Those days, around 1000 A.D., are often called the Dark Ages—a time when religion, specifically the Church, locked academic thought in dungeons, swept freedom of expression into the sewers of Europe, and did not hesitate to place dissenters in the stocks, in full public view.
The period known as the Renaissance, beginning around 1400 A.D., however, offered a glimmer of hope. Culture, arts, drama, music, and academic education gradually began to flourish. Science, too, was permitted to question old doctrines—to believe, at last, that the earth was not the center of the universe. It was in this era that one of the greatest literary giants appeared: William Shakespeare, with his unparalleled plays.
Today, most unfortunately, the world has reverted to what seems like that same—and perhaps even worse—time zone of…
