Interview with Anand Gandhi

1.      I interviewed Anand Gandhi, He studies Eastern philosophy, Hinduism, and Ethics.

2.    He is a very reliable source because he studies religion and ethics, what my topic is focused on.  

3.      I interviewed him through email and he got back to me a few days ago, he was a really nice guy and was really helpful

Dear Peter,
Sorry for the delayed response. I have been slightly tied up with some work of my own but I thought I'd take the time to respond to your email. Honestly, it would be much easier to talk about these things in person so I will briefly respond and we can go into it further when you have some time to talk perhaps over the weekend or something. But for now here it is....

How did the church become so powerful in the past, and what started its decline from power? 
1. The Church became powerful because of the efforts of its early followers who really gave their all to spread the message of Christ. The Apostles did their part but even after that, certain kings used their influence to also spread Christianity. Moreover, there was a heavy use of force and as the European nations went around the world, they took the message of Christ with them everywhere. The decline really began in the medieval era as corruption began in the Church. Martin Luther and the Reformation are certainly the pinnacle of it but even before that you see people like Marsilius of Padua, John Hus and others who found problems in the way the church was expanding into worldly matters. People saw priests hoarding money, living lavishly and controlling political power and this all started to create questions. There was also the matter of science which I believe is your area of interest. As science advanced and discoveries were made, the Church found itself unable to accept and adjust to the new times. The Christian theology was too narrow and it could not make sense of the scientific knowledge. This led people to wonder if the Church was just outdated and that really hurt its image and its influence.


Why was the catholic church so quick to denounce ideas in the past?
2. From what I understand, the Church denounced those ideas because it felt that it undermined its authority. If they admitted that someone else was right, it would be like saying, "We don't know it all and we are wrong." This would take away from the idea that the Church was God's creation and it alone had all the answers. For this reason, they were quick to reject new ideas and new discoveries.

Does the church still reject new ideas and theories? And if so, why do you think that is? 
3.To be honest, I have little knowledge of the Church's current practices but I do know that over the past century they have forgiven many of the people previously labelled as "heretics" or enemies of the Church. I think this is in part to their growing acceptance of science and new ideas. That being said, the Church is still holding strong to many of its beliefs that it finds fundamental to it and I believe it will continue to do so because that is what makes the Church different and gives it its identity.

I am not sure if that is of any help to you but I would be more than happy to help you get in touch with someone who is more of an expert on Christianity if you are interested. My field of work is a bit narrower (I focus on Hinduism, Eastern Philosophy and Ethics) but I have plenty of friends who might be of help.

Good luck with your studies,
Anand

Suppression of Ideas; Science vs. The Bible

            In this  book, Charles E. Hummel  explains that whenever the bible and science disagreed, the catholic church made sure to suppress the new ideas.


           One example that supports this main idea is when Galileo Galilei was trying to advance technology in science, and more specifically, astronomy, he presented his idea that the earth was not the center of the galaxy, his theory was that we were orbiting the sun. The catholic church, however, had been preaching the the geocentric model, in which everything orbited our earth. When they heard Galileo's "wild" theory he was put under house arrest for contradicting the bible and church's teachings. The author goes on to explain that whenever the bible and science disagreed, the church made sure to suppress the new ideas. Another example that supports this main idea is how many scientists have basically proven the theory of evolution, but the church continues to deny anything but the words of the bible. Finally, the author gives the fact that the church denies many things regarded as scientific law as to keep people believing in their ideas. If science were to prove something that discredits the bible, people may lose faith and the church would lose power. to keep their place in the world, the church keeps ideas from surfacing or they called the scientist a heretic and made sure nobody believed them.

          These ideas are similar to the crusades where the people in power did anything they could to get people to believe what they wanted them to. Even killing those who didn't. 

Galileo Galilei and the Roman Catholic Church

Peter Brewer
Blog post 2
URLs of sources: http://www.school.eb.com/all/comptons/article-9274476?query=Galileo%20church&ct=null

• In what ways has religion stopped scientific truths from being accepted?
• "In 1616 galileo received a formal warning that the Copernican theory was contrary to the teachings of the church."- This kind of thinking seemed to come from the church every time somebody created a scientific theory that contradicted their beliefs. They were unable to tolerate new ideas. The roman catholic church put him under house arrest for the final eight years of his life for teaching the Copernican theory that we were not the center of the universe. He wasn't pardoned until almost 350 years later.
• The church seemed to be stopping any information that might cause people to falter in their beliefs, they were unable to adapt or accept ONE new idea of a respected astronomer for 350 years, just because they had been teaching something else for so long.

Has organized religion been overall good or bad for scientific advancements?

Peter Brewer
Blog Entry 1

• Has organized religion been overall good or bad for scientific advancements?
• In what ways has religion stopped scientific truths from being accepted?
• Has organized religion advanced technology, or inspired advancements?
• Over time, how has the church adjusted to new ideas?
• Why does the church react this way?