Wanderings: Freedom of Thought

The basic human right is under attack

Feb 19, 2025

One benefit of walking a lonely path is the space it creates for uninterrupted reflection and prayer. As I've been walking, I've been wondering about the state of freedom of thought. I have been thinking about a sentence George Washington wrote to a Jewish community in Newport, Rhode Island, that wondered if freedom of thought guaranteed in the first amendement extended to them, also, a tiny fraction of the population base in 1790. The U. S. government had authorized the first-ever census of the U. S. population in 1790, showing 3,929,326 people living within the U. S. No religious affiliation was demanded or asked as part of the census. But historians estimate that the total Jewish population in the United States in 1790 was between 2,000—3,000 people.1 So, the small Hebrew community in Rhode Island nervously wondered if freedom of thought was extended to a group that comprised only 0.0007 of the total U. S. population. Here is what the first President said to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island:

For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.2

Here was the guarantee: censorship of belief, and communication about that belief, was censored! No one may be canceled or censored because of thoughts, convictions, and beliefs that are contrary to the thoughts, convictions, and beliefs of another. No one may be forced to believe what the loudest voices demand or the majority believes. Washington recognized what a turning point in human history this was. He leaned into it with two the sentences that preceded his famous words, give bigotry no sanction, persecution no assistance with these monumental words:

All possess a like liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.3

If you miss this, you miss our freedom of thought guarantee. The right of freedom of thought is not a fragile gift bestowed by one group to another, with the givers of the gift retaining the right to retract the gift! This was something new: each member of the society possesses inherently a cluster of guaranteed rights. The very first guarantee is more important than simply being first in the list of rights: it sets the table and describes what type of society the U. S. will be. It is both enforceable law and aspirational spirit. It gives each member or group within the society the right to believe, and communicate what is believed, without fear of prohibition, regulation, liability, or incarceration.

Washington concluded with this benediction:

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.4

Censorship of belief, and communication about that belief, was censored.

I’m going to try to leave a trail of crumbs so you can follow my thoughts as I followed some twisting paths As I thought about Washington’s glorious words, I felt deep gratitude for my old professor: Robert Traina. Dr. Traina taught me the power of induction in a class on biblical hermeneutics, a skill that, though painful at first, has become a cornerstone of my teaching today. Induction is a tool that demands two things from us: 1) to open our eyes and see what is truly before us, and 2) to refuse not to see what is right in front of us.

It sounds simple, but it’s not. Let me illustrate this through a classroom conversation with Dr. Traina. He was a small man with a thick comb-over, dark-rimmed glasses, and a suit, tie, and white shirt every day. He commanded the classroom with authority. When we read a scripture passage, he asked us to break down what we saw. I hated being called on because I knew what was coming. My answer would always be interrupted by him asking, “Where did you see that? Is that in the words you’re reading, or are you projecting something else onto them? Did someone tell you that is what those words mean, or did you see that yourself?”

This was often frustrating, but eventually, I got the lesson: I am at risk of not seeing what is truly in front of me. Our personal agendas shape the way we interpret things. Whether we recognize it or not, things like our gender, ethnicity, nationality, and political affiliations all affect how we perceive the world. And that’s why I ask my students to identify their own biases and agendas when reading Scripture. The goal is to see what is truly there, not what we want to see.

When I read some words of Jesus, the very real possibility exists that I will understand them and interpret them in a way that most people of my gender, nationality, ethnicity, age, and political convictions would see them. I suppose there could be instances when that interpretation comes close to what Jesus originally intended. But I have to be open to the fact that Jesus may well have intended something very different. When I reach that conclusion, now I have a huge, life-shaping choice: will I go where my pre-existing agenda wants me to go, or will I ruthlessly go where these words lead, no matter what it does to my built-up convictions? Stated differently, my choice is this: will I see only what my agenda lets me see, or will I relentlessly and courageously push past my pre-conceived agenda and convictions and see what my eyes are seeing about what is right in front of me?

As I see what is happening to freedom of thought in this cultural moment, I find myself more and more wanting to stand up and shout: long live induction! Long live the power of eyes! I say this because we are being told too often by strong forces that what our eyes are seeing is not really happening. Strong agendas are attempting to shape and interpret for us what our eyes are seeing. These strong forces and agendas are attempting to censor our thoughts and our communicaton, and we give into them at great risk to the most basic of all inherent rights: freedom of thought. What follows is a short list of examples that have caught my attention. There are many more.

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Let’s start with an easy example: the price of groceries.

I have stood several times in my local grocery store and watched and listened as other customers tried to decide what they could afford to purchase. One couple stood in front of the meat market section, and discussed tradeoffs. They finally concluded they could not afford meat that week. Another person was standing silently in front of the eggs for several minutes. She eventually purchased a dozen eggs, but not before sighing mightily as she bent down to pick up her carton of eggs.

We’ve all stood there. Our eyes saw rising prices. It was annoying to be told by various politicians and talking news heads that the “economic metrics show the economy is booming.”5 The disconnect between what our eyes could see right in front of us and what so-called experts or leaders wanted us to believe was so stark that a new word was invented: vibecession. For those of us too infected by what our eyes could see was happening, the official diagnosis became that we were suffering from vibecession. We were told the real problem was not inflation, but vibecession, the gap between what we feel about the economy and how the economy is really doing. Our eyes saw the inflation. Our thoughts, informed by our eyes, told us we were suffering from high prices. Vested agendas sought to curate our thoughts and convince us that we were suffering from vibecession, not inflation. To that, I want to stand up and shout: long live induction! Long live the power of eyes!

Here’s something much more alarming: the unprecedented spike in antisemitism in the U. S. since October 7, 2023.

Surviving eyewitnesses told us what happened when Hamas terrorists committed atrocities and crimes against humanity in the barbaric murder of more than 1,200 Jewish men, women, and children. Many victims were raped. Worse brutalities, if possible, were committed. More than 250 people were kidnapped and forced into Gaza.

What happened on October 8, the day after the largest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust, was shocking. We were told that the terrorists and murderers were heroic freedom fighters. We watched as rallies in support of the murder, rape, and atrocities swept across our one-time world-class universities. The outcome is horrific, but predictable: “69% of Jewish adults report experiencing antisemitism online or on social media – including those who say they have been personally targeted and those who say they have seen or heard antisemitic incidents. This increases to 83% among young Jewish adults. Now, 77% of American Jews said they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the U.S. because of the October 7 attacks, with nine in 10 saying that antisemitism in the U.S. has increased since that fateful day.”6 As I read these troubling statistics, I find myself wondering what George Washington would write to the Jewish community today. What we can say today, because our eyes saw it, is an attempt by strong agendas was made to censor our language about terror and bias against the Jewish community. We were told it was racist to frame the events of October 7 in ways that matched what actually happened. Our eyes told us one thing. Strong agendas told us our eyes were wrong. To that, I want to stand up and shout: long live induction! Long live the power of eyes!

Another example of the dissonance between eyes and agendas is the creation of exclusionary zones around abortion clinics in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Euphemistically called “Safe Access Zones,” real estate and property maps have been redrawn to provide for a buffer zone of at least 150 meters (492 feet) around abortion clinics. The zone regulates both who can be within that space and what they can do when inside that space. Those seeking abortion, of course, are allowed inside the zone so they access the abortion services provided by the clinic without coming into contact with people who are pro-life.

It might appear on the surface that the intent is to limit confrontation and potential conflict on this emotionally, spiritually, and morally charged issue. But what makes this very interesting is that in the United Kingdom, unlike in the U. S., there are few instances of pro-life advocates ever exhibiting harrassing, aggressive, or threatening behaviors over this issue. What advocates for the safety of an unborn child mainly do is stand silently and pray or hold up signs that say, “Want to talk?”

Here is what has happened to human rights since the enactment of exclusionary zones around abortion clinics in the United Kingdom. Now, inside of the exclusionary zones, it is neither legal nor allowed to think silent thoughts to God about life and abortion. In October, 2023, in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, a Catholic woman was interrogated by police inside an exclusionary zone, who asked, “Are you praying for the lives of unborn children?”7 She was told that this pattern of thinking was not allowed inside that physical space. In the same month, Patrick Parkes, age 57, was standing inside a safe access zone and silently praying. When he pointed to his charter of human rights, he was told, “Kindly move elsewhere outside the exclusion zone where you’ve got your human rights.”8 Eyes can see what is happening here, freedom of thought is under duress. But as in all other examples, strong agendas tell you not to believe what your eyes see. To that, I want to stand up and shout: long live induction! Long live the power of eyes!

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There is so much more in places like Canada, Australia, and Germany—and many more instances in the U. S. What our eyes are seeing is a rise in attempts to curb and control freedom of thought. That is what our eyes are seeing. But strong agendas are telling us not to believe what our eyes see. The more I see how powerful agendas attempt to manipulate what our eyes can see, the more I feel the need to raise my voice: Long live induction! Long live the power of our eyes!

We must advocate for freedom of thought, for the right to see what is truly before us, and for the right to express our beliefs freely—without fear of censorship or reprisal. In this time of increasing pressure to conform to specific narratives, it is more important than ever to defend the most fundamental of all freedoms: the freedom to think, speak, and live according to our own conscience.

The Compass: Navigating the Interior Journey

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