From my previous post, I should add this:
We should not let them win this. This is not just RMS, it’s a fight for truth. If we, and FSF, step down, we give them power to do anything simply because they want to.
The first mistake was made back in 2019 when the FSF bowed down by not standing up to the mobs. That sent the message, “we listen to you.” It’s only natural that the mobs will try again, with renewed violence.
If we had same attitude 40 years ago, there would be no FSF and GNU. It took someone like RMS to create what we have.
Canceling someone because he explained the meaning of some words is crazy and dangerous. And there’s more. Once they realized the issue with the words was not enough of an excuse, they started looking for more, resorting to intentional misinterpretations, exaggerations and lies.
And the FSF keeps listening to the same rant.
Richard Stallman is a scientist and a philosopher. That means he has an inquisitive mind. If he says he is skeptical of something, if he criticizes the status quo, it only means that: a doubt, a desire to understand better. And as a scientist, as soon as he discovers evidence that clarifies his doubts, or something that helps him understand, he is ready to declare it openly. He has done that, several times, as have many scientists on a variety of subjects.
History shows that inquisitive minds are not always welcome, specially when they challenge religious, ideological, or political views. If these minds choose not to self-censor, they need to be ready to suffer severe punishment.
Galileo Galilei was accused of heresy and brought to trial by the Inquisition when he declared that the earth was not flat. Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for holding opinions contrary to the masses. There are many.
Yes, we are back to the Middle Ages.
Update: I received an email about this note. The message:
Hi Ali,
you conclude your last blog post by saying: “Galileo Galilei was accused of heresy and brought to trial by the Inquisition when he declared that the earth was not flat”.
Please be aware that not only Galileo was never tried for Earth’s roundness, the whole fact that the flat Earth theory was widespread in the middle ages is a hoax. Earth’s roundness was already well established in ancient Greece, and nobody ever doubted that even in the Catholic church. The flat Earth theory really originated in America. around the late 1800s.
Even the myth of Christopher Columbus wanting to prove that Earth was round is humbug. Everyone knew Earth was round, there was no need to prove it whatsoever.
The reason why Galileo was trialed was because he said that Earth revolves around the Sun, as opposed to the geocentric doctrine that was then accepted in the mainstream.
Lastly, I find your last remark inappropriate. The middle ages were not at all “dark”, most of the pre-modern technological advancements happened there. More relevantly, there was never a dictatorship of the angry masses which is what the cancel culture is about. If anything the angry masses had their chance to impose their opinions starting from the French revolution, at the height of illuminism – ironically, the movement that invented the concept of the medieval times being the “dark ages”.
I hope you will consider altering the conclusion of your article, as in its current state I feel it ruins an otherwise well written and very agreeable content.
Regards,
Alessandro