350 years after his death, Galileo Galilei can find consolation that the Roman Catholic Church admitted it’s mistake condemning him. At the time of Galileo’s conflict with the Church, most educated people subscribed to the Ptolemaic Theory that the Earth was the center of the Universe, and the orbit of all heavenly bodies revolved around it. Every person who ignored that theory and considered the Copernican Theory, that the earth and other planets revolved around a stationary sun, became the subject of great ridicule, despite the overwhelming evidence on their side. They were the conspiracy theorists of their time.
From the late 1590’s, Galileo focused much of his efforts on the scientific search to validate the Copernican Theory. During this time, he was credited with discovering the four moons of Jupiter as well as the rings around Saturn, in addition to proving the earth revolved around the sun. Yet by 1616, Galileo was ordered by Rome to never again teach that the sun was the center of the universe, as the Roman Inquisition had declared the idea of the Earth revolving around the sun to be “foolish and absurd”.
Galileo was found by the Inquisition to be “vehemently suspect of heresy” because he wrote a book which went against the science of the period. The book was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books, and it was not removed until 1835. It was not until October 1992 that Pope John Paul II acknowledged that the Church had erred in condemning Galileo for asserting that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
History repeats itself today as doctors, pathologists, pundits, and people seeking the truth questioned the science around COVID-19 and vaccines. These people were not persecuted by the Catholic Church, but by the elite of our time: politicians, government agencies, medical boards, the political left, and of course, the mainstream media. Doctors are afraid to speak out about COVID treatment and the dangers of the vaccine shots because they can lose their ability to practice medicine if they challenge the mainstream narrative. “Unknown Cause” is a leading cause of death and “died suddenly” cannot be questioned.
Science can only move forward when there’s free exchange of ideas. This was true in the age of Galileo Galilei, now known as the father of modern science, who made science about careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, experiments and mathematics. Science is the continuous pursuit of truth, facts, and data supported theories. Questions and discussion add to the evolution of knowledge. Challenging results and conclusions in science should not bring repercussions. It is an endless process that delivers innovation, ideas, and scientific breakthroughs. Without this debate, there would be no improvements. We would still have bloodletting, frontal lobotomies, and cigarettes prescribed for coughs.
Today’s political left sit on a view of fixed science that does not change or evolve, just as the educated elite and the ruling class did in Galileo’s time. And just like the Catholic Church forbidding discussion of the earth revolving around the sun, the elite seek censorship of alternative theories and facts across today’s social media. We saw proof of this in the Twitter Files. Our understanding of COVID-19 and the vaccines should be changing every day. The facts should be discussed and rigorously debated. This is the only way to bring the pandemic to a close and truly save lives.
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