November 27, 1295, the first elected representatives from Lancashire were called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as “The Model Parliament.”
On the same date in 1895, Alfred Nobel (pictured) signed his last will and testament, thereby establishing the Nobel Prizes.
Free speech continues to recur as a major theme on this site. And no wonder: it’s under attack. But there is indeed more to it than that:
In terms of political logic, I am a mistake, because what I have come to do is in fact stamp out the privileges of politicians.
Javier Milei, as quoted in Maximilan Heath, “Who is Javier Milei, Argentina’s new libertarian president?” Reuters (November 20, 2023).
November 26, 1792, saw the birth of Sarah Moore Grimké, American abolitionist and feminist. She was the elder sister of the equally famed Angelina Emily Grimké Weld.
Ah, Javier Milei:
People need to do their own research about everything. You live in a democracy, make up your own mind. One thing my father told me, people in authority lie. Part of the duty of living in a democracy is to maintain a posture of constant skepticism toward any aggregation of power. “Trusting the experts” is not something you do in a democracy. That’s not a feature of democracy or science; it’s a feature of religion and totalitarianism.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., interviewed by VLAD TV, “Robert F Kennedy Jr Names the CIA Agents Who Killed His Uncle JFK (Part 6),” November 11, 2023.
November 25, 1975, Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands.
On the same month and date 17 years later, the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia voted to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia (officially disjoined as of January 1, 1993). This split has been called “The Velvet Divorce” (following, in style and method, “The Velvet Revolution”).
“How does the doctrinal foundation of the Church fit in with shame and sin being raised as a matter of pride?” Räsänen asked (in Finnish). Her tweet included a link to an Instagram post displaying Romans 1:24-27, which refers to how males “did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.”
Whether you or I agree with Räsänen’s view that homosexuality is per se immoral is irrelevant. What is not irrelevant is our support for freedom of speech and religious expression: she should surely not be prosecuted for expressing her opinion!
But Finnish police investigated her for the tweet. For good measure, they also included as a possible charge her 2004 publication of a pamphlet questioning same-sex marriage and discussing related issues. She had published the pamphlet before it became illegal in Finland to express such opinions.
Now Räsänen and a Lutheran bishop being prosecuted for similar reasons have been acquitted.
This is a second acquittal. In 2022, the Helsinki District court ruled that it’s not the job of the court “to interpret biblical concepts.” A state prosecutor replied, “You can cite the Bible, but it is Räsänen’s interpretation and opinion about the Bible verses that are criminal.”
Politicians of Finland, don’t continue on this dark path. Revoke all laws that aim to jail people who disagree with you.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules
John Milton, Paradise Regain’d (1671), Book II.
Passions, Desires, and Fears, is more a King;
Which every wise and vertuous man attains:
And who attains not, ill aspires to rule
Cities of men, or head-strong Multitudes,
Subject himself to Anarchy within,
Or lawless passions in him which he serves.
November 24th marks the birthdays of philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632) and three influential Americans: ragtime composer Scott Joplin (1868), self-help writer Dale Carnegie (1888), and conservative editor, writer, and television personality William F. Buckley Jr. (1925).