Liberty relies on the constant interrogation of any ethical system’s first principles. When one is not allowed to question the first principles of the dominant system of thought, and when the penalties for doing so are dire, one finds oneself trapped in a tyranny. This problem is not unique to religions. The penalties for questioning Stalinism then and the Chinese regime now were and are brutal and severe. But religion adds a twist to the tale by claiming unarguable authority from this or that divine source and arguing, further, that without such a supreme arbiter to establish right and wrong,
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