Lent Post: Slippery Slope or Logically Sound?

Salvete.

Today I was debating with a friend about the concern that the loss of one freedom would inevitably lead to the loss of another. My friend considers this notion preposterous; freedoms come and go as they fit with society. Today, I will explain my case.

If freedoms were lost naturally, my colleague would be right. Freedoms would be lost and gained at random, and we would be at the mercy of fate.

However, freedoms are not lost or gained naturally. They are instigated by organizations or by people. For example, the women's rights movement gave women suffrage, while the prohibition movement banned the use of alcohol. Each of these movements have a certain amount of momentum. Most of these movements have reached the peak of optimal freedom before flying off the edge. The women's suffrage movement turned into feminism. The African American civil rights movement turned into the Black Panther Party. The pro-gay movement will lead (and, in a sense, has already led) to homophiliac militarism. This will destroy, and has destroyed, everything for which the founders of the movement stood. Susan B. Anthony would shun this new form of feminism, while Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior must surely weep at what the African Americans have been subjected to. No longer is there religious freedom; the church has become corrupted and is being mocked by the atheistic movement. No longer is there equal rights for Americans of all skin color; employers and universities are now actively seeking out people of color over Caucasians. Affirmative action on all fronts, not just the civil rights movement, is overwhelming and corrupting the desired balance.

Granted, this is not that much of a blanket statement; not all women's rights suffragists became feminists, and not all civil rights protesters became members of the Black Panther Party. There just merely comes a time in each organization's movement where they've succeeded and met their goal, at which point they ask themselves, "What now? We have the resources and momentum, but we need another mountain to climb, another cause." Some members, perhaps most members, will leave the organization before it finds its new purpose and continues its "progress." The result is a smaller but more dangerous movement, aimed at darker goals.

I believe this discussion will be continued in later posts.