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The movie “Oppenheimer” reminds us that a healthy society must leave room for people who face down power to pursue truth, who introduce new ways of thinking or who choose to follow alternative life paths.
A brilliant but eccentric scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer led the world into the Atomic Age only to run afoul of government investigators. He also calls to mind a similar account in Great Britain in which Alan Turing, who led the world into the computer age and helped crack the German military codes in World War II, was convicted on a morals charge and eventually took his own life.
Both men were ahead of their times. Both made enormous contributions to the war efforts of their countries. Despite their efforts, both faced problems with their respective governments. Oppenheimer’s problem was his association with far-left colleagues and his defense of arms control, Turing’s was being gay at a time when it was illegal.
As a result, Oppenheimer’s security clearance was revoked, while Turing faced public humiliation and chemical castration. Although Oppenheimer’s clearance was reinstated after his death, and Turing received a posthumous pardon, their fates raise the question of how society deals with talented people who don’t abide by the normal rules.
The problem is as old as history itself. Legend has it that the ancient Greek musician who discovered irrational numbers was murdered because his discovery upset normal ways of thinking. Socrates was sentenced to death for impiety. Galileo Galilei was put under house arrest for suggesting that the earth orbits the sun. Albert Einstein received death threats for proposing the theory of relativity and was forced to leave his native Germany due to his Jewish heritage.
Religious history is no different. The prophet Jeremiah was jailed, beaten and left to die. Jesus’ fate is well known. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Reformer Martin Luther went into hiding to avoid being arrested and killed. The rabbinical authorities of Amsterdam excommunicated philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was put under FBI surveillance, received numerous death threats and was assassinated.
Chicago Tribune Opinion
In one way or another, all these people challenged accepted ways of thinking and paid a heavy price for doing so. Granted, societies need cohesion to survive. But they also need freethinkers, whistleblowers and conceptual innovators to stay vibrant. Where should the line be drawn between protecting society from a legitimate threat and stamping out diversity?
While there is no simple answer to this question, one thing is clear: Neither Oppenheimer nor Turing posed a legitimate threat to anyone. In fact, both helped society defend itself against its real enemies. The record shows that time after time, society overreacted and punished people whom history went on to regard as heroic.
What about our society? Who is the J. Robert Oppenheimer of our day? I suggest Dr. Anthony Fauci. The enemy he fought, COVID-19, killed many more Americans than the Germans or Japanese. Although he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 for advancing the understanding and treatment of HIV/AIDS, he and his family now require constant security to protect them from harassment and death threats.
Looking further afield, one could cite novelist Salman Rushdie, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and the journalists and politicians who have opposed Vladimir Putin. Are these people a threat to their societies or have their societies mistaken friend for foe?
If there is a lesson to be learned from all this, it is that societies often get things wrong and deprive themselves of the opportunity to move forward. Without these kinds of people, rather than security, the result would be an oppressive uniformity.
Kenneth Seeskin is an emeritus professor of philosophy and the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick professor of Jewish civilization at Northwestern University.
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