are more of the true liberty that The URANTIA Book discusses, and the more negative definitions have to do with false liberty that The URANTIA Book also refers to. In fact, there is a section in Paper 54, “Problems of the Lucifer Rebellion,” called “True and False Liberty”. The URANTIA Book has much to say on many levels about freedom and liberty. In fact there are a total of 442 references to freedom and its derivatives and 272 references to liberty and its derivatives. The URANTIA Book expounds on various types of freedom, and with all of these freedoms comes responsibility. Within the Universal Father’s law and in divine pattern is the biggest freedom, and all other kinds and levels of freedom fall under this one freedom, and that is the freedom of choice by all personalities. That freedom of choice opens up the opportunity for rebellion and for false freedom.

A Melchizedek tells us on page 605 that:

The freedom allowed him [Lucifer] by the universe rulers apparently sustained many of his nefarious contentions. He defied all his superiors; yet they apparently took no note of his doings. He was given a free hand to prosecute his seductive plan without let or hindrance.

We know that was true up to a point, and we know that Lucifer was eventually imprisoned. That law though, of allowing individual personalities to follow through with their freewill choices, applies to all personalities on all levels of existence—spirit, morontia, and material. Of course, there are disastrous consequences that result in following false, selfish freedom without responsibility.The URANTIA Book tells us on page 1460 that as an individual ascends within the universe, this personality freedom increases because “it is associated with the progressive attainment of higher and higher levels of self-understanding and consequent voluntary self-restraint. The attainment of perfection of spiritual self-restraint equals completeness of universe freedom and personal liberty.” Isn’t it interesting that true freedom and personal liberty within God’s laws and within divine pattern are only attained through discipline and voluntary self-restraint. That voluntary self-restraint implies freewill choices. This seems a paradox, true freedom being attained through restraint. But that is indeed a spiritual truth, a spiritual absolute. That is what Lucifer challenged, that spiritual truth that seems to be a paradox. Going the way of the Lucifer manifesto may initially seem like freedom, but that way quickly deteriorates into confusion, chaos and misery.

It is especially tragic when leaders of nations and worlds choose the way of false liberty. We are told on page 759 about Caligastia’s acceptance of the doctrine of Luciferic false liberty, which set the stage for human leaders throughout the history of our planet to choose that same doctrine of selfish materialism and dio (evil) power.

The Caligastia scheme for the immediate reconstruction of human society in accordance with his ideas of individual freedom and group liberties, proved a swift and more or less complete failure. Society quickly sank back to its old biological level, and the forward struggle began all over, starting not very far in advance of where it was at the beginning of the Caligastia regime, this upheaval having left the world in confusion worse-confounded.

What a tragedy that for three hundred thousand years the Planetary Prince, Caligastia, was here working, and then, after the rebellion, all those years were set back. Isn’t that something? It regressed back to what it was like when they first got here to this planet, back to that primitive level. That is how quickly something can deteriorate under false liberty.

Eve’s default was due to submitting to the lures of freedom outside of divine pattern. Solonia, the seraphic voice in the garden who had often communicated with Adam and Eve, tells on page 846, “But Eve listened to the insidious propaganda of personal liberty and planetary freedom of action.” Today, the dominant culture of western civilization continues to perpetuate the doctrine and culture of selfish gratification and personal dio (evil) liberty. The URANTIA Book indicates in the papers on human and social evolution that a culture or a society cannot truly progress if the citizens, especially the leaders, are indoctrinated with the mindset of selfishness. That is what happened with Caligastia’s plan of so-called progress for the races on Urantia. His idea of freedom fit Lucifer’s manifesto of false liberty and dio power rather than Christ Michael’s manifesto of true liberty and Deo power, of putting the welfare of others high above individual ease and personal freedom from responsibility.

If you will just take a moment and think about the different leaders of our planet, current and historical. Who are the leaders who have put responsibility for others before their own personal needs, and who are the leaders who have not done that? One of the first persons who comes to my mind is the South African leader, Nelson Mandela. I think that he truly was a leader who was more in divine pattern. That does not mean that he is perfect or hasn’t make mistakes, but his motives were not self-centered. Because of his concern for the people of color in his country who were down-trodden and oppressed, he was willing to spend over twenty-five years in prison for his strong stance against apartheid. It is hard to think of many current political leaders, especially in our country, who indeed put others before their own personal ambitions for power and prestige. There are some, but they are a very small minority of politicians. I believe that there are more selfless leaders at the grassroots level in the various areas of society than there are at the higher levels.

On page 1222 of The URANTIA Book, we are told that it takes great courage and diligence to restrain ourselves, to bridle our lower natures and self-pride. But with this freedom of spiritual choice, we can overcome our material natures of selfishness. “Such a paradox is inseparable from temptation, potential evil, decisional errors, and when self becomes proud and arrogant, sin may evolve.” A solitary messenger tells on page 1203 of The URANTIA Book, that, “The endowment of imperfect beings with freedom entails inevitable tragedy, and it is the nature of the perfect ancestral Deity to universally and affectionately share these sufferings in loving companionship.” On our level, this means that in all of our struggles with ourselves and each other, we can be guided and helped by many living spiritual forces. There is much evidence that the founding fathers were open to that guidance from celestial spirits. Where some of them went wrong is when certain ones gave in to their lower natures of selfishness, pride, and fear. The challenge for us founding fathers and mothers of the Divine New Order is to restrain ourselves, allow God to bridle us, so we can be freed of that Luciferic unbridled liberty.

Evaluating Whether We Are “Being” in True or False Liberty

One of the students in the Starseed and Urantian Schools of Melchizedek, Sistianna, came up with these personal guidelines in 1997 for determining whether her motives, thought patterns, and behavior were with true liberty–Deo, or a false liberty–dio. These are the questions that each one of us should continually ask ourselves:

• Am I doing this with all sincerity from my heart, or is it a half-hearted act?
• Am I looking for recognition or reward?
• Am I being totally honest, or saying what I think someone wants to hear?
• Do I know and trust that this is God’s will?
• Do I just want to be right?
• Am I afraid to be wrong?
• Is this the highest way to handle this situation?
• How can I do this better?
• Am I being judgmental, or truly discerning in accordance with divine pattern?
• How can I best serve right here and now?
• Is this an ego trip?
• Am I truly deserving?
• How would Jesus respond?
• Am I setting a good example?
• Keeping the bigger picture in mind, is this the best course of action?
• Should I lead, follow, or get out of the way in this situation?

Those are some pretty good questions to help evaluate exactly what our motives are; if we are operating from the mindset of unbridled liberty or true freedom.

A Melchizedek states on page 1114 of The URANTIA Book that there are four phases of philosophy. The fourth one is the highest, and this is the level we should strive for. This level “attains freedom from all conventional and traditional handicaps and dares to think, act, and live honestly, fearlessly, and truthfully.” Each one of us is handicapped by what we have embraced from the third-dimension (the dominant cultures of western civilization) that is out of divine pattern. Think and reflect upon your own handicaps that keep you from walking completely out of the false liberty of selfishness and into the true liberty of spiritual self-restraint and a sense of responsibility for others. Those handicaps can be attachments to material things; they can be certain attitudes, ideas, and beliefs that you want to hang onto; they can be attachments to conventional or traditional ways of perceiving; they can be attachments to people that keep you from becoming truly free.

In that true freedom we can dare to become activists for God’s patterns and procedures and live honestly, fearlessly, and truthfully, thus “being” in the highest level of consciousness possible for each of us in our particular life situations. Imagine what could happen if we all operated from this higher consciousness of true liberty!

July 2, 2000