Category Archives: Galileo

Looking Through the Telescope, Part 2: Climate and Religion

December 10, 2024 By in climate, Galileo 3 Comments
Looking Through the Telescope, Part 2: Climate and Religion

Four moons landed Galileo in trouble. 

The seventeenth century Church assumed that the earth was the center of All There Is. But here comes Galileo with his fancy new telescope and visual evidence of four moons orbiting Jupiter. 

Galileo set his telescope up in public and invited critics to look for themselves. 

But opposition to Galileo was never about the evidence. Opposition was so much NOT about the evidence that some people simply refused to look through the telescope. Hard pass, they said. I’m good, they said. Nothing to see here.

It’s easy to be judgy about the scientific positions of 17th century folk. After all, doctors still believed that disease was caused by an imbalance of bile, blood, and phlegm. What a sick person really needs is a good bloodletting! 

In the Year of Our Lord 2024, religious beliefs still obscure the telescope for many people, and climate science always makes the top three in religion-rooted denial. 

A new study found that the more strongly a person believes “God is in control of the earth”, the LESS likely they are to (1) believe that climate change is a real problem, (2) attribute climate change to human activity, and (3) support policies addressing climate change. 

Disappointing to say the least, but not the most disconcerting finding . . .

Those who were told that only God is in control of earth’s future, were less likely to request (when offered) climate-related evidence from NOAA. A peek in the telescope? No thank you. 

This last finding tracks with the contemporary melding of evangelicalism and right-leaning politics, both of which are predictors of negative environmental attitudes. 

Here’s former Trump staffer and SBC activist William Wolfe: “At the end of the day . . . we know that God has given us everything in creation to be used for our good and His glory. And yes, that includes plastic straws and big trucks. . . This world will be brought to an end when God decides that it is time, and not a moment before.”

Then there’s Tim Walberg (R-MI): “I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us. And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.”

Politicians and pastors speak with authority, but seldom with expertise. 

People of faith in a modern scientific world need to speak with evidence-informed voices. 

Don’t be afraid to look. 

LINKS:

Kane, J.V., Perry, S.L. Belief in divine (versus human) control of earth affects perceived threat of climate change. npj Clim. Action 3, 78 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-024-00163-9

Preston, Jesse L., Shin, Faith. Opposing effects of Spirituality and Religious Fundamentalism on environmental attitudes. Journal of Environmental Psychology (Vol. 80) 2022. 

Pew Research (November 14, 2022) Highly religious Americans are less concerned about climate change, less convinced human activity is causing warmer temperatures.

GALILEO, A TELESCOPE, AND TEXAS STUDENTS

November 24, 2024 By in Cy Fair ISD, Galileo Tags: , Leave a comment

Galileo didn’t invent the telescope, but he built the best one in his day. 

Galileo turned his fancy new telescope toward Jupiter and made a shocking discovery: four moons! Four moons orbit the giant planet! It was the seventeenth century equivalent of headline-making-break in-news. 

Today, Jupiter has 95 officially recognized moons, so why all the excitement about four?

Those four moons landed Galileo in big trouble with the Church. 

The official position of the Church was an earth-centered universe: all stars, all moons, all planets orbit the earth. After all, the Bible clearly says that the earth is fixed and cannot be moved. And, more importantly, if earth is not the center of it all, then humans are not the center of God’s attention . . . and Christian theology falls apart.

Galileo set his telescope up in public and invited critics to look for themselves. See the evidence with your own two eyes, he said. 

But opposition to Galileo was never about the evidence. Opposition was so much NOT about the evidence that some people simply refused to look through the telescope.

Hard pass, they said. I’m good, they said. Nothing to see here.

This past spring, the board of the third largest school district in Texas, Cy-Fair ISD in the Houston area, voted overwhelmingly to ban thirteen chapters in approved science textbooks for the 2024-2025 school year. 

The banned chapters cover topics deemed “controversial” by the board: climate change, vaccines, and human impact on the earth and its ecosystems. 

No science teachers or science administrators were involved in the decision. 

State Representative Jon Rosenthal has kids in Cy-Fair. Here’s Rosenthal: “They’re choosing to not prepare them for the possibility of entering the scientific community or even understanding some of the stuff that drives our modern science and medical profession now.”

The textbooks can be used, but we must pretend the banned chapters aren’t there. Nothing to see here – just ignore that evidence. 

The Sci-Fair school board simply refuses to look through the telescope.

 And sadly, the students aren’t allowed to look, either.