This tweet from Roy (re-tweeted from ship of fools) made me smile thoughtfully today:


‘Galileo was born today, 1564. He championed the ludicrous idea that the earth goes round the sun. Thankfully, the Church put him right!!’


It is quite scary that those in authority in the church thought they were so so right in condemning Galileo. His idea seemed madness to the extent that he was tried by the Inquisition and found guilty of heresy and placed under house arrest.

I find it interesting that we look at that now and wonder how the church could have been so wrong. Were they missing the big picture? Were they scared of the new? Were they just closed to a new idea that they themselves had not had? Was it simply because the bible did not say  ‘the sun is at the centre of the universe’ that it could not, therefore, be right!

The comment made me smile; but it also concerns me. What is the church condemning today which future people will look back at in disbelief?