Alan Bloom Quote

"Freedom of the mind requires not only, or not even especially, the absence of legal constraints but the presence of alternative thoughts. The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity, but the one that removes awareness of other possibilities."

by:	Alan Bloom (1930-1992)
Source:	The Closing of the American Mind, 1987
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Categories:	Conformity, Drugs, Experimentation, Freedom, Individualism, Knowledge, Learning, Liberty, Prohibition, Psycho-politics, Reason, Tyranny
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Deception and falsehood exist in the shadows of deceit.The Light of Truth vaporizes them.  -- Kevin Shearer, Queensbury,NY.
-- Joe, Rochester, MI
No better argument for the complete exclusion of religious indoctrination by the radical religious right (of all religions) from our public school system.  -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US
Freedom can not exist without laws. By way of example: without the law of gravity there would be no life on planet earth and the point here would be moot; and, if we did not live a law of economics there would be chaos; and, if we didn't live the law of the harvest there would be no food. Etc. Etc. Etc. I believe the quote here deals with man's prejudice in eliminating sets or forms of thought from public (and/or otherwise) review that do not harmonize and/or support the current powers of government, or at least a subject authoritative body.  -- Mike, Norwalk
or in Reston speak, no better argument for the complete exclusion of atheist indoctrination by the radical uninformed, uneducated and pridefully ignorant.  -- Mike, Norwalk
oops, I hit the wrong button. Reston exemplifies this quote, he would have all information and thought removed that does not agree with his own  -- Mike, Norwalk
Mike seems to have a point there, Reston, ol' buddy. The radical atheists are forcing their doctrines down our children's throats every day in the schools. And the history books certainly sometimes seem like fiction. I cannot remember once being told by a teacher that God created the universe, or that I should pray.  -- David L. Rosenthal
Hey, Mike and David, those that do not want religious indoctrination in school are not necessarily atheists, so lighten up. I could no more be an atheist than be a religionist -- I believe in Truth whatever it may be, and it requires individual study and experiences. I think religions SHOULD be taught -- especially Buddhism and Taoism among others -- right along side of Science and Philosophy. Let's look at all the history and all the anthropology. We still have LOTS to learn.  -- E Archer, NYC
Archer, I do not believe in religious indoctrination in any sense of the concept (David was correct in is last comment) and I absolutely agree with all else you just said. I also don't believe in comparative religions; I believe that all religions should be taught as stand alone philosophy and/or science. All religions are nothing more than an explanation of human experiences. We can study each belief system and deduce what actions promulgate what results. We then can add to our system that which promotes that which we identify with most. No one religion has a monopoly on truth, love, etc. The founders knew Christianity best and saw through Biblical history what prospered and devastated the subject people. They then sought differing societies on how best to implement the truths the saw. Broadening the field of investigation could only be a good thing. Atheism on its face is only a belief in the non-existence of an ultra human experience. It is when that belief is acted upon that it becomes a religion. That religion, as legislated by the Supreme Court has to be exposed for what it is and how it stops the advancement of humanity.  -- Mike, Norwalk
It is not that only atheists do not want religious indoctrination in schools; but those who force indoctrination of unproven scientific doctrine on students tend to reject God out of hand. It is an irony that they wish to impose a myth with which they have extremely limited personal experience, that is, scientific theory, in place of what is to them an absurd concept, that is, Creation, when no one is forcing them to believe in God. Their negative reaction to God has to do with their negative experiences with people, as though people were adequate representatives of God. The strangest part is that they believe in so many absurd things, while rejecting the most sublime thing, which they really never tried to appreciate or understand. It does not matter whether one is an atheist or just opposes God for the sake of opposition; the effect is often similar. The world is what it is because men reject God. And the Bible also says, if Archer will permit me to refer to it, that the devil believes in God, and trembles. I do not know with certainty whether freedom of the mind requires the absence of legal restraints. An interesting growth in opposition to tyranny is taking place in Cuba, more each year that passes, despite totalitarian restraints on information. Maybe freedom of the mind is inevitable, if slow to develop.  -- David L. Rosenthal

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