The Mysteries of History (February 13 Edition)
Galileo a Heretic?, Firebombing of Dresden
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, 1905
1633 — Galileo Charged as a Heretic
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When he was almost seventy years old, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was called on the red carpet on this day in 1633 to answer to charges of heresy because he publicly acknowledged that he agreed with Copernicus (1473-1543) that the earth revolved around the sun, not vice versa. The catholic church took issue with that belief (which, of course, is true), asserting instead that the earth was the center of the universe and the sun revolved around it (which is not a Bible-based teaching, just a cockamamie idea they came up with for some reason).
This demonization of Galileo was part of the illogically-named Inquisition (illogical because the closed minds of the “inquirers” didn’t really want to know the truth). The church (which practically ruled Italy at the time) sentenced Galileo to house arrest; the professor, philosopher, inventor, mathematician, and earth-bound explorer of outer space (astronomer) died nine years later at his home near Florence, Italy, in early 1642.
Galileo’s shoulders were among those Isaac Newton “stood on” when furthering scientific understanding.
In 1992, after a mere 329 years to think it over, the catholic church finally formally and officially admitted the obvious: that they had been wrong in their astronomically ridiculous conclusions about the Solar System and in their unconscionably and irrationally harsh treatment of Galileo.
Questions: Why do you think the catholic church stubbornly held to their wild conjecture that the sun revolved around the earth — was there any evidence for that? Why would they WANT to think that? Which religions continue to espouse beliefs that defy logic? What did Galileo do while under house arrest?
1945 — Firebombing of Dresden
public domain image from wikimedia commons
The Allied (American and British) firebombing of Dresden, Germany, on this night in 1945 resulted in the death of approximately 25,000 people, mostly German non-combatants. The city burned for days after that, and the hospitals in the area that were still operational were unable to care for the vast numbers of those injured; mass burials were also necessary due to similar circumstances.
Five and a half years previously, near the start of the war, the Washington Post ran an article with the reassuring statement that “Both Sides Agree Not to Bomb Civilians.” So much for that; had the residents of Hamburg, Dresden, and later Hiroshima and Nagasaki drawn comfort from that promise?
At the Yalta Conference held earlier in February 1945, the Allies had agreed to bomb German cities who were heavily involved in supporting the war effort (manufacturing munitions and such). Dresden, however, was no such city. Why it was selected for destruction is still an open question. The “overkill” (no pun intended) was possibly meant “simply” to punish the German government and demoralize German citizens.
Renowned American writer Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) wrote an anti-war novel entitled Slaughterhouse-Five based on his experiences as a survivor of the firebombing of Dresden (he was a U.S. Army solider and POW at the time, and survived the ferocious bombing due to his being held in a meat locker of a slaughterhouse).
Questions: What good, if any, came from the firebombing of Dresden? What besides the obviously more important human lives was lost in the destruction of Dresden? What was it known as and for? Have you read Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-House” or any of his other works?
