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I find it weird at the consternation exhibited by Baby Lee and AustinChief in regards to Giordano Bruno's portrayal in the series.
It is true, that Giordano was put to death for his heretical religious views. But it would only be heretical religious views that would rise to the level of requiring a death penalty.
It has been brought up many times that the hierarchy of Understanding at that time put Theology at the top with then philosophy, law and toward the bottom was natural science and mathematics. Only when these lower fields of understanding came in direct conflict with theology did there rise cause to consider the death penalty. And because they were thought as derivative to understanding their weight in argument was not considered prominent.
Giordano's ideas that included heretical views on the Trinity and such, grew directly from his extension of his Naturalistic View of existence. He rejected a supernatural explanation.
And it only makes sense for the times that the Religious results of his philosophy should be the basis of his receiving the death penalty. It is clear that the whole of his ideas were on trial as far as he was concerned. It was just that the Church drew a death penalty from the authority of highest reasoning in Religion in order to justify such sentence. You wouldn't do so for some petty Natural Science idea.
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Even a superstitious man has certain inalienable rights. He has a right to harbor and indulge his imbecilities as long as he pleases. . . He has a right to argue for them as eloquently as he can, in season and out of season. He has a right to teach them to his children. But certainly he has no right to be protected against the free criticism of those who do not hold them. He has no right to demand that they be treated as sacred. He has no right to preach them without challenge." -H.L. Mencken
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