The Sin Of Listening

Voltaire as always trying to enforce freedom for all in his works show us once again what happens when there is no freedom of thought. This happens when Pangloss dies and Candide is severely injured when given as sacrifice in order to stop future earthquakes from occurring in Lisbon. The exact moment where this occurs is here: "Dr.Pangloss and his pupil, Candide, were arrested as well, one for speaking and the other for listening with and air of approval."(36) This showed once again the problems that exist when there is no freedom of choice. Everyone should have the freedom of thought. Pangloss wasn't saying something that would threaten the stability of a kingdom but it would rather help it remain as it is. Still, somebody disagreed with him and that person had more power than the philosopher. Because of this the philosopher had to pay with his life and his follower had to go through extreme pain.

To humanity, this means that everyone has the right to think freely. This elemental freedom is something Voltaire emphasizes greatly since it is probably something he didn't have at his time. Today there is greater freedom in this sense although not everywhere does this freedom exist. There are countries that don't tolerate opposition but is this freedom really worth it? If an article publishing new revolutionary ideas that do opposition to that of the current government, is It really worth it if this could cost the life of many? Eventually it leads us to the choice between freedom and peace. It is true that if we fight for it we will be able to gain as much freedom as we want but is this freedom really worth it? If we were to obtain it, would we make the right decisions? Since we are humans bound to making mistakes thus doing so it very probable but hopefully we will grow in the process.