ThothLestat,
Galileo's case is most certainly interesting, as is Bruno's. Both were Christians and both remained Christians, even as they were imprisoned (and burned, in Bruno's case), by the church.
But here's the point you're trying to skirt around; Galileo, Bruno and Kepler were utilizing evidence when they came upon the discoveries which have been confirmed to be true. They used faith when they adhered to the very beliefs of those who persecuted them, which in over 2,000 years, have never been shown to be anything but untrue.
Einstein's case again shows the importance of evidence and the failure of faith. And before we discuss this too intently, it should be noted that Einstein's "religion" was so far removed from most faith-beliefs today, that it's not really appropriate to call it "religion".
I see the quote you have misapplied all of the time when people are attempting to defend their faith-based beliefs. But all it indicates is an extreme misunderstanding concerning Einstein's beliefs. This quote cuts much more to the core of his beliefs and should be taken as his direct attempt to correct misconceptions such as the one you and so many other religious people seem to hold;
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." - Albert Einstein (Albert Einstein: The Human Side)
I ask that you pay special attention to the second sentence within that quote; "If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
Now try to apply any faith-belief to the phrase "so far as our science can reveal it".
Now to look at Einstein's greatest work, and his greatest failures. Einstein was a truly brilliant man and no attempt should ever be made to take that away from him. But he was a man and was not without his failures. And as we look to his success and his failure, a distinct pattern emerges.
His greatest year was 1905 when he produced his Theory of Relativity. This is the work he is heralded for above all others. In his own estimation, his greatest blunder was his original cosmological constant. This was an equation he applied to his work in order to alter his findings that the universe was expanding. It was commonly accepted that the universe was stable. So Einstein disregarded the findings based purely on the evidence and attempted to apply his cosmological constant to make his evidence-based findings fit with standard thought of the day.
He failed again when he ignored quantum physics and his reason for doing so is that he felt it wasn't the way God would have created the universe. This is where he offered his famous quotation, "God does not play dice with the universe".
Einstein felt that God would not make the universe to operate in a manner so difficult to pin down as to accomodate quantum mechanics or in particular, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. It was with this in mind that Einstein drafted his final theory -- The Theory of Everything. And it was this theory that won him dismissal and ridicule from the physics world. In attempting to adhere to his faith-based beliefs, he even violated his own Theory of Relativity.
When Einstein stuck to the evidence, his findings changed history and lead science in new directions. When he allowed himself to be lead by mere faith, the result was utter failure.
He provides another example with his calculations concerning gravity and the resutling conclusion of black holes. The evidence clearly suggested that black holes should exist. But Einstein allowed himself the faith that they did not actually exist. He considered them "too weird", and offered that there would likely be found some limitation which would prevent them from actually existing. He was wrong.
As for Thomas Jefferson, he was indeed another brilliant man. But as a Christian, perhaps you should look more deeply into his core beliefs.
"I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology."" -- Thomas Jefferson
"It is an insult to our citizens to question whether they are rational beings or not, and blasphemy against religion to suppose it cannot stand the test of truth and reason." -- Thomas Jefferson
"Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my god and myself alone." -- Thomas Jefferson
"I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know." -- Thomas Jefferson
"My aim in that was, to justify the character of Jesus against the fictions of his pseudo-followers, which have exposed him to the inference of being an impostor. For if we could believe that he really countenanced the follies, the falsehoods and the charlatanisms which his biographers father on him, and admit the misconstructions, interpolations and theorizations of the fathers of the early, and fanatics of the latter ages, the conclusion would be irresistible by every sound mind, that he was an impostor. I give no credit to their falsifications of his actions and doctrines, and to rescue his character, the postulate in my letter asked only what is granted in reading every other historian.... That Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God, physically speaking, I have been convinced by the writings of men more learned than myself in that lore." -- Thomas Jefferson
Yes, at times Einstein was very close-minded and that's the reason he died as a failure and an out-dated old fool in the minds of the physicists of the day. When he allowed himself to fall to the folly of faith, the result was continually failure. When he allowed himself to think outside of the box and follow the evidence, even to seemingly ridiculous conclusions, he was brilliant.
Kepler makes for another great example. He was born to a Lutheran family yet he delighted in the findings of Copernicus. Copernicus had intentionally not published his findings until the extreme latter years of his life for fear of the church. In fact, it was Kepler who wrote the first outspoken defense of the Copernican system. And while he remained a member of the Lutheran church, he would not adhere to the Lutheran position on the real presence (the Sacramental Union), and was therefore, excluded from the sacrament in the Lutheran church. He also refused to convert to Catholocism which left him without refuge during the Thirty-Years War.
His science lead him to great discoveries but the faith-beliefs of his time ended up threatening even his mother's life as she was charged with being a witch. Had he not been so adept at applying logic, perhaps his defense of her would not have resulted in her acquittal.
He was continually forced to relocate during his life due to religious persecution and civil unrest. But when he adhered to the evidence, his findings were the very successes for which he is known today.
This is perhaps most strenuously obvious in his attraction to Copernican Astronomy which was (and still is), directly contrary to his faith-based beliefs. This is where he starts with faith, but finds he must adhere to evidence and then attempts to justify one against the other in his conviction that God had created the world according to an intelligible plan that is accessible through the natural light of reason.
Again, we find one marked as religious bowing to the need to comply with reason, not faith.
Galileo is now heralded as the "Father of Science" and his evidence-based findings were his greatest success. His faith-based beliefs lead to him dying under house-arrest as a criminal and a humiliated heretic.
Bruno was an Italian Christian monk when he began to adhere to the evidence and suggested that other stars would also be found to have planets around them and many with life. It took nearly 400-years for his idea about planets to be confirmed but he was right. Unfortunately for him, those who held faith-based beliefs as being superior to evidence, took upon themselves the task of burning him alive, at the stake and his evidence-based work along with him.
Einstein was brilliant when he adhered to the evidence and a failure when he adhered to faith.
Kepler achieved that which is still recognized as nearly impossible given the equipment of his day. And this he achieved by adhering to the evidence, even when it violated the faith-based beliefs of his church.
Newton was a religious zealot but also recognized the failure of the faith of his church. He was forced to keep these beliefs hidden, revealing them only in his writings where he offered that the Trinity was a blasphemy against God. But when he adhered to the evidence, he conceived of ideas which couldn't even be described through the mathematics of his day. So with the help of a brilliant friend, they devised calculus so that his ideas could be expressed.
Darwin too was a Christian. But his faith-based beliefs never lead him to any notoriety or confirmed conclusions. It was only when he violated his faith-beliefs that he found a path to new discovery and a better understanding of reality.
In every example, faith-based beliefs lead to failure and stagnation while evidence-based beliefs lead to new discovery, confirmation and a greater understanding of reality.
