Galileo Galilei in Prison
circa 1620
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Darwin and evolution might be the most popular form of science denial among religious believers today, but there are still some who are in denial about heliocentrism -- the idea that the earth orbits the sun. Geocentrism, the idea that the sun orbits the earth, was finally debunked by Galileo despite opposition from the Catholic Church.. and even today, there are some Catholics who can't let it go.
"This subject is, as far as I can see, an embarrassment to the modern church because the world more or less looks upon geocentrism, or someone who believes it, in the same boat as the flat Earth," said James Phillips ofCicero, Ill.
Phillips attends Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Church in Oak Park, Ill., a parish run by the Society of St. Pius X, which rejects most of the modernizing reforms made by the Vatican II council from 1962 to 1965. ...
"Heliocentrism becomes dangerous if it is being propped up as the true system when, in fact, it is a false system," said Robert Sungenis, leader of a budding movement to get scientists to reconsider. "False information leads to false ideas, and false ideas lead to illicit and immoral actions -- thus the state of the world today.... Prior to Galileo, the church was in full command of the world, and governments and academia were subservient to her."
Sungenis is no Don Quixote. Hundreds of curiosity seekers, skeptics and supporters attended a conference last fall titled "Galileo Was Wrong. The Church Was Right" near the University of Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Ind.
Source: Los Angels Times
So, they know that heliocentrism is false solely because of some verses in the Bible, and the problem with heliocentrism isn't merely that it's false but rather because it can lead to people to other false ideas which are dangerous. Where have I heard that line of reasoning before... oh, yeah, it's exactly what we hear from creationists when they complain about evolution.
This may be why the article's author decided to contact Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky, for a comment:
"There's a big difference between looking at the origin of the planets, the solar system and the universe and looking at presently how they move and how they are interrelated," Ham said. "The Bible is neither geocentric or heliocentric. It does not give any specific information about the structure of the solar system."
I wonder if anyone has pointed informed Ken Ham of the irony of his comments. After all, the Bible doesn't give any details about how, exactly, life generally or specific species developed -- a fact that many theists use to justify believing that evolution was God's means of creation. Ken Ham, however, rejects this and treats a few vague verses in the Bible as if they did give specific information.
And yet here he is criticizing someone else for doing the same thing he's doing, but on a different subject. If Ken Ham can choose to read some verses about the structure of the solar system in a non-literal way, why would he object to others reading verses about the origins of species in a non-literal way? Is Ken Ham one of those cafeteria Christians who just picks and chooses what they are going to believe?
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