The trouble with secrecy isnt that it inhibits science. ... The troubl — Secrecy

"Wer den kleinsten Theil eines Geheimnisses hingibt, hat den andern nicht mehr in der Gewalt."

"Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity."

"Arcanum neque tu scrutaveris ullius unquam, commissumve teges et vino tortus et ira."

"A secret at home is like rocks under tide."

"The required and scientifically designed secrecy of the sea operations thus pulled a curtain that hid the Leonardos from public view, popular ken, and recorded history. p. 25"

"“Secrets in Contact: Secrecy as a Promoter of Contacts between Religious Traditions,” edited by Knut Martin Stünkel, Anna Akasoy, and Georgios Halkias (Leiden: Brill, 2026), is a notable academic volume that challenges a pervasive yet often unexamined prejudice. For years, both public discourse and scholarship have been influenced by what Rosita Šorytė has termed “secretophobia”: the reflexive suspicion that secrecy in religion is inherently sinister, serving as a veil for abuse, manipulation, or separatism. In contrast, this book demonstrates that secrets do not merely divide; they also connect, travel, translate, and create bridges between traditions. … Overall, and notwithstanding the unfortunate inclusion of [Hildegard] Piegeler’s chapter, “Secrets in Contact” serves as a persuasive response to “secretophobia.” The volume demonstrates that secrecy is not inherently pathological but rather a human strategy that can be protective, playful, or transformative. While secrets can create divisions, they also have the capacity to connect traditions, generate shared vocabularies, and establish imaginative spaces for interreligious engagement. While today secrecy is frequently associated with danger, this book underscores that the hidden can also function as a site of encounter."