On the record
We grant it in religion to deny it in politics; we grant it in politics, to deny it in economic matters.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “We grant it in religion to deny it in politics; we grant it in politics, to deny it in economic matters.”
Editor's note · Context
He illustrates the inconsistency of granting toleration in some areas while denying it in others.
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More from Harold J. Laski
Each age finds that the incidence of freedom is significant at some special point, and there, once more, the lesson of freedom has to be learned.
The essence of the persecuting position is always that the persecutor has hold of truth and that he would betray its service by allowing it to be questioned.
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
When attacks on liberty are political or economic, it is their motive rather than their nature that changes.
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