In an attempt to prove that the Earth is flat, Mad Mike launched himself into the sky aboard a steam-powered rocket. He left his parachute behind with gravitationally predictable results.

Bad ideas have dominated human history, with the greatest impact in the arena of religion, where Religion A has battled Religion B (and occasionally Religion C) for pretty much as long as there has been organized religion. At one point, the battles destroyed a third or more of all human life in Europe.

So it’s not a big surprise that in the middle of a political campaign religion has entered into things, with Religion A telling us that Religion B is wrong and the Deity will be angry if you vote for the other candidate.

Which is every bit as dumb as it was 500 years ago or last weekend when the laws of gravity were once again proven.