John Milton and "Blank Virtue" . . . Once Again

 Every now and then I like to revisit this quotation from John Milton (you know, fairly famous Puritan Christian, PARADISE LOST, PARADISE REGAINED, SAMSON AGONISTES, all that high-falutin' great English poetry): "That virtue therefore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank virtue, not a pure; her whiteness is but an excremental whiteness.” The source is Milton's mighty (everything he did was "mighty," I guess) defense of free thought, freedom of speech and READING, his AREOPAGITICA. "Blank virtue," that's the kicker.

Milton argues that hiding in a closet from unpleasant knowledge, from "evil," is antagonistic to evil, blankly uninformed, and ineffectual. It is in fact not virtue at all, but BLANK VIRTUE.

Apparently, our contemporary American book-banners, ideological teacher-censors, fascist propagandists--(how in HELL did we in American get to this point? . . . we might ask Milton's Satan, but then we'd have to read about him and his evil ways)--our latest right-wing "educational cancellors" all prefer "blank virtue." The see-no-evil, know-no-evil types of self-referential, blank-blindered, self-important, power-hungry, self-righteousness that many writers have warned us about (see Orwell, Atwood, Huxley, Paine, "Founding Fathers," Jesus ["wise as serpents, innocent as doves"] Christ.

Gosh! Quick! when can we get around to censoring words in the dictionary, the Holy Bible, the very human language we are born into?

Read more, learn more, ban less, find real--not blank--virtue, and live it without beating others over the head with your own!