Democracy vs. Freedom

I read an Op Ed piece in the NY Times today from a Spanish man who was complaining about Spain's efforts to control smoking. Basically, he said the effort was un-democratic and paternalistic.
I agree and feel the same way about efforts to stop Americans from smoking.
People, we are being sold a bill of goods when we are told democracy and freedom are the same thing. In theory, we could be under a dictatorship and have more freedoms than we now have under our current democratic government.
You want proof? It is easy to give if you believe in God. I would tell you the Creator of the Universe, God, is far more powerful than any government. And yet, under God, we are given absolute freedom to choose. True, there are the Ten Commandments. But get real! There are only ten of them and we are allowed to break them any time we want. And no where in the Ten Commandments are there any "Thou shalt nots" about smoking or any other of the millions of laws we labor under in this country.
And when it comes to the Ten Commandments and you end up breaking one or more or all of them, all you have to do to make it right with God is to say you are sorry and do your best not to break the commandment again.
I say, "Thnak God God is God and not the United States Government!"