The Areopagitica was Milton’s address to Parliament on the freedom of the press and why putting so many restrictions on getting a printing license. Since then it has been hailed as one of the first advocates for the freedom of speech, but also for what can be potentially wrong with that freedom. Milton’s views were radical for the time, when the government was still mostly run by the religious who didn’t want anyone to stand against them, hence the restrictions on printing. Along with his views on divorce, Milton certainly seemed to be quite the revolutionary. Personally, I don’t see him as much of a liberal, radical heretic as someone who is equally if not more religious than everyone else, and simply expresses his views differently. Every “radical” thought he had stemmed from his religion: marriage is spiritual and therefore the two should be compatible in spirit as much as body, freedom of the press should be allowed to promote more thought to enhance religious beliefs, and so on. But interestingly enough, he didn’t want religion in the government, as he advocated for the separation of church and state, saying that was the only way to achieve complete religious tolerance. This presented an interesting conundrum to me, as I would think that he would want those in power to have some beliefs, even if they weren’t necessarily his. Looking at it from my perspective, I suppose it can make sense. If Milton knew that his beliefs were seen as radical and weren’t likely to be accepted by the church, he might have considered disestablishment better. That way he could do as he liked and share his thoughts, while the people in charge would actually listen and think about his ideas from a governmental standpoint rather than a religious one. This, as he said, would aid in his goal of religious tolerance for everyone. The exception, of course, being Catholics. Despite wanting to have all religions accepted and talked about, he thinks that the Catholic church has nothing to offer in the intellectual field. It’s a strange shift if he’s willing to tolerate everyone but one specific group.