Sliding Down the Scale: America Falls 10th to 18th in Economic Freedom Rankings

I know. Its Bush’s fault.

When governments or people emphasize liberty rather than righteous responsibility, ultimately freedom is lost.

“The Scriptures provide no evidence of God-given (or unalienable)
rights. Even life and liberty are not rights, but rather
responsibilities delegated by Yahweh. Of course, rights are much more
popular than responsibilities. Everyone, including homosexuals and
infant murderers, demand their rights, but few are interested in
fulfilling their responsibilities.

The Puritan idea of rights and liberty was quite different from what the framers had in mind:

‘John Winthrop [first governor of Massachusetts Bay
Colony] … reminded his fellow-citizens of Massachusetts that a doctrine
of civil rights [as in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of
Rights] which looked to natural or sinful man as its source and guardian
[as in the Preamble] was actually destructive of that very liberty
which they were seeking to protect. True freedom can never be found in
institutions which are under the direction of sinful men, but only in
the redemption wrought for man by Jesus Christ. Christ, not man, is the
sole source and guarantee of true liberty.’ (C. Gregg Singer, A Theological Interpretation of American History (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1964) p. 19.)

R.J. Rushdoony pointed out the sophistry of governments based upon freedom:

‘….[A] society which makes freedom its primary goal will
lose it, because it has made, not responsibility, but freedom from
responsibility, its purpose. When freedom is the basic emphasis, it is
not responsible speech which is fostered but irresponsible speech. If
freedom of press is absolutized, libel will be defended finally as a
privilege of freedom, and if free speech is absolutized, slander finally
becomes a right. Religious liberty becomes a triumph of irreligion.
Tyranny and anarchy take over. Freedom of speech, press, and religion
all give way to controls, totalitarian controls. The goal must be God’s
law-order, in which alone is true liberty.’ ( Rousas John Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1973) p. 581.)

For more, see Chapter 11 “Amendment 1: Government-Sanctioned Polytheism” of “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective” at http://www.missiontoisrael.org/biblelaw-constitutionalism-pt11.php.