Thread by @PosenIzzy

THREAD: freedom of expression and censorship in the chassidic community compared to the current climate in wider society.
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2/
In the last few years I have been incredibly passionate about, and active in, the free speech movement. In my first year at uni I founded @BrisFreeSpeech and later I was amongst the founding members of @speechchampions.

3/ I have watched in horror as dogmatic ways to thinking consolidate themselves in our educated circles and as #NoDebate replaces a culture of curiosity and open-mindedness. #SilenceIsViolence told us all how we must think as indoctrination was renamed "educating oneself".

4/ Why do I care? I spent my teens in psychological torture, guilt and terror due to my heretical thoughts. The chassidic beliefs of my community were pushed upon us with brainwashing force, threats of hell assured for any minor doubt. But not only religious doubts were forbidden

5/ Even merely trying to get a deeper understanding of the faith through philosophical analysis was forbidden. The idea was that our minds can lead us astray, so instead of thinking about these matters, we must suppress all individual thought and defer to scripture & tradition.

6/ Free thinking was a dirty word: 'oyfgeklert'. This word is Yiddish for 'enlightened' and it was a pejorative on par with 'bigot' in my current society. But I was a free thinker and I could never shake off the 'oyfgeklert' label, which haunted me throughout my teens.

7/ Any books, or sources that offered a different worldview were thoroughly censored and banned. We didn't even know of their existence. That enabled them to sell us the lie that there is nothing to think about or question because there is no alternative to even consider.

8/ I found ways of accessing this information at great personal risk. After years of reading and thinking serious religious doubts surfaced. That was terrifying. I still feel intense trauma at the vivid memory of that 1st thought that popped in: what if God doesn't exist?

9/ That was the worst thought that a person could possibly have. It's the foundational truth. If that fails, what else is there left? That thought was so scary that I spent years in intense guilt just for bringing it up.

10/ In my late teens when I couldn't hide my heretical thoughts anymore I faced a concerted bullying campaign by some of my more zealous classmates. I was marginalised and other boys caught speaking with me were harassed.

11/ I was considered dangerous and poisonous and continue to be seen that way by many in my former community.

12/ My experiences taught me on a deeply personal level that sometimes the most foundational truth-claims of a society can be false and that society can turn with righteous fury on those who point that out.

13/ Don't dismiss my experiences as unique to the specific community of my upbringing. No, you my reader, also live in a society that holds dear some foundational truth-claims which are false, but which you cannot question on pains of suffering severe social consequences.

14/ But just like you wouldn't expect me to publicly announce my atheism whilst still in the chassidic community, do not expect me to publicly express heresies that go against the foundational beliefs of my current community. Those must forever remain between me and my conscience

15/ But as a society we have a choice. We can either promote specific moral, political and social dogmas. Or we can promote the value of the questioning and sceptical spirit - that spirit that has driven scientists and philosophers of all generations in overthrowing false dogmas.

16/ I support the values of free expression and free thinking because in their absence we neglect to challenge our beliefs, leaving them to get entrenched as dead dogma.

17/ My teenage self went through hell in order to be able to think and read and express myself freely. How disappointing it was to find out that similar forces would attempt to constrain my thinking and expression in university - what I considered to be the pinnacle of my journey

18/ Throughout my time at uni various groups kept on dictating to me and fellow students how I must think, what speakers I can listen to and what I may say. They have been successful to a large extent with high levels of self-cendorship amongst students: policyexchange.org.uk/publication/ac…

19/ That's why I am so proud to have done my little bit during my time at uni with the @BrisFreeSpeech. At the very least we were a space for the curious and questioning spirit to do some unorthodox thinking. I like to think that we also had an impact on the wider conversation.

20/ In light of the above @hd41321508 asked me a very fair question:

https://twitter.com/hd41321508/status/1465284151200952322?t=eBoVfdh7MZuZZ7tBtkTXKw&s=19

21/ Is it fair to say that the chassidic community is just like any other, with its dogmas and censorship, but in no way more censorious or averse to free thinking than the climate that we find on western university campus?

22/ Can we draw an equivelance between chassidic orthodoxy and the progressive groupthink found in many educated circles?

I think in a trivial sense the answer is yes. The same psychological and sociological forces act in all societies to produce foundational dogmas, norms, etc

23/ Other than that there really is no comparison though. I am very sensitive to any curtailments on free thinking and expression due to my experiences. I have very high standards for them.

24/ I would love for the questioning spirit to be more robust in my current community, but it is still incomparably better in this regard than in my native community. Here are some examples of how the two societies (chassidic and academic) are diametrically opposed in this regard

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