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It is appropriate to think about our hard-fought freedoms on July 4th and celebrate a time when we decided, as a body of people, to no longer kneel before a king. Instead, we charted our course and formed a nation that declares our rights and responsibilities as citizens, all of which would be equal under the law.

As we come forward from our first day of independence to this, it is important to remember that freedom is not free – it was paid for by the lives and sacrifices of those who came before. It is a price we continue to pay even to this day.

Amid the current pandemic we have been reminded of our responsibilities to one another as citizens. We have been asked to wear a piece of clothing so that others may live. At most, wearing a mask is an inconvenience, but is a powerful life-saving tool. Some have objected to this inconvenience because it infringes on First Amendment Rights of Free Expression. It is an argument government cannot compel citizens to protect the lives of themselves or others if doing so inhibits their free expression. I don’t see it this way.

None of our rights as citizens are boundless; they are bracketed by the concept of the common good. For example, we are not permitted to falsely yell “Fire” in a crowded theater because of the harm it could cause others; we are required to wear seatbelts or face fines, we are not permitted to express ourselves by running naked through the streets due to the offense it may cause; and we are not allowed to publicly divulge military secrets because of risk to our troops and nation.

There are indeed limits to our free expressions intended to preserve and serve the common good of society.

I realize that reliance on the Constitution or the broader legal system to proscribe a code of conduct, one to another, will never be enough. Words alone will not define our mutual respect and care that must be at the root of any community. This willingness to help others cannot come from the outside. We have to care about and wish to protect each other and that empathy uniquely comes from within.

Kevin Deeny