Today is National Freethought Day.
I don’t normally use wikipedia as a source, but in researching I found that it had a good collection of data on the topic of freethinkers.
Freethought or free thought is a philosophical viewpoint which holds that positions regarding truth should be formed on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism, rather than authority, tradition, revelation, or other dogma. The cognitive application of freethought is known as “freethinking”, and practitioners of freethought are known as “freethinkers”. The term first came into use in the 17th century to indicate people who inquired into the basis of traditional religious beliefs.
A free thinker is defined as a person who forms his or her own opinions about important subjects (such as religion and politics) instead of accepting what others say. Freethinkers are heavily committed to the use of scientific inquiry, and logic. The skeptical application of science implies freedom from the intellectually limiting effects of confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, or sectarianism.
Sounds pretty good, right?
But like most movements, it was taken over by radicals and has been co-opted by groups such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation, whose purpose is “to promote the constitutional separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.”
The big problem with their movement is in the word “From”. They believe that the 1st Amendment of freedom OF religion means they don’t have to see, hear, or tolerate any mention of religion. They crumble at the sight of a cross or a nativity display. Pansies.
This is the group out of Wisconsin that files lawsuits in many other states for things such as recognizing a donation from a church on a water tower.
This group also uses the phrase “separation of church and state” in their mantra believing it to be in the Constitution. Which it isn’t. The phrase was used in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to explain that government could not ESTABLISH a national religion.
Appropriately, the symbol for these free-not-so-free thinkings is the pansy.
So today, let’s celebrate freedom OF thought.
