This holiday season, let’s honor our Four Freedoms

In 1943, Norman Rockwell painted the Four Freedoms that FDR outlined in his famous speech. Each of them, “Freedom of Speech,” “Freedom of Worship,” “Freedom from Want,” and “Freedom from Fear,” was used on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. And support for these wartime freedoms is more critical than ever.

“Freedom from Want” shows a family sitting down to a meal, most likely a Thanksgiving feast, but it could just as easily be one for Christmas, given the presence of a large turkey. It shows several generations of the same family together in fellowship. It was a controversial subject during the time, as people debated whether the New Deal reforms would go to “deserving” workers, forgetting that retirees and children were depicted there. As I discovered in Tanzania this summer, you could have poor families gathered together, with enough for everyone, as resources were pooled among the family and extended family, to ensure no one would go hungry. It’s not something you always see in America, a far wealthier country, though the hard work that soup kitchens, religious groups, and generous citizens provide deserve to be recognized.

Speaking of religion, Rockwell’s “Freedom of Worship” shows a wide variety of Americans worshipping, depicting a wide variety of faiths. It’s hard to imagine that a number of religions with broad acceptance now were once picked on in the 1940s, like Catholics, Mormons, etc. Though I am not a Muslim, do not teach Islam, and don’t always agree with Muslim teachings, I was heartened to see the bill targeting Muslim women for wearing headscarves while driving or posing for license pictures go down to a record quick defeat. Equally impressive were the number of Republicans (politicians and non-politicians) who took to social media to express similar sentiments. One criticism of some Muslim countries comes from restrictions they put on non-Islamic faiths. Why would a Christian nation, predicated on religious freedom, stoop to their level?

Of all of them, “Freedom of Speech” is a personal favorite artwork of mine, the one I mention when asked for the one I like the most. Rockwell has been criticized for being simplistic or schmaltzy, but there’s nothing like that in these artworks, especially this one. A man has risen to speak at a public event. He’s dressed like an everyman, a contrast to those in suits. He’s not in his element, but he seems confident in his convictions. Is he a conservative, a liberal, or a moderate? Does it matter? He’s expressing his right, one denied in so many countries these days. We’ll join those unfree countries, unless this right is honored.

The last, and most painful, is “Freedom from Fear.” A mother and father are tucking in their children. In the father’s hands are news headlines about war and conflict, with little optimism. They’ll provide all the love they can, but that freedom needs more than parental reassurance. It can be achieved by our men and women in the armed forces, our local and national law enforcement, and those not in uniform, but dedicated to anti-poverty, anti-crime programs that help families achieve those aforementioned freedoms. It is also those who seek help from a higher power to protect the people of our country.

According to Patrick Perry, The Saturday Evening Post writers noted: “If there is genuine confusion about the meaning of the Four Freedoms, some of it is doubtless explained by failure to note that Mr. Roosevelt, in listing these objectives, used the expression, ‘we look forward to a world.’”

We weren’t there in 1943, and not in 2016. But those freedoms still guide us for what we need to do.

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "This holiday season, let’s honor our Four Freedoms."