Coventry:
“You refuse treatment-therefore we withdraw our society from
you, we cast you out, we divorce you. To Coventry with you.”
“You talk as if I had committed a murder-I simply punched a
man in the nose for offending me outrageously.”
“You are a dangerous individual, a danger to all of us, for we
can not predict what damage you may do next.”
I found Mr. Heinlein’s work many years ago as a young boy seeking escape from many of the troubles of that time. As I read his works today I fear he may have been predicting future events more than just sharing entertaining “stories”. The above excerpts are from a short he wrote titled Coventry, find it, read it, think about it. We do indeed live in interesting times. While one man (boy) may change a nation’s way of speaking should he? Should all offensive acts cause a removal from society? Who makes that judgement? What agency would you grant the control of thought, act or deed? The end of “Coventry” finds that the primary character has “rehabilitated” himself by selfless acts supporting the system in power….
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