The Meaning of Freedom

            Freedom is a very important aspect of our country. We as Americans do not fully realize the liberties that are around us; and more often, we take them for granted. More so, we will never fully comprehend the importance of freedom until it is threatened or taken away from us. I personally understand these liberties more than other teenagers in this country since I am originally from Eastern Europe. While Ukraine was under the Communist rule, our civil rights were severely limited. We didn't have freedom of speech, press, not to mention religion. We had to live in a country that made decisions for the people as a whole. We could not express our needs or our beliefs to their fullest extent; all we had to do was to go along with the ideology of those in power. .
             Unlike the people of the United States, Ukrainians were not allowed to publicly express their religious beliefs. The government was dictating what they should believe in. Unfortunately, this is still the case in many countries around the world. The Constitution of the Soviet Union had the church separated from the government, but those words were only on paper. These laws were never exercised, and in reality, the government had full control over the church. The KGB often inserted certain individuals that would influence and interfere with church activities. They attended services acting as believers, while their main goal was to weaken the church from within. Another aspect that is not commonly known is the fact that church leadership had to get approval from the local authorities on any activities to be performed outside of the church's grounds. Because of such constraints, special holiday celebrations such as baptism ceremonies, weddings, funerals, or even general gatherings were hard to organize and coordinate. Going without the KGB's permission meant risking the pastor being thrown into jail, or the church having pay outrageous fines.