FreedomCar’s Statement of Values

We at FreedomCar believe:

in universal human rights—that includes Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, and that these rights exist for every individual regardless of age, gender, orientation, race, or status of citizenship. We believe those rights are being honored selectively, not universally. We believe it is our duty to speak strongly against excluding certain constituencies from equal rights under the law. 

in the Constitution of the United States—including the 27 amendments to it over the course of its history, that it is a sacred political document, the finest of its kind in all of human history. Any effort to dilute it, avoid it, or ignore it is a direct assault on our constitutional democracy and on any of us who believe the United States of America should remain a constitutional republic. We believe the Constitution is not being respected, and is actively being subverted, by the Executive branch, and it is our duty to speak strongly against that.

in the essential separation of powers—Executive, Legislative, and Judicial—wherein each of the three branches of Government has equal power to stall the ambitions of the other two, as was the expressed intention of the Founding Fathers. We believe that power of the Judiciary is in immediate danger of being subverted by the Executive branch, and it is our duty to speak strongly against that. 

in civic duty—and that it is our civic duty to publicly object to violations of the law even if those violations come from the highest office in the land and effect people with whom we have no existing relationship. We believe that what is being done to those in civil service and the sciences right now is against the law and it is therefore our duty to speak strongly against it.

in the Sciences—that they are not merely another value system, but rather an evidence-based examination of our world offering us empirically verifiable truths that we can choose to accept or ignore, but truths they remain.

in the Arts—that they are not merely a luxury to be afforded, but rather an essential part of any free society, and that they provide an upward path to human development we would not otherwise have and that is available to us in no other way. We believe the Arts are as essential as the Sciences.

in Government—We believe in taxes to support that Government. We believe that the absence or degradation of a professionalized Government will mean an inevitable devolvement of our Republic into oligarchy, then poverty, then savagery. We believe this is happening now and that it is our duty to speak strongly against it.

IN PRESIDENTIAL ACCOUNTABILITY—We believe that the highest elected civil servant in our government—the President—should be subject to the laws of the United States of America, just as the rest of us are.

in facts—We do not accept the legitimacy of “alternate facts” that serve political or cultural agendas. We do not believe that every point of view is equally legitimate, or that definitions of good and bad are inherently relative, thus rendering them meaningless.

In Diversity—that a diverse company, and a diverse society, are stronger and healthier because of their diversity. Diversity is not an accommodation; it is an asset. Our friends in the LGBTQ, new-to-America, neuro-divergent, and racial minority communities are essential to our nation’s strength, and make possible a more vibrant, resilient, and interesting society.

In Immigrants—we are the children of immigrants. Many of our staff are immigrants. We welcome immigration, and we believe there should be a clear path to citizenship negotiable to every immigrant regardless of wealth or legal representation, that is based on good behavior.

In freedom of religion—in everyone’s right to worship whatever God, or an alternative concept they hold dear; furthermore, we believe there is no room in a Constitutional Republic for a state religion, and that the recent rise of Christian nationalism poses a direct threat to this right of religious freedom and to the rights of women. We believe this is happening now and it is our duty to speak strongly against it. 

In FreedomCar’s guiding principles—love, kindness, generosity, and tolerance must be combined with a commitment to disciplined excellence and adherence to principle…that one without the other will not provide us a path forward. We call this combination “Grace”, and it is what we seek to deliver with every service. We believe there is nothing weak or naïve about this concept, rather that it provides infinite strength to those who choose to pursue it personally, commercially, or from a public policy perspective.

In America—that America is great, and that the highest form of patriotism is one that occasionally questions our paths and our decisions. There is nothing anti-American about dissent.

We stand by these principles, and will henceforth be doing so publicly not because we wish to, but because the words of Pastor Niemöller remind us it has become necessary to do so. It is a speak-now-or-forever-hold-your-peace moment in our history. Accordingly, we have no interest in anyone joining our company who does not share these values, nor in providing service to any client using our services for purposes that run counter to these values. This is regardless of any effect on shareholder value of the Company.

We encourage other members of the business community to consider a similar stance against this attack on our Democracy.

Mark Thistel and Robyne Lyles, Co-Owners, FreedomCar