Right next to the Flat Earthers must be the Geocentric crowd, who seem to be comprised of extremely traditional Catholics, led by Robert Sungenis.
Loonwatch notes it in some bemusement, here. Skeptical Inquirer (January/February 2015, print only) has “Modern Geocentrism: A Case Study of Pseudoscience in Astronomy,” by Matthew P. Wiesner, discussing how the current believers fit the profile of classic pseudoscience, including a distrust of math when its results do not fit their preconceptions. Geocentrism Debunked continues to criticize the movement from a theological viewpoint in Geocentrism: Tempest in a Teapot or Theological Shipwreck?:
“while geocentrism itself isn’t heretical, the argument made by the new geocentrists concerning the alleged centuries-long failure of the Magisterium to uphold the Faith runs headlong into a position that the Church has declared formally heretical.”
The balance of the article revolves around parts of the Catholic faith, whether the motion of the Earth is part of the Magisterium, etc.
I’m an agnostic; it’s a tempest in a teapot, an interesting microcosm of humanity’s ability to deliberately misunderstand the world while staring at its navel. I’m at too great a distance to take a credible guess at any hidden motives of this particular collection of believers, and it’d probably be in poor taste anyways. So I’ll just remember perhaps the wisest thing I’ve ever read about religion:
One man’s religion is another man’s belly laugh.
