You're using the word "true" here in the same sense as others do in phrases like "the one, true god". I'll step forward and be the heathen to the absolutist concept you idolize...

But the fact is freedom has a simple and plain meaning

...actually, like many words, it has several. I opened my dictionary and can count seven different nuances in the entry. Here's the one I believe it was used in, and I see no problem accepting the intended semantics:

"(freedom from) the state of not being subject to or affected by (a particular undesirable thing)"