Some of you have probably heard that Arlen made a false accusation against the Catholic Church during a stem cell debate. It's another instance of someone invoking the Middle Ages (negatively, of course), and it turns out that the accusation is wrong. Typically, the accusation is imprecise: "In the Middle Ages, they flogged girls who developed breasts before age 13." Does "they" mean a particular diocese? A bull issued from the Vatican? Peasant anti-breast uprisings? A German elector forced into a shotgun wedding after impregnating a womanly-looking girl? The imprecision increases the chances that there might be an example to support the accusation, but it also means there's almost certainly going to be tons of evidence to debunk it.
You'd think people would eventually sit back and just reflect for a few moments about "the Middle Ages." Depending on your historian, the Middle Ages span from about 500 to about 1500: about 1,000 years. The sheer magnitude of time should make a person pause before he invokes their memory. Any broad statement about them is almost certainly going to be contradicted by something else.
Now, in Specter's case, he made a very narrow assertion that was simply flat-out wrong. He should be ashamed, but the lesson is still the same: when you invoke the Middle Ages, tread carefully. Most people, including a Senator's Congressional aides, don't know what they're talking about.
