s 1,2

social/cultural

Controversial Ideas

December 2, 1995

Q: Ideas sometimes get expressed in society that pose a threat to existing institutions or systems of belief. How should the Proutist society deal with such controversial ideas when the arise?

There should be objective evaluation and exploration of all new ideas. If thought is suppressed or repressed there is bound to be reaction. In a healthy society, new ideas can be examined without fear, for in the light of reason what is for the welfare of living beings and what is not will be illumined. Prejudice, dogma and close-mindedness have no scope in a Proutist society. Instead, there must be open-minded evaluation of all new concepts utilizing a sense of discrimination.