Galileo and Big Religion

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Now Public contributor E. Lizardo
August 16, 2008 2:12 PM EDT

Big business is a catch-phrase one encounters frequently in reading today's news reports and in everyday conversation, books and magazine articles. One commonly used reference site has this to say

Much like big business would be the notion of big religion. Although a favorite search engine provides thousands of references for the term, none seem to provided any kind of concise definition for what precisly constitutes big religion. For example, the following citation is drawn from a reference page very commonly cited by many others I checked

Perhaps a wise approach. Since no definition is stated, no one particular group or organization could possibly be somehow injured or otherwise offended due to ommision or error. No doubt a prudent policy for navigation through the deep waters and tricky inland shoals of today's kinder, gentler world ...

Renaissance Catholicism
We've all heard mention of a period in western history known as the Renaissance. Today there are even many festivals and events which base their names and themes on this period. Those times may seem for most today as romantic and magical, an age of Dukes, Dames, Wizards, and the little people, days far removed from the more rational focus of our modern lives. Certainly the clothing was cool, even if travel was by oxcart instead of by our modern trains and horseless carraiges. Way back then, alas, any notion of picking up the phone to book a flight for a late lunch in Paris was simply out of the question.

For those readers whose history of western civilization might be a tad on the rusty side, a thumbnail description of this seminal period is here offered.

By any definition one might prefer, certainly Catholicism during the Renaissance period was big.

Galileo
During this general period lived a remarkable individual by the name of Galileo Galilei. All the evidence suggests he was intellectually gifted and inclined to disagree with authority. How smart he really was is a question perhaps best left the reader, especially in view of the many difficulties he invited upon his own head when many might have easily been avoided had he simply kept his mouth and pen silent.

A prominent religious site provides the gist of why he is still remembered today.

For an overview of what the history books tell us about Galileo's life, we turn to that ever helpful oracle, Wikipedia®, for a summary.

Galileo's crime had been to publicly disagree with the Holy Church of Rome. While the Church held and taught that the Earth itself was the center of all creation, based on Biblical Scripture, Galileo disagreed. His claim, supported by the scientific evidence of his own telescope observations, was that indeed the situation was precisely the opposite! He was charged and convicted of heresy for proving something we all take for granted today - that the Earth revolves around the sun.

Doesn't seem like that big of a deal today, I agree. But, back then it was huge, I can assure you!

Conclusion

It took 367 years for the Church of Rome to finally and formally admit they had been in the wrong about Galileo's published theories and accomplishments.

Summary
This article is presented to provide a case study of perhaps the most famous example in modern western history of the extremely persistent nature of established patterns of thought and world-view, and of the difficulties and delays involved in their evolution. As someone once said, 'Old ideas die hard.'

Finally, this article is intended to provide support for a planned technical article soon to be published here at Now Public®.

It is the author's hope that readers have found this article to be informative, entertaining and enjoyable.