According to Esolen and his reading of Pope Leo XIII's writings, modern man views freedom as an exercise of the will. This, however, has no aim because it denies God and human nature. In a society that accepts this view of liberty, the government must "stand in for God," and it will compel everyone to support it as it grows with nothing to stop it. This leads to tyranny and mob rule.
On the other hand, in a just state, human law embodies God's law, and the government respects true liberty and therefore appeals to the hearts of its citizens. In a just state, all will be "free to live according to law and right reason" and have "the unimpeded capacity to fulfill our God-ordained end" (to enjoy the very life of God).
In other words, doing whatever we want may sound like freedom, but some things are unreasonable because we're not meant to do them, they won't make us happy ultimately, and our society will fall apart. We're better off if our laws follow God's laws and keep us on the path to true happiness.
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