Anthony Thomas Vento

Heavenly Bread Anthony Thomas Vento

We are living in uncertain times. People are striving for freedom, and at the same time prefer to exist in subordination. They aspire to look "different", to be "themselves", to maintain their "personality" and "authenticity." Freedom is such a concept that seems unnecessary today. Everyone is free, we tend to think, and even if sometimes it happens that a person declare him/herself not free, we believe that it is merely an exception. People should think more about the progress, about their common future, and not to dispute such "irrelevant" issues. If we are not free, why then can we express our opinion (in the majority of cases) so easily and without any troubles?

The current book turns upon the Parable of the Grand Inquisitor, told by the Russian writer Dostoyevsky. After so many disasters that occurred in the 20th century, it is time to recall this legend and to ask together with the writer, "Do people have the disposition to withdraw from their freedom in order to gain more material goods, or pleasures, or security?" Why choose freedom over security? Having in mind the emergence, and even the (relative) success of totalitarian political movements and regimes, such as National-socialism, Communism and Fascism, we must admit that the scientific and technological progress, the variety of democratic constitutions, and all charters of human rights that we have now in the world, do not secure the presence of freedom.