A BRIEF NOTE ON FREETHINKERS & FREETHINKING
Who are the freethinkers?
The atheist, agnostic, and rationalist are the freethinkers as they oppose the traditional social or religious belief system, existence of any god(s), or didn't accept what is commonly thought or practiced. One cannot claim to be a freethinker by confronting religious books or by depending on faith and prayer. Also, freethinking or Freethought is very different from free will, because free thought is formed based on logic, reason, and empiricism.
Everyone should practice freethinking because it is important for intellectual and cognitive development. Also, thinking outside the box is always considered a good idea for creativity, innovation, and even business. Freethinking is reasonable and logical and licenses you to do your own thinking.
Therefore why accept whatever was told as true, rigid, and not changeable?
Thinking from a new perspective, exploring the reason, finding the logic, and accepting the facts can boost the progression of the human race.
But it's not always so simple or easy to change the perspective as we humans tend to rely on usual comforts, habits, and familiar routines. No matter where you live, every society is shaped by religious doctrines and, they do not encourage freethought, because it insults most people’s faiths, values, and beliefs. It will create a threat to those who are benefitting from society, like preachers, leaders, astrologers, and many others. Many of them already know that freethinkers will question their autocracy, lies, scam, etc. We have seen many countries punishing freethinkers because they are afraid of people being awake, reasonable, or exposing the political benefits of religion. Also, I would like to mention that freethinking is not a political position, it's philosophical.
Freethinking helps one to see another human being as human by not judging by race, color, or creed. It creates a tolerance to ideas, an unbiased mind, and most importantly it helps one to understand the world, nature, and universe in a simple scientific way. The human brain is curious by nature if you let that curiosity grow you have to explore the world, ideas, and knowledge, learning, and relearning is important for our individual growth as well as human as a whole.