I'll take the 100 years in the God centered 12th century, thanks. :o)
"i'm not afraid of the future, i'm much more afraid of people who want to return to the bad old days when religion was king and they put galileo on the rack."
hey, palerobber, you're a poor historian along with being an atheist. Galileo was never put on a rack, tortured, or even jailed. His "punishment" was house arrest in his old age, and when he was held it was in the Cardinal's mansion, where Galileo was free to do as he wished. Science was very much enjoyed by the Catholic Church in Galileo's times; in fact, Galileo was educated in Catholic Universities by Catholic science profs.
you're quite right and thanks for the correction - he was in fact only threatened with these things until he recanted.
i never said i was an athiest.
as incomprehensible as this must be to you, it is *possible* for some people to be religious and at the same time not want religion to be the basis of government and law.