Galileo?s heresy predates Darwin?s

Evolution has been in the news lately. Three Republican presidential candidates shyly raised their hands to say they did not believe in evolution in a presidential debate last month. This past week, Senator Brownback wrote a vigorous op-ed diatribe denouncing evolution in the august pages of the New York Times.

In the past few days a Creationist Museum costing $27 million opened its door to the public in Kentucky. For $19.95?less for children and tour groups?one can see children cavorting with dinosaurs and the friendly vegetarian dinosaurs boarding Noah?s Ark. (I am unclear if the most famous dinosaur of all?Barney with his purple pajamas?is included in the exhibit.)

The creationists insist the world was created a little over six thousand years ago, the Grand Canyon is the result of a week?s worth of erosion after the great flood and most things are pretty much the way they were originally created in seven days.

The creationists may be right. I was very young when the world was created and therefore forget most of the details. Today at my age, I forget even where I left the remote control for my TV.

But increasingly I suspect our modern-day creationists are mistaken when they blame Darwin for foisting evolution on unsuspecting scientists in the 1800s.

The world fell into error much sooner than Darwin. Remember some crazy Italian named Galileo in the 1500s spread the newfangled notion that the earth revolved around the sun? (Granted, Galileo did recant when the Pope threatened him with being burned at the stake.)

But ever since childhood I have held to the perspective of a stationary earth that is flat with the sun revolving around it. I remember a vigorous argument when I was about age 5 with my older sister who tried to convince me the earth was round and that it revolved around the sun.

She had the advantage of age and being able to read. But I trumped these by using the Laws of Observed Evidence. ?Look outside?clearly the land is flat and goes on forever. And the sun shines into the bedroom in the morning when it rises and into the living room in the evening when it sets. And if the earth were spinning we would feel the wind and get dizzy and fall down.? I was brilliant.

But she was stubborn in her book-learned nonsense. Probably I eventually won the argument by crying and telling Mom she was picking on me.

But this is serious stuff. Both Martin Luther and the good old Popes believed in a geocentric worldview?that the sun revolves around a stationary earth. They had the story of Joshua making the sun stand still, references to the foundations of the earth and other scriptures on their side.

But today only a few beleaguered scholars?and very few scientists?remain who have not fallen for the heliocentric claptrap.

They need your help. Should Senator Brownback ever return to Kansas?I read he is mostly living in Iowa these days?constituents can demand that he amend his anti-evolution position to include a stationary?and mostly likely?flat earth with the sun circling it every 24 hours.

Folks could write the Kansas Board of Education and insist that prior to stopping the teaching of Intelligent Design they should insist schools inform children the earth does not move. Perhaps even local schools could be investigated for evidence of teaching this heresy.

Once the concept of a stationary earth is firmly established for every citizen I suspect the trivial discussions of Darwin will fall by the wayside?maybe even roll off the edge of the earth.

You can contact the writer at Dale.Suderman@gmail.com.

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