The Scourge of Keplarism

I consider it to be a moral imperative that we take action to combat the habit of teaching, in our public schools, the doctrine that the sun, and not the earth, is the center of the solar system.

There can be little doubt that this view, known as the Heliocentric Theory of the Solar System, is a pernicious doctrine that is substantially responsible for much of the moral decay that we have seen in the world.

This theory was first proposed by Johannes Keplar. Since then, Keplarists have taken control of the scientific community, driving out all other competing theories. These days the scientific community is involved in its own crusade to demand that all scientists adhere (or, at least, publicly profess allegiance) to the Heliocentric theory.

Let any scientist dare mention that he believes in geocentrism, and you can well bet that the rest of the scientific community will rush to bully him into silence. A geocentrist would almost immediately be declared ineligible to hold any position of merit in the astronomical community, and a geocentrist would almost certainly be denied his right of free speech should he happen to try to teach geocentrism in the classroom.

Unfortunately, when we teach children that the earth is a mere speck of dust circling the sun, and not the center of the universe, they cannot help but draw the conclusion that neither they nor the rest of humanity has any special significance. Whereas if we teach them that the Earth is the center of the solar system – that, in fact, the whole universe revolves around the earth – this cannot help but full them with the sense that they in specific, and humanity on the whole, has a special place and a special significance.

We can see the problem by simply noting the historical fact that, throughout history, no regimes have killed as many people or done as much harm to their fellow human beings then those regimes that were lead by Keplarists. Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, every one of these leaders – responsible, between them, for hundreds of millions of deaths – were Keplarists. All of them held the view that since the Earth was not the center of the universe, and that their actions had no moral significance since they only concerned people living on a speck of dust circling an non-descript star in a mundane galaxy.

With the teaching of Keplarism in the public schools, it is little wonder that teenagers these days engage in so much reckless behavior. Without the sense that they and their classmates are, in some way, special, there is no need for them to care about their fellow students or even about themselves. Is it any wonder that we have seen such a rise in teen pregnancy, suicide, and school violence?

One way we can start to put an end to this moral decay in our schools, and in our society as a whole, is to put geocentrism back in the schools and to teach children that humans hold a place of special significance at the center of the universe.

I want to remind the reader that Keplarism is just a theory. It is known, even among scientists, as the heliocentric THEORY of the solar system. It is not a fact, and it should not be taught as if it were a fact.

Even if we cannot get Keplarism removed from the schools, we should at least fight to warn students that what they are being presented with is just a theory. We should be able to tell them that they should consider the evidence carefully. We should at least put warning stickers on all text books that teach Keplarism that tells the students that Keplarism is just a theory, that it is not a fact, and that they should consider alternative explanations.

I am certain that this is what the people want. I do not know of any polls that have been done on this issue. However, I would bet that if you ask people if they think that scientists, in presenting the heliocentric theory of the solar system to their students, should also teach alternatives to the heliocentric theory, their natural sense of fairness would move them to answer, "Yes." Geocentrism SHOULD be taught in the public schools along side heliocentrism in science classes.

It is only fair.

One of the great strengths of America is our right to freedom of speech and freedom of belief. Those rights dictate that teachers be allowed – even required – to teach alternatives to Keplarism in the science classroom. This is all we are asking for. We demand that the state respect our right to freedom of speech and freedom of belief by giving geocentrism equal time in the public schools alongside Keplarism.

It is time to quit discriminating against geocentrists in the public schools just because of their beliefs, and to teach not only the children but the school administrators themselves to respect the diverse views of the teaching community.

This is not only good science, it is a way of teaching children to grow up to become better citizens – fellow members of a community that is so important that it sits at the very center of the universe.