“Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.”

Yeah, kinda-sorta, hmm; never is a big determinate. How about if the petrified opinion was that it is best to break chains with love, kindness or in the case of the physical, a big hammer and chisel; or, the petrified opinion is unwavering in the pursuing of peace, freedom, liberty, rights, justice, and prosperity for the down trodden? I know that is not exactly what he is referring to but, 'never' is . . .

Well, said.

The thing about something that is petrified is that it is dead. It cannot adapt. It cannot feel. For instance the idea of a petrified justice that is set in stone does not leave the possibility for mercy. It is like Islamic law which requires a hand for theft, regardless of the circumstance. Sometimes justice requires mercy to be truly just.

Petrified means hardened. In the case of human opinion, a hardened opinion allows no room for interaction with the hearts and minds of others with sufficient humility to allow ourselves to see new possibilities. Larger, better possibilities. Loyal ownership of an errant view is misplaced loyatly that at best may lead to our distraction. At worst, to our distruction.

Of course Ken and Tom's comments above are accurate and more to the obvious point of the quote than my above statement. My comment was to the patrons of the occupying statist theocracy infesting this land with their loyalty to applied chains of oppression and their destruction of liberty in the individual sovereign's soul. Their petrified opinions (dead and rigor mortis hard) held so sacrosanct of applied atheistic socialism never broke a chain or freed a human soul.