The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
'To these from birth is Belief forbidden'
Readers of the blog know how much I like Rudyard Kipling's "Sons of Martha." One phrase from the poem was bouncing around in my head when I was thinking back on the Rolling Stone UVa alleged gang rape story: "To these from birth is Belief forbidden."
Kipling, of course, was writing about engineers, not about journalists; though both are "concerned with matters hidden," they are concerned in different ways, and they worry about different things. (Engineers rarely need to deal with physical laws lying to them, or even physically laws innocently forgetting vital details.) But both need to be primarily skeptics, rather than Believers.
Oh, and if you haven't seen the poem before, read it—you're in for a treat.
To get the Volokh Conspiracy Daily e-mail, please sign up here.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: We invite comments and request that they be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?