FREEDOM OF SPEECH

John J. Miller in the WSJ (May 7-8, 2022) in an article, “A Ringing Defense of Free Speech”, drew my attention to the argument of John Milton’s “Areopagitica”. Written in 1644 in response to an attempt by Parliament to censor publications by appointing a Licensing Board of twenty, it is worth reviewing in the light of current attempts by the authorities to establish a Ministry of Disinformation, the debate over Twitter, the cancelling of speakers and removal of users from social media.

Milton gives a history of censorship from Greece and Rome onwards. He argues that books preserve wisdom, and to kill a good book is to kill reason. The Roman Church prohibited books they considered heretical and required books to be given an Imprimatur or authorization. However, the Bible itself includes examples of blasphemy and evil and the early church Fathers relate error in order to value learning. Error is spread not by the act of reading but by evil writers infecting other people. Censorship is unnecessary for the wise and useless for fools. Learned readers need all kinds of books so that error can be refuted. Fools cannot be stopped from holding false doctrines. Censors will always be ignorant, arbitrary, insolent or venal. Censorship will discourage learning and the pursuit of truth. It lowers a learner to the level of a schoolchild. It treats people as if they were frivolous and vicious and shows no faith in the power of the authorities to resist false teaching through their arguments. It makes people idle in finding truth for themselves and too apt to rely on pundits who will grow complacent.

Censorship hinders the search for truth. Argument is healthy. Let us allow every variety of opinion and encourage freedom of thought. Let Truth and Falsehood contend, so that Truth will prevail; she needs no protection. A rigid conformity is dead and dull; a Church and State ought to have many varieties in it. The Holy Spirit does not speak only through one institution. Censorship is a revival of tyranny.

In the light of the control of speech by autocratic regimes such as Russia and China, which brainwashes the minds of their citizens, and leads to terrible consequences, it is important that we uphold freedom of speech even when we disagree. No one opinion should crowd out dissent. Voltaire was attributed as saying, “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Milton’s treatise takes its name from the Areopagus, near the Acropolis in Athens where the ancient Greeks gathered for debates. It is the site of St. Paul’s sermon in Acts 17 where he presented the Gospel to the philosophers of his day. Despite receiving sneering criticism from some of his hearers he continued to teach those who became disciples, including Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus.