And debunking creationism is not only allowed, it should be encouraged. I'm sick and tired of being polite and fair to these bible-banging peckerheads. They are as wrong as they are stupid, and most are mean and nasty as hell to boot, not to mention proud of it. Its about time THEY apologized, their religious sycophancy offends me.

And yes, Giordano Bruno was a real person, and he was burned at the stake. Galileo got away with house arrest after he confessed and recanted. Of course, by the time Galileo got in trouble, the RC Church astronomers, like Clavius, actually agreed with the Copernican Theory--they just weren't allowed to publicize it because the Church would be embarrassed for having opposed it for so long. (Copernicus and Kepler were from Protestant Northern Europe, this scientific/religious debate, like many today, had political implications). Its kind of like the Marijuana controversy today, everybody knows its perfectly harmless, but we don't want to remind folks of all those kids we sent to prison for it.

Galileo's crime was not in writing about the new astronomy, but writing about it in Italian so the common people could read it. As long as he wrote in scholarly Latin, the Church didn't care.

As for engineers disproving 911 conspiracies, why not? I've seen them do it right here on the Zone--as they should. Some nonsense just should just not be countenanced. I've also seen them disproving global warming, too, but that's another story.

People are entitled to their religious superstitions, and we are obligated to show them some respect, but when they start justifying public policy on the basis of their voodoo bullshit, they need to be exposed for the contemptible barbarians they are.