Giving the Devil His Due | Michael Shermer

Who is the “Devil”? And what is he due? The devil is anyone who disagrees with you. And what he is due is the right to speak his mind.

He must have this for your own safety’s sake, because his freedom is inextricably tied to your own. If he can be censored, why shouldn’t you be censored? If we put barriers up to silence “unpleasant” ideas, what’s to stop the silencing of any discussion?

This book is a full-throated defense of free speech and open inquiry in politics, science, and culture. It tackles five key themes:

• free thought and free speech,
• politics and society,
• scientific humanism,
• religion,
• and the ideas of controversial intellectuals.