Free Speech: Five Centuries of Struggle and One Forgotten Hero
Magna Carta was sealed by King John in 1215. Its principal author, Stephen Langton (Archbishop of Canterbury at the time), opposed the notion that monarchs could act above the law. He believed that morally upstanding citizens were a prerequisite for a just and prosperous Christian society. Individuals needed to operate with honour and integrity to find their true sense of spiritual and secular purpose. For this to happen they had to be free, and a system of law based on truth, fairness and transparency had to underpin these freedoms. If all people were treated were treated equally under the law, individual rights and freedoms would be respected across society. Today, this basic concept, the cornerstone of Western civilisation, is at risk from legally enforceable protected characteristics which have created a hierarchy of victimhood and ill-defined differentiation.