| Re: What if: the Church had NOT condemned Galileo |
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Group: alt.philosophy · Group Profile
Author: tadchemtadchem Date: Sep 2, 2008 13:57
On Sep 2, 10:49Â am, Jerry Kraus yahoo.com> wrote:> Modern scientists tend to misinterpret the recent rehabilitation of
> Galileo Galilei as indicating that Church admits that they were wrong
> to prosecute him, at the time. Â This is most certainly not the the
> case. Â All the Church is saying is that Galileo was not a bad person,
> and that his writings, even his satires of the Church, Â no longer pose
> any social threat.
Power Politics 101:
The first priority of those in power is to preserve that power, which
requires intolerance of novelty and the development of reactionary
positions on matters of policy. Acts of liberalism only serve those
out of power. Once power has been acquired, those "acts" of
liberalism become a smoke screen of empty (or nearly so) promises -
lip service to preserve loyalty among the masses.
As the most powerful political force in western civilization at that
time, the Church of Rome could ill-afford Galileo's novel ideas,
especially as they directly contradicted established Church Doctrine.
Now that their power has faded, they must appear more liberal to
attract adherents and to avoid losing any more of the "faithful."
Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA
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