Free Nations

The Book of Mormon prophesies that as part of the gathering of Israel in the latter days the Gentiles who have scattered the remnant of the seed of Jacob will be established in the Americas as a free people (3 Nephi 21:2-4). In Ether we read the words of a covenant the Lord makes with nations who will inhabit the Americas: "whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage and from captivity and from all other nations under heaven if they will but serve the God of the land, which is Jesus Christ." (Ether 2:12). These passages say we should find free people and free nations in the Americas, and we do.

The generally accepted source for data on global freedom is Freedom House. Their annual rankings of countries by the degree of freedom their citizens enjoy is a respected source because it takes into account:

• political rights
• civil liberties
• voting
• individual expression
• equality before the law

Freedom House analyzes the effect of both state and non-state actors in a country and ranks nations with a freedom index number ranging from 1 (South Sudan, Syria, Tibet) where citizens enjoy almost no freedom to 100 (Finland, Norway, Sweden) where citizens are extraordinarily free. It turns out the Americas, Western Europe, East Asia, and former British colonies are the regions on earth with the most freedom.

Freedom House Map Green = Free, Purple = Not Free

Here are the Freedom House rankings of free countries in the New World:

1. Canada (98)
2. Uruguay (96)
3. Barbados (94)
4. Chile (94)
5. Dominica (93)
6. St. Lucia (92)
7. Costa Rica (91)
8. St. Vincent and the Grenadines (91)
9. The Bahamas (91)
10. Grenada (89)
11. St. Kitts and Nevis (89)
12. Belize (87)
13. Argentina (85)
14. Panama (83)
15. US (83)
16. Trinidad and Tobago (82)
17. Jamaica (80)
18. Suriname (79)
19. Guyana (73)
20. Brazil (72)
21. Colombia (70)
22. Ecuador (70)

US patriots sometimes portray "the land of the free and the home of the brave" as the only free nation in the Americas. That oversimplifies reality.