4. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY

4. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity ~ 163 ~ One reason for the constraint on freedom of thought in the past was that an atmosphere of intellectual freedom would have jeopardized the whole social hierarchy, based as it was on religions which had been tainted by human interpolations. Had free enquiry been fostered, the rulers would have been unable to maintain the veracity of such man-made beliefs as served their purpose. Those who attempted free and scientific enquiry in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe were, therefore, subjected by the Church to severe persecution. It was fear on the part of the religious authorities of being overthrown, which led to the persecution of these would-be scientists. Drapier has given details of these persecutions in his book entitled Conflict between Science and Religion. A more precise tide would have been, ‘Conflict between Science and Christianity.’ HUMAN INEQUALITY Thinking, in ancient times, was heavily blinkered by polytheism. This was because it suited the rulers to have their subjects believe that the beings who occupied the thrones of this world were, in essence,