Bertrand Russell thought it was outrageous for a democratic state to impose legal penalties on people for either holding or failing to hold certain opinions.
Russell was imprisoned for expressing two controversial opinions. He held that involvement in World War I was wrong and that nonresistance to evil was better than bloodshed.
Russell was not locked up for his opinion that the world would be better if all religious belief died out. At the time, that opinion also was illegal.
Russell pointed out the logical difficulty:
In England, under the Blasphemy Laws, it is illegal to express disbelief in the Christian religion, though in practice the law is not set in motion against the well-to-do. It is also illegal to teach what Christ taught on the subject of non-resistance. Therefore, whoever wishes to avoid becoming a criminal must profess to agree with Christ’s teaching, but must avoid saying what that teaching was.
I spent years as a referee, trying to encourage the responsible exercise of free speech on the opinion pages of a newspaper. I was booed more frequently than a basketball referee in the Big East Conference, known for its spirited fans. In my case, much of the booing was deserved. I blew many calls. But this is still worth doing.
It’s possible to express strong views without accusing your opponents of committing crimes and without inciting mobs to harm them.
• Source: Bertrand Russell, “Free Thought and Official Propaganda,” a lecture delivered at South Place Institute on March 24, 1922. Project Gutenberg has it here:
https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/introphil/chapter/bertrand-russell/
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