Far-Right Group Wants to Ban Kids From Reading Books on Male Seahorses, Galileo, and MLKIt turns out that they are raising hell about school propaganda, but not banning kids from reading books.Moms for Liberty is raising hell in a Tennessee school district over books that teach about race in American history — and also books that teach about wild animals and science.
At one juncture, the group implores the school district to include more charitable descriptions of the Catholic Church when teaching a book about astronomer Galileo Galilei, who was persecuted by said church for suggesting that Earth revolves around the sun.No, Galilei was not persecuted by said church for suggesting that Earth revolves around the sun. The public schools certainly should not be using historically inaccurate books.“Where is the HERO of the church?” the group’s spreadsheet asks, “to contrast with their mistakes? There are so many opportunities to teach children the truth of our history as a nation. The Church has a huge and lasting influence on American culture. Both good and bad should be represented. The Christian church is responsible for the genesis of Hospitals, Orphanages, Social Work, Charity, to name a few.”
The Tennessee moms are not seeking to avoid the Galileo story, but merely to teach the good and the bad.
The way the story is often presented, kids get the impression that the Church was systematically persecuting scientists for suggesting new ideas. In fact, the Pope invited Galileo to write a scientific book on the pros and cons of his heliocentric ideas that the Sun is at the center of the universe. And there is no other example of a persecuted scientist, as Galileo was supposedly persecuted.
By all means, teach the Galileo story. Teach how nearly all of the scientific advances of the last 500 years came from Christian Europe and America. Teach how other cultures failed to make any significant advances in astronomy.
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