Free thought is a tradition—however begrudgingly—that developed from out of the heresies of the Middle Ages, particularly during the proto- and Radical Reformation. Groups or milieus such as the Free Spirit had spread across Europe in their various forms. As these heretics faced persecutions by crusaders and the Church, the concept of the freedom of conscience developed, the idea that one should be able to discern for oneself what is morally right and wrong, and to act accordingly. In particular, the Anabaptists—the sect from which the Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, and such groups come— held strong to the belief that baptism must be a personal choice, reflecting a genuine commitment to God, and not something compelled on the individual by external authority. A such, freedom of conscience would come to apply especially to nonparticipation in activities one viewed as immoral, such as compulsory baptisms. Today, it is the foundation for the myriad forms of conscientious objection, from that of baptism to voting for rulers.
As the proto-Reformation was maturing into the Radical Reformation, what would become known as freedom of conscience was becoming a major threat to the established religious and political order of the ruling classes. As such, the Moderate Reformation was kicked off by Martin Luther and John Calvin and their followers, among others, in attempts to co-opt the radicals into their moderate camps. This was not entirely successful, and religious wars such as the Eighty Years and the Thirty Years Wars entered the factions of the ruling classes, reducing the official power and reach of the Catholic Church. This ultimately resulted in the establishment of international law, by thinkers such as Hugo Grotius. As a result, sovereign nations had the capacity to control the religions of their citizens.
Coinciding with the development of the Scientific Revolution, many of the proponents of the freedom of conscience had turned to philosophical naturalism and natural theology, and now having to handle internationally-affirmed control of religion by the state, their efforts became less directly religious and more focused on securing their freedom of thought, the right to think and do as one discerns to be right. Unlike freedom of conscience— which tended to be more about refrain from morally impure activities—, the new freedom of thought— which was more naturalistic than religious, but which had developed from the traditions of the free conscience believers— had a decidedly republican and liberal character to it. Whereas the older heretics had themselves had these elements among them as well, religious differences tended to keep them from uniting across factional lines. This was not so true with the free thinkers, who were willing to accept individuals from any background so long...
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You can find more like this on my real blog, Ambiarchy Blog, where I cover topics such as:
- Pantheism: The Belief that Nature is God
- Mutualism: The Belief in Anarchy and Cooperation
- Antapodism: The Belief in Friendship Between Humanity and Nature
... as well as other topics related to natural philosophy, natural theology, science, and history, including but not limited to:
- Witnessing Shell Theory: An Alternative Natural Cosmology
- Henogenic Volution Out-of-Everywhere: An Alternative Approach to Evolution
- Ambiarchy: An Alternative to Neo-Anarchism
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