What is freedom? In the second story of creation (Garden of Eden story) in the Book of Genesis, God had planted two trees in the middle of the garden. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All kinds of delicious fruit-bearing trees were around too. Of these, only the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil was forbidden to eat. In other words, good and evil were there before them. One bringing destruction, the other life.

There is Freedom when both possibilities exist. Even if the possibilities of embracing good or evil exist, freedom does not mean choosing one of the two. Many people think so. Freedom is only when one chooses good. Most people do not understand that choosing evil is unfreedom or misuse of freedom.

That is why inflicting violence on another person or destructing oneself does not become freedom. Rabindranath Tagore writes: "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high... Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."

Freedom is waking, rising, and fearlessness.

Not only in the book of Genesis, but we can see this idea repeated also in many other places in the Bible. “See, I have today set before you life and good, death and evil.” The Bible asks to accept life and good.

Humanity always has those two possibilities before it. War and peace, environmental destruction and environmental protection, violence and non-violence, spreading hate and cultivating love, doing good and doing evil.

When we reflect about freedom, I cannot but say another idea too. Even in our times, the concept of freedom that has the most market value in our society is that of individual freedom. Even in our contemporary world, many people follow the model of individual freedom. Philosophers like Alfred Whitehead conceive of freedom only in relation to discipline. individual freedom is not the ideal, but communitarian freedom is. The value is not independence but interdependence. The longer we delay in reaching such realizations, the more disasters await us and the world we are part of.