Galileo, the father of telescopic astronomy, was threatened with
death for denying the errors of the Church, was put in prison and
tortured as a heretic. Christians acknowledge now that Galileo
spoke the truth, and his name is honoured.

As it has been demonstrated in those cases, it has been demonstrated
in thousands of other cases, that the Heretics have been right, and
the True Believers have been wrong.

Step by step the Church has retreated. Time after time the Church has
come to accept the truths, for telling which she persecuted, or murdered,
her teachers. But still the True Believers hate the Heretic and regard
it as a righteous act to make it "unpleasant" to be an "Infidel."

After taking a hundred steps away from old dogmas and towards the
truth, the True Believer shudders at the request to take one more.
After two thousand years of foolish and wicked persecution of good men,
the True Believer remains faithful to the tradition that it "ought to be
an unpleasant thing" to expose the errors of the Church.

The Christians used to declare that all the millions of men and women
outside the Christian Church would "burn for ever in burning Hell."
They do not like to be reminded of that folly now.

They used to declare that every unbaptised baby would go to Hell and
burn for ever in fire and brimstone. They do not like to be reminded
of that folly now.

They used to believe in witchcraft, and they burned millions--yes,
millions--of innocent women as witches. They do not like to hear about