21 January 2011

Freethought Friday #7: The Corruption of the Multitude

(Emma Goldman, 1869-1940)

From "Minorities Versus Majorities".

The principle of brotherhood expounded by the agitator of Nazareth preserved the germ of life, of truth and justice, as long as it was the beacon light of the few. The moment the majority seized upon it, that great principle became a shibboleth and harbinger of blood and fire, spreading suffering and disaster. The attack on the omnipotence of Rome, led by the colossal figures of Huss, Calvin, and Luther, was like a sunrise amid the darkness of the night. But so soon as Luther and Calvin turned politicians and began catering to the small potentates, the nobility, and the mob spirit, they jeopardized the great possibilities of the Reformation., They won success and the majority, but that majority proved no less cruel and bloodthirsty in the persecution of thought and reason that was the Catholic monster. Woe to the heretics, to the minority, who would not bow to its dicta.  After infinite zeal, endurance, and sacrifice, the human mind is at last free from the religious phantom; the minority has gone in pursuit of new conquests, and the majority is lagging behind, handicapped by truth grown false with age.

Source: Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader. Compiled and edited by Alix Kates Shulman.

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