> On Sep 2, 10:59 pm, z snail-mail.net> wrote:

>> On Sep 2, 5:18 pm, OG gwynnefamily.org.uk> wrote:
>>
>>
>>

>>> tadchem wrote:

>>>> On Sep 2, 10:49 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. This is most certainly not the the
>>>>>case. All the Church is saying is that Galileo was not a bad person,
>>>>>and that his writings, even his satires of the Church, 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.

>>

>>> It's been a while since I read "The Sleepwalkers" by Arthur Koestler,
>>> but as I recall, the senior church leaders were initially very
>>> receptive
>>> to Galileo's ideas, but in his arrogance he decided that he should have
>>> the right to lead discussion on spiritual issues as well as physical
>>> matters.

>>

>>> He also had some problems with attempting to use the existence of tides
>>> as evidence in support of his motion - but as it became clear that his
>>> explanation would only give 1 tide per day he used scorn and insult to
>>> hide the fact that he was (in that instance at least) using a very weak
>>> argument.

>>

>>> I can't remember exactly how that affected things, but I suspect that
>>> when he used bluster, insult and scorn against some of his clerical
>>> opponents he lost the sympathy of the church leaders as a result. One
>>> of
>>> the cardinals who he had been particularly vicious against more of less
>>> forced the church to take action.

>>

>>> If anyone wants to know a bit more about the development of the work of
>>> Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo it's well worth finding the Koestler
>>> book.- Hide quoted text -

>>

>>> - Show quoted text -

>>
>> according to an article by arthur c clarke, galileo couldn't resist
>> insulting the officials. i don't know if he's right or not, but he
>> deserves the benefit of the doubt.

>
>
> Any intelligent man versed in the profession of true scientific
> investigation would have difficulty in not smirking a little bit. The
> "officials" were afterall completely full of shit.
>