The Legal Suppression of Scientific Data and the Christian Virtue of Parrhesia

Powerful interest groups have responded to evidence of environmental or health risks by manufacturing doubt, partially through attacks on scientists. The current legal standard for the admissibility of scientific evidence in court enables such strategies for generating doubt. In the face of attacks on their reputations and careers, researchers working on public interest science need the courage to speak the truth despite risk, which Michel Foucault described as the virtue of parrhesia. Parrhesia is also a Christian virtue shown in the willingness to witness to truth in the face of risk because of one’s confidence in God. This essay argues that Christianity possesses resources to form individuals in parrhesia in ways that support the dedication to scientific truth.