Galileo was
only threatened with death for his claims, Giordano Bruno was
burned to death for his ideas in 1600 and Francisco Ferrer was
shot to death for his beliefs in 1909 — both executed by the
Roman Catholic Church. Giordano Bruno, the great thinker, and
Francisco Ferrer, the great educator; a day does not go by where
their grave loss is mourned by Rationalists and Humanitarians
world wide. Gregory the Great had the library of Palatine Apollo
burned “lest its secular literature distract the faithful men
from the contemplation of heaven.” [Barbara G. Walker, The
Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (San Francisco: Harper
& Row, 1983) 208.] The history of Christianity and organized
religion runs parallel to the history of oppression and slavery.
Examination and inquiry have been restrained, and this can be
found in the evidences that every historian ought to be well
aware of. Even today, we find the same radical fanatics, burning
Harry Potter books, and on the same exact claim that it will
deprive children of the religion of Christianity. We also find
Christian fanatics working to ban books in public libraries,
including works by Mark Twain, J. D. Salinger., and Maya
Angelou, sometimes on the exact claim that these works are
“unChristian.”
But asside from the fact that religion tends to disallow
Freethought and investigation, inquiry and science, can it at
all be permitted to call itself truth? As well as having a long
history of suppressing honest and sincere attempts at sciennce
and truth, religion is also founded on superstition and myth.
When man did not understand the origin of the rainbow, he
postulated that it had divine origin. When man did not
understand the origin of the human female, he made the same
claim. When man