I tried to figure out where did this topic about Hawking sidetracked to for the last ten pages, but can't quite poke my finger at. Is it that some members are having a problem because Hawking declared there is no God? That is perfectly logical move by Hawking since some theologians, and especially William Craig, made a fortune misinterpreting Hawking's scientific work for decades to "prove" there is God.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
