[Archive July 4,2006]
Zenit news service posted a nice interview with Jutta Burggraf, a German theologian, on July 3, 2006 from Pamplona, Spain: "Personal Value and the Gold Chains of Society; Interview With Theologian Jutta Burggraf". She is a professor of dogmatic theology at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre in Spain. I am not familiar with her work. However, her answers in the interview reveal a depth that motivates me to seek out her new book "Libertad vivida con la fuerza de la fe" (Freedom Lived with the Strength of Faith). Since it is also Independence Day in the United States (230 years!), I thought that the topic of freedom is most timely.
Q: Your book is entitled "Freedom Lived." Are there freedoms which are not lived?
Burggraf: All people are born as originals, but at times we limit ourselves to be no more than equal copies. Then, we do not correspond to the personal and unique call we have received on entering this world: "Be yourself! Be as God has always thought of you."
Every man can offer the world many surprises; contribute new thoughts, original solutions, unique action. He is capable of living his own life and of being a source of inspiration and support for others.
If a person does not use his legs to walk, we regard him as "odd" or probably sick; but if he does not use his understanding to think, or his will to decide, we are almost unaware of his dangerous state, because we are used to not living at the level of our best possibilities. Often, we do not use the richest and most profound capacity we have: our freedom.
In fact, no one must become an "automaton," without a face or originality. At times, it is good to recover the look of the child, to open ourselves to our own novelty, and that of every person, and thus discover the challenge within each situation. The world will be what we make of it. At least our life is what we make of it.
Q: What specifically are you referring to when you allude to the "subtly tyrannizing" world that it is our lot to live in?
Burggraf: There are "gold chains" in our societies. The tyranny of masses and customs reigns.
It is not difficult to discover a powerful collectivist current that tends to despoil us of that which is in the depth of our being, in order to equalize and quantify people, if not all, at least those who belong to a specific party, a concrete association, a community, a Web page or a golf club.
It is fashionable to sing in unison, to dress with the same clothes, to take recourse to the same pre-fabricated arguments, with the same words, the same look, and even the same smile.
There are people who are not even aware of their chains. They adapt themselves to the general spirit that seems obvious to them. But what they feel, think or say, is not their own; they are the sentiments, thoughts and ready-made phrases that have been published in thousands of newspapers and magazines, on the radio and on the Internet.
As soon as someone begins to think and act on his own and hold an opinion that is different from that generally accepted by the "system" -- which has become closed and does not allow anything that seems to be annoying -- it is simply rejected.
However, we are free, despite the adverse circumstances that can surround and influence us. And not only do we have the right, but also the duty to exercise our freedom.
Precisely today it is more necessary than ever that we be aware of the great richness of our life and seek ways to be "more" people, and not reluctant, frightened and stricken persons.
Q: How does one learn to be free? What is the first step?
Burggraf: Growing up, man discovers gradually that he has an interior space, which is, in some way, at his disposition.
He realizes that, essentially, he does not depend either on his parents, or schoolteachers, or the media, or public opinion. He experiences a space where he is alone with himself, where he is free. He discovers his interior world, his own innermost being.
Only one knows one's innermost: It is the "sanctuary" of the human. I can enter into myself, and no one can seize me there.
When "I am with myself," I readily realize how unnecessary and ridiculous it is to seek others' confirmation and applause. A person's value does not depend on others; it does not depend on the praise of gestures of confirmation that he might or might not receive.
We are more than what we live on the exterior. There is a space in us to which others have no access. It is our "inner homeland," a place of silence and quietness. As long as we don't discover it, we will live in a superficial and confused way, seeking consolation where there is none -- in the external world.
Man is free, when he dwells in his own house. Unfortunately, there are many people who are not "with themselves," but always with others. They do not know how to rest in themselves.
Q: You say that to obey God is source of freedom. What do you mean by this?
Burggraf: God himself, the source of all life, wishes to dwell ever more profoundly in us. From our innermost core, he wishes to give us life in abundance.
In some way or another, every man is called to relive the drama experienced by St. Augustine: "You were within me and I was outside. And outside I was seeking you."
God asks us a minimum of openness, availability and acceptance of his grace: "If you hear his voice today, do not harden your heart." To find God within ourselves, we need -- mysteriously -- "to open the doors" of our house to him.
In other words, in this intimate space of silence and quietness that is in me, where no one can enter except myself, I do not want to be alone. I invite God to come in and to be with me -- and to conduct my life. Then, my self-determination consists in doing what he tells me.
When God dwells in me, I am happy to "be with myself" and "to go into my own house." I will never be alone, but accompanied and protected by him who loves me most. It is not necessary for me to resolve the small and big problems of each day. …
Obedience means, in its origin, that Christ governs us. He it is who takes the helm of our bark. He does not add himself to our actions; he is at the very core of freedom. It is what the evangelist tells us: "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you."
I hope to find somewhere further nuance and distinction on her comments about the “subtly tyrannizing" of the "gold chains" in our societies. The mass media and lack of authentic education certainly contribute to an aggressive “conformity”, although Prof. Burggraf does not use that term in the interview. In cultures things like dress and language certainly need a degree of conformity for sanity. Our institutions like courts, places of business and churches require likeness in certain aspects for the common good and for freedom. Only so much can be communicated through an interview format. Nevertheless, I understand the “drift” of what she is proposing.
The fact that many no longer join groups, associations or have community involvement but rather seek to be an “army of one” —but all the same— perhaps is a symptom of most gullible “victims” of the “powerful collectivist current”.
Photo: “Mother and Daughter Portrait” © Pascal Genest
Zenit code: ZE06070320
Tags: Freedom, Navarre, Jutta Burggraf
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