The Earth doesn’t orbit the sun. The sun orbits the earth. The Bible says so, and these guys are offering $1000 to anybody who can prove differently:
http://www.catholicintl.com/epologetics/articles/science/geochallenge.htm
Now, I know their logic is absolutely bullet proof, what with the Bible being on their side and all, but if any of you guys collect the grand I want $50 for a finders fee, m’kay?
This challenge appears to have originated in 2002. Hmmmm.
This is interesting–
I wonder if this standard applies to Catholic dogma as well?
Here the rules seem to shift a bit–
Not exactly as first stated, is it? My guess is that whatever animal this turns out to be, there’s a whole lotta weasel in it.
What’s the use? I could float in space above the solar north pole for a year and record the movement of the planets on my Sony camcorder and it still wouldn’t convince them.
It may not be possible to prove it, if one wants to be prickly about demanding absolute frames of reference and whatnot. You can argue against the Earth being the unmoving center of the universe, pointing out that if the stars are such-and-such distance away, they would have to complete a circle 2π times that amount in 24 hours, putting their speed well above that of light.
Getting them to buy that the stars are that far away and the speed of light is a limiting factor is another matter.
Is there a chance we’re all being whooshed here?
I checked the site and found this and this .
Also, are apologists in the habit of calling themselves apologists? It’s always struck me as a negative term used to describe dishonest debators. I could be wrong though.
If it’s not a whoosh, these people are dumber than a box of hammers.
Classicaly, an apologist is a defender, or an explainer.Cite.
Well, yeah, I know about the classical use of the term. My question was whether organizations still called themselves that today. It strikes me as odd. Then again, so do these guys :dubious: .
One more thing–and this is a stretch, I’ll admit. Doesn’t the name “Sungenis” remind you of anything else? Anything at all?
Huh? Hasn’t the Official Church position basically fallen back to the big bang and before? The CC has accepted all this stuff.
Is this just a test for making the argument in an original way 
It boggles the mind that there could be people, seemingly educated people, that can even suggest this position to be true. In an age of space flight were the calculations of planetary movement can land vehicles on other heavenly bodies (like a comet!) how can this even be spoken with a straight face?
Well, it seems to me, if you can put together a Foucault pendulum for under $1000, you’re going to make a profit on the deal. Straightforward, really …
Sorry. This threw me off–
Nitpick - They orbit each other or better both orbit the center of mass of the 2 objects (with other gravitational influnces like the moon).
No probs. (That dubious smiley wasn’t meant for you, btw.)
You better find a way to make it a problem. This is the Pit, buddy. And oh yeah. The mods can kiss my assface!
Yes, there are people who self-identify as apologists and see it as a perfectly valid title. We even had a guy on the SDMB a few years ago who self-identified as a “Catholic apologist.” He didn’t stay around long, though.
Sungenis appears to be a real author. I don’t think this is a joke, although I could be wrong.
Daniel
It is a perfectly valid title, or, rather, description.
Yeesh! Looks like they’re dumb as a box of hammers after all.
I love their employment section, specifically their ad for an e-marketer:
BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAHHHH!!! Yeah, where do I sign? Part of me wants to apply for the job and then sit down with friends and hold a pool to see who can get these guys a gig in the worst hellhole in North America.
It’s so much funnier now that I know it’s real.