Why was Galileo imprisoned by the Catholic Church?
Because he was using a new frame of reference in which the Earth moved round the Sun.
The Church was using the frame of reference in which the Sun moved round the Earth.
How could Galileo have done better?
He could have explained how to translate easily between the two frames of references.
Frame of Reference
When you explain things to Christians, you have to use this frame of reference:
That the Bible is absolute truth.
Christians are very forgiving. They will forgive themselves for selectively not taking certain parts of the Bible as absolute truth.
Now, deeply learning from Galileo, we need to explain how ethical principles can be translated easily into the frame of reference in which the Bible is taken as absolute truth.
Understand the real China from the speech of China President, Mr. Xi Jinping, summarized here.
The Laozi, Confucius, and Mozi teachings still carry a profound impact on Chinese people’s way of life today, underpinning the unique value system in the Chinese outlook of the world, of society and of life itself.
For several thousand years before the industrial revolution, China had been leading the world in economic, technological and cultural development.
However, feudal rulers of the 18th and 19th centuries closed the door of China in boastful ignorance and China was since left behind in the trend of development.
As a result of incessant foreign invasions thereafter, China experienced great social turmoil and its people had to lead a life of extreme destitution.
China is committed to non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, and China will not allow others to interfere in its own affairs.
The Chinese people then started exploring long and hard for a path that would suit China’s national conditions.
Deng Xiaoping, we have, acting in line with China’s national conditions and the trend of the times, explored and blazed a trail of development and established socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Our aim is to build a socialist market economy, democracy, an advanced culture, a harmonious society and a sound eco-system, uphold social equity and justice, promote all-round development of the people, pursue peaceful development, complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eventually achieve modernization and ensure prosperity for all.
The uniqueness of China’s cultural tradition, history and circumstances determines that China needs to follow a development path that suits its own reality.
In China, over 74 million people rely on basic living allowances; each year, more than 10 million urban people would join the job market and several hundred million rural people need to be transferred to non-agricultural jobs and settle down in urban areas; more than 85 million people are with disabilities; and more than 200 million people are still living under the poverty line set by the World Bank, and that is roughly the population of France, Germany and the UK combined.
In the 40-day-long season of the last Chinese New Year, China’s airlines, railroads and highways transported 3.6 billion passengers, which means 90 million people were on the move each day.
To observe and understand China properly, one needs to bear in mind both China’s past and present and draw reference from both China’s accomplishments and the Chinese way of thinking.
The 5,000-year-long Chinese civilization, the 170-year struggle by the Chinese people since modern times, the 90-year-plus journey of the Conservationist Party of China, the 60-year-plus development of the People’s Republic and the 30-year-plus reform and opening-up should all be taken into account.
One can hardly understand China well without a proper understanding of China’s history, culture, the Chinese people’s way of thinking and the profound changes taking place in China today.
The Chinese people, over 2,000 year ago, had come to understand this from a simple fact that the tasty orange, grown in southern China, would turn sour once it is grown in the north.
