Open minded

Two quotes in favor of the freedom of (divergent) speech -- one drawn from the hadith of the Prophet, the other from Albion's great visionary poet William Blake.

In his remarks at the World Affairs Council, Monterey, on May 3, 2002, Secretary Wolfowitz actually quoted a different translation ("these differences among my people is a mercy of God") of the same hadith ("ikhtilafu ummati rahmatun li al-nas"). It is not my role to go into the niceties of hadith evaluation and interpretation; my point is simply to note that both a saying attributed to Mohammed and a remark by William Blake testify to the benefit on occasion of hearing more than one point of view...