On Respecting the Freedom of the Laity On Respecting the Freedom of the Laity Andrew Greeley Among the changes in the ambiance of the human condition in recent years, one of the most important, perhaps from the religious viewpoint the most important, is the expansion of choices which a person must make through the course of life. Choice means freedom.
Freedom is a terrible burden, but there is no escaping it.
Consider the situation of our ancestors, let us say, a hundred to a hundred and fifty years ago. Most of their choices were already made for them. They would be what their fathers and mothers were, farmers and farmers' wives. They would, barring famine, live in the same villages in which they were born. They would marry someone from the same village or the next village.