In the past, at any rate throughout the Protestant centuries, the idea of rebellion and the idea of intellectual integrity were mixed up. A heretic – political, moral, religious, or aesthetic – was one who refused to outrage his own conscience. His outlook was summed up in the words of the Revivalist hymn: Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone; Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to make it known. To bring this hymn up to date one would have to add a ‘Don’t’ at the beginning of each line.
