Is there a source or list I could go to and find any records of people murdered by the church for 250 years for asserting the earth revolves around the sun? The two most famous cases of church repression and murder for holding scientific beliefs are those of Galileo [which I presume I won't need to cite], and Giordano Bruno, I couldn't even hazard a guess as to the net body count.
Was it really that bad or is it worse than any of us realize?
How many people have to be burned at the stake for their heretical opinions, for it to be "really that bad?"
Well, I just wondered at your reflex comment. The communists in America invested lots of time conditioning academics to immediately point to a murderous, hypocritical church when the need or opportunity presented itself in any scientific discussion.
I'm not singling you out or anything; we're all dripping with vestigal socialist associations. One needs to know where one is comming from so hopefully the "scientific" and "religious" dialectic does not degenerate into a socio-political squabble.