It was Arthur Schopenhauer who said, "Religion has always been and always will be in conflict with the noble endeavor after pure truth."

Wrote Thomas Jefferson, “I know that Gouverneur Morris, who pretended to be in his secrets and believed himself to be so, has often told me that General Washington believed no more in [Christianity] than he did.”

The astronaut portrays an Enlightenment intellect confronting an “ape” culture of ingrained religion and superstitious beliefs. Free thought (or Freethought) is a crime and heaven help anybody who claims the truth of evolution!

Though educated in Catholic schools, and pressed to serve in Korea, “it's worth noting that by the age of 20 [Altman] had resisted two of the most powerful institutions - church and army, both. He is an atheist.”

“At first sight nothing seems more obvious than that everything has a beginning and an end… The prodigious development of physics has now reached the same conclusion…”

For sure, it was "just a theory," as creationists like to dismiss the theory of evolution, even though this Copernican theory was as unassailable as science as heliocentricity was dangerous to theology.

Even the “Catholic Encyclopedia” admits, "His attitude of mind towards religious truth was that of a rationalist." To Bruno it would have been easier for him to change his sex than to change his mind.

The conflict of the Roman Catholic Church against Galileo is an apt illustration of the inescapable irreconcilability of theological doctrine and science. It also shows how bullies destroy benefactors.

“I'm an Atheist,” says Angier. “I don't believe in God, Gods, Godlets or any sort of higher power beyond the universe itself.... I'm convinced that the world as we see it was shaped by … evolution through natural selection.”

"The spirit of dogmatic theology poisons everything it touches," said Bentham. "There is no pestilence in a state like a zeal for religion, independent of morality."