Sacred Tyranny.: Giordano Bruno - Religious Heretic, Science Hero, Burned at the Stake

Of all the plagues with which mankind are cursed, Ecclesiastic tyranny’s the worst

It is plain, persecution is a thing really odious and hateful to all nations, and therefore most religions in the world most industriously avoid the challenge, and either strive to throw it off from one another, or excuse themselves by charging it upon their neighbours; also thinking to extenuate the crime by having it allowed to be universal. The church of Rome began with this, and Saunders the Jesuit reproaches the church of England with persecuting their fellow heretics... The truth is, no church but that of Rome professes persecution...I refer the reader to the oath of a bishop to the pope, set down at large in my lord bishop of Salisbury's history of the reformation : " Heretics, schismatics, and rebels, to our holy father and his successors, I shall resist and persecute to my power."—' Hist. Reform.,' vol. i, f. I23 So that the church of Rome was bound by oath to persecute those that were deemed schismatics and heretics.”

serving God was equated with serving the living - 1b

Albert Einstein on the Jews: IN THIS CASE, AS IN MANY MENTAL DISORDERS, THE CURE LIES IN A CLEAR KNOWLEDGE OF ONE'S CONDITION AND ITS CAUSES. We must be conscious of our alien race and draw the logical conclusions from it. IT IS NO USE TRYING TO CONVINCE THE OTHERS OF OUR SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL EQUALITY BY ARGUMENTS ADDRESSED TO THE REASON, WHEN THE ATTITUDE OF THESE OTHERS DOES NOT ORIGINATE IN THEIR INTELLECTS AT ALL. (Albert Einstein, 1934) http://tiny.cc/smceu http://tiny.cc/66g7y

If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism

God in Buddhism: The refutation of the notion of a supreme God or a prime mover is seen as a key distinction between Buddhism and other views. Hence, Buddhism is often aptly described as a "spiritual philosophy" whose sole aim is the complete alleviation of stress in samsara, called nirvana. The Buddha explicitly rejects a creator, denies endorsing any views on creation[5] and states that questions on the origin of the world are worthless. Some theists beginning Buddhist meditation believe that the notion of divinity is not incompatible with Buddhism, but belief in a Supreme God is eminently considered to pose a hindrance to the attainment of nirvana, the highest goal of Buddhist practice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Buddhism _ _ _ In Theravada Buddhism there can be no divine salvation or forgiveness for one's karma, since it is a purely impersonal process that is a part of the makeup of the universe. _ _ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism _ _ _ _ http://tiny.cc/pz3dd Albert Einstein Quotes on Philosophy of Religion, Theology, God

Karl Marx wanted to dedicate his masterpiece Capital, to Charles Darwin

According to Marx, religion is an expression of material realities and economic injustice. Thus, problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited. This is the origin of his comment that religion is the “opium of the masses” - but as shall see, his thoughts are much more complex than commonly portrayed. http://tiny.cc/7yre1

the most absurd and bloody religion

For 1700 years, the Christian sect has done nothing but harm; Christians have been the most intolerant of all men; Ehasez l’infâme! [crush the infamous thing – Christianity] ; Atheism is the vice of a few intelligent people ; God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions ; Evil came into the world through the sin of Adam. If that idiot had not sinned, we should not have been afflicted with the smallpox, nor the itch, nor theology, nor the faith which alone can save us.; The word of God is the word of the priests ; the glory of god is the pride of the priests ; the will of god is the will of the priests ; to offend god is to offend the priests; to believe in god is to believe in all that the priests tell us.

Civilization will not attain perfection

TO A PHILOSOPHIC EYE

Edward Gibbon (April 27, 1737[notes 1] – January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. The Decline and Fall is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open denigration of organised religion.....-* * *..... The most serious charges were suppressed ; the Vicar of Christ (Pope John XXIII, 1414) was accused only of piracy, murder, rape, sodomy, and incest. http://tiny.cc/19oaf )

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi (July 4, 1807 – June 2, 1882) was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and had to flee Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and afterwards returned to Italy as a commander in the conflicts of the Risorgimento. He has been dubbed the "Hero of the Two Worlds" in tribute to his military expeditions in both South America and Europe. He is considered an Italian national hero.

Pastor-in-Chief

WASHINGTON -- These days, when we think of George W. Bush, we think mostly of what a horrible mess he made of the economy. But his even more tragic legacy is the loss of our moral authority, and the transformation of the United States of America from global champion of human rights into an outlaw nation. History is likely to judge Bush most harshly for two things in particular: Launching a war against a country that had not attacked us, and approving the use of cruel and inhumane interrogation techniques. http://tiny.cc/w7e3e

Protestants aren't proper Christians

VIDEOS: PROTESTANTS VS CATHOLICS RIOTS http://tiny.cc/svf46 --- --- "I would have the Pope throw away his tiara, take off his sacred vestments, and admit that he is not acting for God—is not infallible—but is just an ordinary Italian. I would have all the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and clergymen admit that they know nothing about theology, nothing about hell or heaven, nothing about the destiny of the human race, nothing about devils or ghosts, gods or angels. I would like to see the whole world free—free from injustice—free from superstition". Robert Green Ingersoll

Blair: 'God will be my judge on Iraq'

Tony Blair, Christopher Hitchens Debate Religion CHARMAINE NORONHA | 11/27/10 TORONTO — Former British prime minister Tony Blair said Friday his religious beliefs did not play a role in his decision to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq during a debate about the merits of religion in Toronto. Blair attempted to persuade his verbal sparring opponent, writer Christopher Hitchens, that religion is a force for global good when he was asked by an audience member how religion influenced his decision to stand with the United States against Iraq. "Religion doesn't do policy. All my decisions were based on policy and so they should be, and you may disagree with those decisions but they were made because I genuinely believed them to be right," said Blair before the audience of more than 2,600 at Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall. Blair, 57, converted to Catholicism after leaving office in 2007. Since then he has started the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to promote understanding between religions. ...Blair incited a sarcastic response from Hitchens when he argued the Northern Ireland peace process is an example of how people of different faiths can bridge their differences. "It's very touching for Tony to say that he recently went to a meeting to bridge the religious divide in Northern Ireland, where does the religious divide come from?" Hitchens asked. "Four-hundred years and more in my own country of birth of people killing each other's children depending on what kind of Christian they were." Although a lot of conflicts have religious roots, it's futile to try to drive religion out, Blair said. "In the end, it's for politics and religion to try and work out a way in which religion in a world of globalization that is pushing people together can play a positive rather than negative role," he added. Audience members voted on the debate and preliminary results posted on the Munk Debates website sided with Hitchens, with 68 percent saying that religion is more of a destructive than benign force in the world. http://tiny.cc/bsomm

virus of faith replicates itself

In his brilliant new book, The Evolution of God, Robert Wright tells the story of how God grew up. He starts with the deities of hunter-gatherer tribes, moves to those of chiefdoms and nations, then on to the polytheism of the early Israelites and the monotheism that followed, and then to the New Testament and the Koran, before finishing off with the modern multinational Gods of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Wright’s tone is reasoned and careful, even hesitant, throughout, and it is nice to read about issues like the morality of Christ and the meaning of jihad without getting the feeling that you are being shouted at. His views, though, are provocative and controversial. There is something here to annoy almost everyone. http://evolutionofgod.net/

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Giordano Bruno - Religious Heretic, Science Hero, Burned at the Stake

By Robert Green Ingersoll

This night lasted for a thousand years ...

The first star that enriched the horizon of this universal gloom was Giordano Bruno. He was the herald of the dawn.

He was born in 1550, was educated for a priest, became a Dominican friar. At last his reason revolted against the doctrine of transubstantiation. He could not believe that the entire Trinity was in a wafer, or in a swallow of wine. He could not believe that a man could devour the Creator of the universe by eating a piece of bread. This led him to investigate other dogmas of the Catholic Church, and in every direction he found the same contradictions and impossibilities supported, not by reason, but by faith.

[Image: Giordano Bruno (1550?-1600)]

Those who loved their enemies threatened his life. He was obliged to flee from his native land, and he became a vagabond in nearly every nation of Europe. He declared that he fought, not what priests believed, but what they pretended to believe. He was driven from his native country because of his astronomical opinions. He had lost confidence in the Bible as a scientific work. He was in danger because he had discovered a truth.

He fled to England. He gave some lectures at Oxford. He found that institution controlled by priests. He found that they were teaching nothing of importance -- only the impossible and the hurtful. He called Oxford "the widow of true learning." There were in England, at that time, two men who knew more than the rest of the world. Shakespeare was then alive.

Bruno was driven from England. He was regarded as a dangerous man, -- he had opinions, he inquired after reasons, he expressed confidence in facts. He fled to France. He was not allowed to remain in that country. He discussed things -- that was enough. The church said, "move on." He went to Germany. He was not a believer -- he was an investigator. The Germans wanted believers: they regarded the whole Christian system as settled; they wanted witnesses; they wanted men who would assert. So he was driven from Germany.

He returned at last to his native land. He found himself without friends, because he had been true, not only to himself, but to the human race. But the world was false to him because he refused to crucify the Christ of his own soul between the two thieves of hypocrisy and bigotry. He was arrested for teaching that there are other worlds than this; that many of the stars are suns, around which other worlds revolve; that Nature did not exhaust all her energies on this grain of sand called the earth. He believed in a plurality of worlds, in the rotation of this, in the heliocentric theory.

For these crimes, and for these alone, he was imprisoned for six years. He was kept in solitary confinement. He was allowed no books, no friends, no visitors. He was denied pen and paper. In the darkness, in the loneliness, he had time to examine the great questions of origin, of existence, of destiny. He put to the test what is called the goodness of God. He found that he could neither depend upon man nor upon any deity. At last the Inquisition demanded him. He was tried, condemned, excommunicated and sentenced to be burned.

http://www.rome-accom.com/trip-planning/rome-apartments/campo-de-fiori/history-of-campo-de-fiori/giordano-bruno.aspx

[Image: Bronze statue of Bruno in Campo dei Fiori in Rome, erected in 1887 on the site where the philosopher died at the stake in 1600, after being condemned to death by the Inquisition. In the 1920s Mussolini refused to remove the statue, despite intense lobbying from the Vatican.]

According to Professor Draper, he believed that this world is animated by an intelligent soul -- the cause of forms, but not of matter; that it lives in all things, even in such as seem not to live; that everything is ready to become organized; that matter is the mother of forms, and then their grave; that matter and the soul of things, together, constitute God. He was a pantheist -- that is to say, an atheist. He was a lover of Nature, -- a reaction from the asceticism of the church. He was tired of the gloom of the monastery. He loved the fields, the woods, the streams. He said to his brother-priests: Come out of your cells, out of your dungeons: come into the air and light. Throw away your beads and your crosses. Gather flowers; mingle with your fellow-men; have wives and children; scatter the seeds of joy; throw away the thorns and nettles of your creeds; enjoy the, perpetual miracle of life.

On the sixteenth day of February, in the year of grace 1600, by "the triumphant beast," the Church of Rome, this philosopher, this great and splendid man, was burned. He was offered his liberty if he would recant. There was no God to be offended by his recantation, and yet, as an apostle of what he believed to be the truth, he refused this offer. To those who passed the sentence upon him he said: "It is with greater fear that ye pass this sentence upon me than I receive it." This man, greater than any naturalist of his day; grander than the martyr of any religion, died willingly in defence of what he believed to be the sacred truth. He was great enough to know that real religion will not destroy the joy of life on earth; great enough to know that investigation is not a crime -- that the really useful is not hidden in the mysteries of faith. He knew that the Jewish records were below the level of the Greek and Roman myths; that there is no such thing as special providence; that prayer is useless; that liberty and necessity are the same, and that good and evil are but relative.

He was the first real martyr, -- neither frightened by perdition, nor bribed by heaven. He was the first of all the world who died for truth without expectation of reward. He did not anticipate a crown of glory. His imagination had not peopled the heavens with angels waiting for his soul. He had not been promised an eternity of joy if he stood firm, nor had he been threatened with the fires of hell if he wavered and recanted. He expected as his reward an eternal nothing! Death was to him an everlasting end -- nothing beyond but a sleep without a dream, a night without a star, without a dawn -- nothing but extinction, blank, utter, and eternal. No crown, no palm, no "well done, good and faithful servant," no shout of welcome, no song of praise, no smile of God, no kiss of Christ, no mansion in the fair skies -- not even a grave within the earth -- nothing but ashes, wind-blown and priest-scattered, mixed with earth and trampled beneath the feet of men and beasts.

The murder of this man will never be completely and perfectly avenged until from Rome shall be swept every vestige of priest and pope, until over the shapeless ruin of St. Peter's, the crumbled Vatican and the fallen cross, shall rise a monument to Bruno, -- the thinker, philosopher, philanthropist, atheist, martyr.

http://tiny.cc/bgw81

http://www.nndb.com/people/665/000029578/

Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899): scientific rationalist and agnostic, son of a Congregational minister, notable defender of Darwin. The preceding text is a selection from his Great Infidels, published in 1881.