Over the past few years, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding efforts to block free speech, often by colleges and student groups that should be bastions of intellectual freedom. While hate speech and purposeful misinformation should be abolished, opinion must be protected in the interest of truth.
Indeed, doubt and dissent have been the cornerstones of science, directing human society away from the dangers of mysticism to the enlightenment that the scientific method has wrought. To suppress thought or opinion that might be offensive to some is to threaten the vital role of intellectual freedom.
Finally, history is factual and most of it unfolded at a time when mysticism suppressed the early awakening of scientific truth. To deny its relevance, or to take its events out of context, is to fail to learn from our past mistakes and misguided assumptions. We should embrace our history, not bury it to shelter innocents from the realities of our social and intellectual evolution.
