Mike Riddell discusses individual freedom and the common good.

In the early centuries of the first millennium, Christianity grew quickly in those corners of the Roman Empire where plagues were spreading. Not so much because the believers were preaching life after death, but because they stayed behind in cities to care for the sick while others fled. This degree of practical love spoke louder than any amount of doctrine. The third-century bishop Dionysius described how Christians “heedless of danger … took charge of the sick, attending to their every need”.

In our own era, a self-styled bishop, Brian Tamaki of the Destiny Church, has suggested his followers "do away with the masks" and take a stand against a Lockdown he describes as "home detention". Call me naïve, but I was taken by surprise to find that large sections of the New Zealand church were at the forefront of the anti-vax movement.

Peter Mortlock, ex-real estate agent and head of the megachurch City Impact, recently promoted the rally that Tamaki was involved in organising under the “Freedom and Rights Coalition”, telling the faithful: “I think sooner or later we are going to have to make a stand — a stand for our rights, the way our freedoms are being stripped away.” His church has Eftpos machines installed for the convenience of worshippers.

Face Up to the Questions

How did we go from putting ourselves at risk for the sake of those suffering from contagious diseases to putting others at risk for our own sense of righteousness? And what is this freedom, that is assumed to be a personal right, which is being infringed on? Our current debate about coronavirus and vaccination highlights these issues, and drives to the heart of what faith is all about.

Individual Freedom and the Common Good

The two sides of the conversation are those of individual freedom and the common good. As far as the former is concerned, the rot started some time ago. It can arguably be traced to the famous Descartes line “I think therefore I am.” This dictum based truth and rationality on the discrete individual. The descent into individualism was an unintended consequence that has shaped Western history since the 17th century.

This is a massive shift from the idea of commonwealth, and the traditional understanding that we are all in it together when it comes to society. The result has been seen in free-market monetarism and hardline individualism. This ideology is now so pervasive that it is unnoticed and assumed to be orthodoxy. People everywhere are keen to complain that their personal rights have been infringed.

Freedom for All

When it comes to freedom, few have understood it or suffered for it more than Martin Luther King Jr. He said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." That would certainly be a reasonable descriptor of the COVID age in which we live, and the importance of making good judgements in such a time.

In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, King spoke of the white people who had joined the mass of Blacks at the rally, saying “they have come to realise that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom”. “We cannot walk alone,” he insisted. In other words, freedom is not an individual right but a corporate ideal to be worked toward. Freedom is never freedom in the company of the oppressed.

Corrupting Ideas of Freedom

And so we are in a battle for the meaning of the word “freedom”. When Margaret Thatcher famously opined “There is no such thing as society”, she was extolling current orthodoxy which holds that the welfare of the individual is of paramount importance in the face of suggestions of corporate responsibility. That ideology, with historical roots, has festered in many parts of the globe.

We have all observed this concept writ large in contemporary US politics. Trump exemplified his right to make money through duplicitous ventures, exclude refugees and has been accused of sexually abusing vulnerable women. This is a freedom of sorts. More specifically a freedom from consequences of bad behaviour. And now, in that country, Republicans are blocking the passage of Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill which would make for a fairer society.

To a large extent, their oppo-sition to this bill is based upon the same premise as the Republican refusal to wear masks or restrict gun rights — any government imposition on individual freedom is described as an attack on liberty. God save us all. But it is a demonstration of how lethal a corrupted notion of freedom can be. It is the major contributor to extreme poverty in many parts of the world.

Experiencing an Alternative

It was a gift to me to spend years working among the urban poor and dispossessed in Central Auckland. There I learned of the inherent dignity of every person. I also discovered generosity, honesty, sharing, black humour, acceptance and forgiveness among those who were at the bottom of society’s hierarchy of importance. It was me that needed conversion to see people for their sacred worth.

The concern of some Churches for their own freedom (and connection to ridiculous conspiracy theories) is a total corruption of the ministry of Jesus. Whereas the early Christians courageously threw their lot in with the suffering and dying, it seems some of the contemporary members of the faith are intent on promoting the suffering and dying of others for their own deluded notions.

It beats me why anyone would imagine receiving a free vaccine to halt the progress of COVID-19 as some sort of plot against them. The same people are happy to submit to obtaining a licence as a prerequisite for driving or carrying a passport as a condition to travelling. These are regulations that are not pernicious, but guarantee some level of safety for us all.

Freedom is of the Common Good

And there we have it. It’s the “for us all” notion that is the stumbling block on which the Gospel falters. It is this sense of the common good that is integral to Christian life. As Pope Francis has it in Fratelli Tutti: “Solidarity is a word that is not always well received; in certain situations, it has become a dirty word, a word that dare not be said. Solidarity means much more than engaging in sporadic acts of generosity. It means thinking and acting in terms of community.”

Brian Tamaki and Peter Mortlock are false prophets. Whatever their motivation may be, it is not that of living out the Way of Jesus.

From an outside perspective, it seems that their concerns are more to do with entitlement and prosperity. Our frail elderly who are dying in hospitals don’t appear to trouble their conscience. Unfortunately their influence has persuaded many.

We’re in this together. Our government has been running a “common good” philosophy to look after everyone with a minimum of compulsion. Though times are tense, we are doing comparatively well in sticking together and caring for one another. It is this love of fellow citizens that promotes the health of us all. My prayer is that we may hold the course, and find in our experience a model for a redemptive future.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 265 November 2021: 6-8