It's not just the church

The church has done some bad things in the past. However, I consider myself a Christian, and defend the church sometimes. I won't debate here and now being a LGL and being a Christian at the same time. I have not fully reconciled my recent admissions to myself about being a MAPP and my faith.

That said, yes, the church is stubborn about stuff like this. No, I don't believe people should be burned at the stake for disagreeing with the church.

But aside from the church, the scientific community, with all its self acclaimed open mindedness, can be just as harsh when IT is opposed.

Example 1: At some point in time, the majority of scientists believed the earth was the center of the universe (don't blame this on the church - these guys were not idiots). Scientists who disagreed where shunned.

Example 2: As recently as the 1700's and 1800's, the vast majority of scientists believed in spontaneous generation (frogs "just appeared" from mudpuddles). I forget the guy's name, but one loan scientist figured out the truth (frogs got sex) and was initially laughed at.

Example 3: A modern scientist had BETTER NOT disagree with the main community about climate change and its causes. Even though there is strong evidence that climate change is NOT man made, if a scientist dares to utter that idea, he is shunned and his career is jeopardized.

I am not offended by criticism of the church. Many of us have probably had negative experiences with them. If my church found out about my proclivities, I would probably come to hate them, too. But my point here is to say, "Don't just blame the church for all that is evil."