In 1909, George Bernard Shaw had a play (The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet ) banned for blasphemy. In a masterstroke of unwitting satire, the parliamentary committee examining the matter also suppressed the statement that Shaw gave them in his defence.
- Shaw said he deliberately wrote immoral and heretical plays, in order to challenge the public to reconsider its morals. He defined immorality as whatever is contrary to established manners and customs. He argued that it is immorality that needs protection, and morality that needs restraint.
- He cited examples of classic literature and role models that were once considered immoral and heretical. He noted that old immoralities such as Christianity and Islam are constantly promoted into becoming new moralities.
- He argued that no nation can prosper or even continue to exist without heretics and advocates of shockingly immoral doctrines, and that toleration and liberty have no sense or use except as toleration of opinions that are considered damnable, and liberty to do what seems wrong.
Read on for relevant extracts from Shaw’s powerful statement, plus a link to the full text of the statement and the play, and Shaw’s analysis of the controversy.