FDR Four Freedom

Franklin D. Roosevelts “Four Freedom” speech was one he gave with the urgency of his wife behind him. The speech spoke of the four freedoms everyone in the world should abide by, as well as enjoy. The four freedoms mentioned are:
1. Freedom of Speech and Expression
2. Freedom of Religion
3. Freedom from Want
4. Freedom from Fear
I thought the speech was great, as did many other.s The four freedoms he highlights are not only one that I can agree with, but I believe they are some that our country institutes daily. Everyday we are blessed with the right to go out and speak our mind on any topic, ranging from sports, or to how we think the President is not doing the right thing. In many other countries, this luxury is not allowed. I have experienced this first hand. Being born and raised in Iraq, I was constantly aware of my parents always watching what they say. When they wanted to speak about the government, they made sure they were doing it inside a closed room with no possible way a stranger could listen in. They did this because it was not very uncommon for people to be killed because they spoke negatively about the Iraqi government.
I was also a Christian being raised in a predominately Muslim country. While we weren’t outcasted by most, some did hassle us about it. During school in Iraq, it was a requirement to take a religion class, except only one religion was offered, Islam. During this period, my sisters and I would ask to be excused outside until the end of the session. Some teachers were not very accepting of this, and would force us to remain in class, and the majority of the time, they would hit us (a common tactic used in Iraqi schools). For that, we had to keep our religion a secret.
Freedom from Fear is something we also take for granted. I remember the days I spent in Iraq, at least once a year we would here the sirens go off, warning us of an oncoming attack. I spent many days as a child hurled up in the center of a room in my mothers arm afraid of what is going outside, while my mother was frantically trying to convince me it is just thunder.
Living in Iraq made me experience the polar opposite of these four freedoms, and for that, I appreciate this speech that much more. Everyday I wake up in Michigan I’m thankful for these four freedoms that were once void in my life.