Comment by wolvesechoes
11 hours ago
How much better?
Every honest description of Catholic Church, as any institution of this size and history, needs to be very nuanced. One of such nuances is a fact that it was one of the main, and sometimes strictly main, supporters and drivers of education and scientific progress. Other such nuance is that it very often punished and persecuted attempts to bring education and scientific progress.
Both views of the Church are true. That's what nuance is.
> Other such nuance is that it very often punished and persecuted attempts to bring education and scientific progress.
Often? Very rarely, and the motive was never to stop progress - it was side effect of something else.
No crusades for one populae example.
More advancements... No being opposed to actual enlightenment, because it doesn't sit well with the institution of power...
I am talking about a real man of science here of course, not some egoistic, smart person that needs to be constantly prove they are the smartest or else their frail ego will collapse... Which there are plenty of in academia and science.
So you'd rather have Europe be Islamic I guess, if you're opposing the crusades
The Crusades resulted in Christians being nearly wiped out from the Eastern Mediterranean. Particularly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Crusade
And started(?) Jews being killed in Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland_massacres
How exactly is not supporting a series of wars of aggression against the Ottoman Empire equivalent to wanting Europe to be Islamic?
I don't care either way to be honest...
I'd prefer Satanism for sure, but I don't really care.
But why man of science would avoid starting crusades?
Moral virtue has nothing to do with being a man of science, and many men of science lacked it completely.
Exactly. We tend to forget that the crusades were an efficient way of assigning land (scarce) to the cadet branches of ruling families (abundant), or die trying.
Why would a Catholic man of science necessarily oppose the crusades?