I can understand the notion of eugenics folks running amok (the Nazis) or social engineering folks running amok (Stalin et al) and while they certainly spoke towards and were agents of persecution, I think it is a reach to describe them or assign them as scientists. Obviously, in matters of mass harm to lots of people I suppose it should be said that some anti-faith folks have sought to leverage "science" to prosecute their aims of torture, suffering and domination.
In my only limited consideration of these matters, it strikes me more as an exception and one with only a fig-leaf of science, whereas it seems t me, and I could be wrong, that we see durably every single solitary day from gay people to black people to just a neighbor here and a neighbor there the discrimination that faith affords to systematically do harm dwarfs the fact that some people do science, although I suppose every once in awhile they scienitst's cause the state harm by asking for protection.
I don't see clergy routinely requiring physical protection, I see folks routinely requiring physical protection from the faithful. Sucks, but I think it is true.
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