When I picture Puritanism, I usually think of The Scarlet Letter and severe, intolerant, gray people. Milton’s work and the discussion surrounding it struck me as adverse to their way of thinking. He promoted divorce and free speech and preached tolerance; however, the author of “Areopagitica and the First Amendment” also mentions that Milton was famously intolerant of Catholicism. Divorce was so important to him because he and his wife never got along but could not leave each other. For this reason, I find Milton to be rather hypocritical, despite the fact that he does have some good points regarding freedom of speech.
A fair society requires an informed public. If people know that they need to sort truth from lies, they can more easily spot corruption and call out twisted authority figures. Looking at the time period, it is also important to note that the crown only allowed a tiny amount of information to be made public, confining it to that which was approved by the Court of Star Chamber. After Parliament abolished this censoring group, the amount of information available bloomed. Though this was initially a good thing, Parliament eventually re-instated the censor to control the influx of new ideas and unchecked wisdom. Though I personally believe that information should be free to everyone, I understand the fear of giving people the opportunity to spread misinformation or provoke violence.
Today, the sheer amount of misinformation and harmful or threatening content is so large that, even with some regulation, it is hardly under control. The internet is where most of this takes place; so much of what is put online is under-regulated that it is increasingly difficult to find credible content. Looking at that, we can hardly compare the increase in publications after the abolition of the Court of Star Chamber. People who try to use Milton’s reasoning that Truth will Prevail must also admit that this philosophy was based in religion. Today, holy intervention is not as solid an argument as it was; Milton’s teachings are left with a weak foundation; who is in charge of telling truth from lies, except the government? There is not enough evidence to suggest that God is keeping lies from prevailing, so the only entity left with the ability to retain authenticity is the Government. Although Milton’s words are strong in a perfect world, I think that he is a bit hypocritical and selfish in his reasoning, giving all the more reason to support the author’s assertion that we cannot use Milton’s teachings directly today.