'Four Freedoms' still worth pursuing

Thanksgiving is coming. That’s the holiday I always associate with Norman Rockwell’s painting “Freedom from Want.”

That painting shows a man and a woman, both gray haired, standing at the head of their dinner table. She holds a large platter completely filled by a big roast turkey. Sitting at the table are nine people of various ages. They smile and talk. They’re obviously free from want. They will give thanks.

The “Freedom from Want” picture was one in a set of four, called the “Four Freedoms.” Rockwell painted in them 1943 during World War II. The other three pictures are called “Freedom of Speech,” “Freedom of Worship” and “Freedom from Fear.”

To illustrate “Freedom of Speech” Rockwell painted a young man standing and speaking at a public meeting as other people listen.

For “Freedom of Worship” Rockwell depicted the faces and hands of people praying, one possibly meditating. Printed on the picture is, “EACH ACCORDING TO THE DICTATES OF HIS OWN CONSCIENCE.”

His “Freedom from Fear” painting shows a concerned mother and father standing next to the bed of their two sleeping children. The father holds a newspaper whose headlines mention “BOMBINGS” and “HORRORS.”

The “Four Freedoms” concept was originated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 in his State of the Union speech. That was 11 months before the United States was plunged into World War II. During that war the “Four Freedoms” were a good answer to the question, “What are we fighting for?”

Rockwell’s paintings of the “Four Freedoms” were first published in the Saturday Evening Post, a popular, weekly, mass-circulation magazine.

As soon as they were published, millions of copies were requested. The Treasury Department also distributed millions of copies during War Bond drives. The pictures helped us Americans understand why we had to win World War II.

I think the “Four Freedoms” are still goals that we Americans can unite behind today. They are easily understood — Freedom of Speech and Expression, Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Of the four, “Freedom from Fear” is hardest to achieve but will always be worth pursuing.

Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” pictures may now seem old-fashioned. The Americans they depict all had light skins. Rockwell probably used his New Englander neighbors as models. But the “Four Freedoms” are still powerful guiding principles that we should follow today and promote.

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 1:37 PM with the headline "'Four Freedoms' still worth pursuing."