Why are geocentrists trying to undo centuries worth of accepted science?

Most people probably assume the scientific debate over the Earth’s place in the universe has been settled for centuries, but a small group of conspiracy theorists have been quietly pushing the idea that Galileo was wrong.

The Raw Story brought them blinking into the light earlier this week with a report on their plans to release “The Principle,” a film narrated by “Star Trek: Voyager” actress Kate Mulgrew and featuring interviews with several prominent scientists, that questioned the Copernican principle placing the sun at the center of the universe.

Mulgrew and scientist Lawrence Krauss both reacted to the controversy by claiming they’d been duped by the geocentrists — and two of their ideological opponents say the group intends to dupe the public.

The film’s producers deny it promotes geocentrism but instead focuses only on the Copernican principle that lends the movie its name.

“The difference between geocentrism and denying the Copernican principle is not subtle,” said physicist Alec MacAndrew. “In the former case, the claim is that the Earth is stationary at the center of the universe. In the latter case the claim is much more vague – that the Earth is somehow in a privileged or unusual position.”

While he called the geocentric view “utter bunkum,” MacAndrew said the Copernican principle offered “a nice cosmological and philosophical question.”

The film’s principal backer – Robert Sungenis — is also developing another film that will focus on geocentrism to be released after “The Principle.”

“There can be no doubt that for these individuals a full-blown geocentrism is the end game in view,” said David Palm, a theologian who has tangled online with Sungenis and his allies over their philosophies. “It has always been the ulterior motive behind finding scientists who could be enlisted to question the Copernican principle. They’re essentially trying to soften up their audiences by presenting less fringe and controversial material before hitting them with the full monty, so to speak.”

continue at RawStory

David Palm is a friend and Sconnie.  He blogs on the topic at Geocentrism Debunked.