You could defend him in just the same manner if he was talking about witches casting spells on people or Jews poisoning wells. I mean, if there really were peop

You could defend him in just the same manner if he was talking about witches casting spells on people or Jews poisoning wells. I mean, if there really were people who did that stuff, it would be bad. And quite possibly he would be cautious and skeptical within his worldview about accusations and contemporary due process. Doesn't make him a modern person and I'd hope you would not defend a modern person who acted similarly.