Actually, he's arguing with the person doing that. I don't believe in the morals of aSoI&F, but I am the only one I notice consistently arguing about how those morals should be affecting the characters. "Using...knowledge of history" is not a guarantee of accuracy about a fictitious world, and is pretty much the same intellectual error as projecting one's own morals onto such a world. If you want "projecting morals onto the past", look to the PC types who disapprove of all sorts of people and causes in the past, because they acted on their morals, rather than ours. Condemning a 17th century nation because they had not accepted 19th century morals about slavery, or a 12th century band of pilgrims who did not adhere to 21st century fashions concerning religious toleration, is projecting one's own morals onto the past. While Tom is pretty much one of the least guilty people in this community in that regard, it is far more common than not in these types of discussions.