(April 20, 2015 at 3:53 pm)Hatshepsut Wrote: I think Ingersoll's take on it simplistic. Theologians have never governed the world. They've had a function in legitimizing the political rulers who do govern the world, in western history most notably in connection with the divine right of kings.
You're sure about that? The excommunicated kings, emperors and dukes of the Middle Ages would disagree. A ban by the church included that every oath sworn to the particular ruler was null and void. Henri IV didn't go to Canossa for fun to prostrate himself before the pope.
Theologians called the shots till the Age of Enlightenment and they brought us crusades, witch hunts, widespread illiteracy and a general decline in civilization coupled with a generous helping of superstition.