The Free Exchange of Ideas
The idea of free speech has recently made the news, as the recently -re-elected president, Donald Trump promised to issue five executive orders giving additional protections to lawful speech. As could be expected, this was not without controversy. It was not the first time the idea of free speech has been controversial. It will not be the last.
Evelyn Beatrice Hall (summarizing Voltaire’s beliefs): “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Noam Chomsky: “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”
We base the idea of free speech on the premise that the free exchange of ideas is very good for the state of ideas as a whole. Competing ideas have a way of strengthening good ideas and weeding out poor ideas. Think of it as being like natural selection. Just as competition is good for the health of species, so is competition good for the ecosystem of ideas.
My family, the Bromleys, have a code of arms an on it, our ancient motto: non inferior secutus, which means I will not follow or have not followed inferior ideas. We should relentlessly pursue truth, even if it forces us to reconsider some of our ideas. Seeking truth can be painful and is always hard and demanding work.
In the 1970s, Brazil’s computer industry was the envy of the world, even stealing market share from IBM in the 1980s. The government viewed the industry as so crucial to the country that it enacted protectionism measures, prohibiting people in Brazil from using foreign-made computers. The results were that their computer industry stagnated, failing to benefit from technological advances happening in other parts of the world, eventually making Brazilian computers obsolete. Protecting the industry lulled the industry into a comfortable position, from which it could not better itself. Too much leisure and comfort distorts a body, especially a corporate one.
We see the same thing in nature. Species that are protected too much never have a chance to adapt and improve. Forrests that are over protected become over populated with weak and sickly growth, or become susceptible to devastating forest fires. Children who are to exposed to dirt and germs run the risk of having week immune systems that may well over react in the form of severe allergies. Likewise, sdeas that are over protected begin to lose creativity, vitality, and slowly become less compelling, even to to those who hold to those ideas. Only by ever testing are ideas against competing ideas do our intellectual traditions stay sharp and effective.
Christian ideas thrive in an environment of competition. Ancient Corinth was the wild-west of spiritualities and ideas. Had Christianity been a fragile idea that needed careful protection, it would never have flourished there. And its first public introduction was not friendly to the followers of Jesus.
In Acts 18, we read that Paul was placed on trial for disturbing the peace. He was brought into the agora, to the bema, or public hearing space, and was tried by the Roman proconsul, Gollio. This was the beginning of Christianity’s foothold in Corinth.
Christians should not be afraid of intellectual inquiry and pursuit. The life of the mind should be the vocation of some Christians. We need Christians who will contend for Christianity in the public square, drawing from centuries of Christian intellectual tradition.
And we have a wealth of information and people to draw from. Anyone digging into the intellectual tradition of Christianity will find an inexhaustible vein of wealth.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.