Areopagitica:

Areopagitica: a speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of the unlicenc'd printing, to the Parliament of England, by *Milton, published in 1644. The title is derived from the Areopagus, the hills of Ares near the Acropolis in Athens where the Upper Council met. This discourse, which was unlicensed and unregistered, was inspired partly by Parliament's attempts to suppress Milton's own pamphlet on divorce. Milton, addressing the 'Lords and Commons of England', attacks their recent order (1643) 'that no book...shall be henceforth printed unless the same be first approved and licensed by such...as shall be thereto appointed'. He shows, first, that licensing has been chiefly the practice of those whom the Presbyterians most detest, the Papacy and the Inquisition, whereas Moses, Daniel, and St. Paul, by precept or example, enjoin freedom in the pursuit of learning. 'Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good.' Next, that promiscuous reading, constant testing,¹ and diversity of opinion² are necessary to the growth of virtue and knowledge. And thirdly, that the attempt to keep out evil doctrine by licensing is like 'the exploit of the gallant man who thought to pound up the crows by shutting the park gate'. Not only will licensing do no good, but it will be a grave discouragement to learning; he quotes the case of the imprisoned *Galileo.² Milton builds his rhetoric to a magnificent exhortation to the 'Lords and Commons of England' to consider 'what Nation it is whereof ye are, and whereof ye are governors: A Nation not slow and dull, but of a quick, ingenious and piercing spirit...Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks. Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth...' Truth is stronger than falsehood, he concludes, and 'a gross conforming stupidity' more to be feared than new opinions.

-THE USE OF THE * IN THIS QUOTATION IS BY THE AUTHORS.
I ASSUME IT INDICATES THERE ARE SEPARATE ENTRIES ELSEWHERE IN THEIR BOOK ABOUT MILTON AND GALILEO.

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¹-I SUGGEST THAT THIS RECOMMENDED BRIEF SIDESTEP BE CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THIS TERM OF REFERENCE. (AND, IN FACT, IN RELATION TO THE ENTIRETY OF THE CONTENTS OF MY AWARD-WINNING WEBSITE.)
IF YOU AGREE THAT "CONSTANT TESTING" CAN BE REGARDED AS BASICALLY SYNONYMOUS WITH "CHECK ME OUT, CHECK EVERYBODY OUT," THEN PLEASE TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.

²-THIS SINGULAR FOOTNOTE HERE ABOUT "DIVERSITY OF OPINION" AND GALILEO IS MINE.

I HAVE TO ADMIT OUT FRONT THAT I CAN BE VERY SHORT WITH PEOPLE WHO FIND WISDOM, IN RESPONSE TO COMPLICATED PROBLEMS, IN ONE-LINERS AND SOPHISTRY.
BUT MANY TIMES A WELL-EXPRESSED PRINCIPLE, SUMMARIZED IN A LINE OR TWO, SEDUCES ME AS EASILY AS ANYONE ELSE.

SUCH WAS THE CASE, IN 1981-2, WITH THIS QUOTE OF JOHN MILTON.

IT WAS ONLY IN THE YEAR 2000, WHEN LOOKING UP THE DATE OF PUBLICATION OF ARISTOTLE'S 'NICOMACHEAN ETHICS' (FOR WHAT YOU FIND IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE) IN MY COPY OF 'THE OXFORD COMPANION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE, FIFTH EDITION', THAT I CAME ACROSS THE CLARIFICATION ABOVE HERE ABOUT 'AREOPAGITICA'.

SPECIFICALLY ON THE SUBJECT OF GALILEO AND HIS PROBLEMS WITH THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, THERE IS WHAT YOU FIND IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE--THE FIRST PAGE OF SOMETHING I WROTE IN 1990 ABOUT SUPERSTITION AND PREJUDICE VS. SCIENCE AND COMMON SENSE. (THE PAGES ARE LINKED IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE WHOLE THING.)
ON THE SUBJECT OF "DIVERSITY (OF OPINION)," THERE IS AN EXCERPT FROM ONE OF MY 1984 STATEMENTS TO POPE JOHN PAUL II, TO BE CONSIDERED IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.

I AM NOT GOING TO BE LONG-WINDED ABOUT THIS.
ALL I WANTED TO SAY WAS THAT WHEN I WAS 'SEDUCED' BY THE MILTON ANALYSIS IN 1981-82, I ENVISIONED HIM CENTURIES AGO ARGUING WITH SOMEONE ABOUT THIS. AND, IN THAT MOVIE MY MIND PROJECTED THEN FOR ME, I SAW HIM CALMLY SAYING THESE WORDS AND THEN CASUALLY WALKING AWAY FROM HIS PROTAGONIST(S), LEFT BEHIND, MOUTH(S) OPEN AND SPEECHLESS.

THAT SUCH "GALLANT" EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE SINCE 1981-82 (IN FACT, SINCE 1978) BY THE CANADIAN AND AMERICAN AUTHORITIES AFFECTING MY "INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC WORK...ON A DIRECT BASIS" FOR THE WORLD'S CHILDREN TO ATTEMPT TO DISPROVE THIS JOHN MILTON PRINCIPLE, I FIND, IN HINDSIGHT, IS EMBARRASSING TO ME AS A CANADIAN AND AS (FORMER?) SPECIAL DIPLOMATIC ADVISER TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT.

NOW I FIND THAT IT MIGHT WELL HAVE PLAYED OUT IN THE 17TH CENTURY AS I IMAGINED IN THE 20TH CENTURY IT WOULD HAVE.
AND I CAN SEE IT PLAYING OUT AGAIN THAT WAY IN THE 21ST CENTURY...AND UNTIL SUCH STUPID PEOPLE GET THE POINT...AIDED BY THIS TERM OF REFERENCE AT MY AWARD-WINNING WEBSITE.

THUS, I TAKE SOME SATISFACTION IN THIS AND OFFER TO SHARE IT WITH "ALL OF US" WHO WILL NOW TAKE THE TIME TO USE THEIR OWN MINDS, UNFETTERED BY POLITICAL CAMPAIGN LIES AND GRANDSTANDING: I'M TIMING THIS SO THE ONLY POLITICAL ACTION DURING THIS ELECTION SEASON LEADING UP TO THE 2001 INAUGURATION IS GOING TO BE WHAT BILL CLINTON WANTS "ALL OF US" TO REMEMBER AS HIS "LEGACY".

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR MINDS FOR?
WELL...

DON'T THINK THE WISDOM OF THOMAS JEFFERSON IS PASSÉ YET IN WHAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FROM YOUR GOVERNMENT? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD: TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE TO SIGN MY GUESTBOOK.