Move over Galileo! Saudi cleric says Earth doesn’t revolve around sun

La Mer

A Saudi cleric has appeared in a video rejecting that Earth revolves around the sun, claiming instead that it is “stationary.” His statements have incited a fiery response on social media.

When questioned by a student about whether the Earth was stationary or moving, Sheikh Bandar al-Khaibari responded with “stationary and does not move,” Saudi-owned broadcaster Al-Arabia reported.


He then attempted to support his theory with a strange blend of logic and clerical statements.

“First of all, where are we now? We’re going to Sharjah Airport to travel to China by plane, [is that] clear? Focus with me, this is the Earth,” he said while holding up a sealed water cup.

He proceeded to say that if the plane stopped dead in its tracks in mid-air, “China would be coming towards it in case the Earth rotates in one direction. If the Earth rotates in the opposite direction, the plane would never reach China, because China is also rotating,” he said.

The shaky reasoning incited a torrent of responses on Twitter under a hashtag which roughly translates as #cleric_rejects_rotation_of_Earth.

http://rt.com/news/233063-saudi-cleric-earth-sun/



Here a translated version of the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yv7MFfIdEQ




http://www.doomjunkie.com/images/smilies/lulz3.jpg

FloatingVoter

Grand, I always had my doubts.

Shurimgreat

Science and religion were never easy bedfellows, in fact both have given each other a wide berth.

AndonHandon

One nut spouts sh1te; disproportionate airtime and unnecessary reaction from the online world.

Always think of this picture when something like this comes up;

http://www.phoenixisrisen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/coming-to-bed.jpg

The_Valeyard

Shurimgreat wrote: »

Science and religion were never easy bedfellows, in fact both have given each other a wide berth.

For the most part they have gotten along alright really.

Gobsh*tes like this do not help though.



Should we put an Islam thread sticky? Since it appears to happen every third day?



Edit: OP, did you actually just steal an RT story title?? Bad form OP, be wary of RT :P :P :P

Turtwig

He talKing about the earth orbiting the sun, or its daily rotation on axis? From the quote it seems to be rotation. Which isn't any easy thing to intuitively experience. (Especially if you live close to the equator.)

Shenshen

That wouldn't happen to be the same fella that recently claimed that women in other counties drive because they don't mind getting raped by every passer-by when their car breaks down?

Donkey Oaty

We have a live one here. Al-Arabyia reports:

In separate statements Sheikh al-Khaibari said man never went to the moon, rejecting NASA’s lunar excursion video as Hollywood fabrication.

They also have news updates on fatwas regarding burkas for babies, all-you-can-eat buffets and the "sin city" that is Dubai.

osarusan

Turtwig wrote: »

He talKing about the earth orbiting the sun, or its daily rotation on axis? From the quote it seems to be rotation. Which isn't any easy thing to intuitively experience. (Especially if you live close to the equator.)

Yeah, I think his answer was a different kind of really stupid (and one that's a little less headline-friendly).

jamesbere

That man is insane, shur the sun isn't real anyway. It's a holographic projection put up by the CIA

padd b1975

Shenshen wrote: »

That wouldn't happen to be the same fella that recently claimed that women in other counties drive because they don't mind getting raped by every passer-by when their car breaks down?

No, this is a different fruitcake.

floggg

Who cares? He's a cleric in a backwards ass country who has little regard for facts.

His opinion on the earths place in the universe Bears as much weight as a scientists opinion on the interpreter of Islamic laws against usury do.

Akrasia

Turtwig wrote: »

He talKing about the earth orbiting the sun, or its daily rotation on axis? From the quote it seems to be rotation. Which isn't any easy thing to intuitively experience. (Especially if you live close to the equator.)

Huh?
If you look up you'll see the sun moving across the sky. That is direct evidence that the earth rotates.

Intuition and low intelligence result in some funny 'logical conclusions'

He seems to think that a plane can not go faster than the rotation speed of the earth. he completely forgets that the plane is travelling at the rotational speed of the earth when it is parked and at rest. When it accellerates, it is travelling at a different speed in relation to the rotational speed of the earth which allows it to change position

It's like those travellators at airports. You can walk at 3mph and get to the gate in 10 minutes by walking on the floor, or you can walk at 3 mph on the travellator and get to the same destination in 5 minutes.

osarusan

Akrasia wrote: »

He seems to think that a plane can not go faster than the rotation speed of the earth. he completely forgets that the plane is travelling at the rotational speed of the earth when it is parked and at rest. When it accellerates, it is travelling at a different speed in relation to the orbital speed of the earth which allows it to change position

It's like those travellators at airports. You can walk at 3mph and get to the gate in 10 minutes by walking on the floor, or you can walk at 3 mph on the travellator and get to the same destination in 5 minutes.

This is Turtwig's point surely - that his horribly flawed reasoning is actually about the earth rotating on its axis, rather than rotating about the sun.

Connemara Farmer

Just be glad he's not the planes pilot, stopping in mid air?

iDave

The Islamic world was once at the forefront of science and mathematics. They salvaged the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. Where did it all go wrong.

Fuzzytrooper

jamesbere wrote: »

That man is insane, shur the sun isn't real anyway. It's a holographic projection put up by the CIA

Sshhhhh it's a secret.

Buford T. Justice XIX

iDave wrote: »

The Islamic world was once at the forefront of science and mathematics. They salvaged the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. Where did it all go wrong.

I was just thinking the same thing. The huge surge in knowledge after the dark ages was in large part due to the sharing of knowledge by muslim scientists with the backward europeans who were restricted by religion for centuries.

Hopefully this is just muslim dark ages and they move out of it in the near future.

The Peanut

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

.

Hopefully this is just muslim dark ages and they move out of it in the near future.

Every 24 hrs isn't it?

Oh wait....

Buford T. Justice XIX

The Peanut wrote: »

Every 24 hrs isn't it?

Oh wait....

Only for 12 hours:P

sbsquarepants

Akrasia wrote: »

It's like those travellators at airports. You can walk at 3mph and get to the gate in 10 minutes by walking on the floor, or you can walk at 3 mph on the travellator and get to the same destination in 5 minutes.

Sorcery - that's what it is.

Wurzelbert

iDave wrote: »

The Islamic world was once at the forefront of science and mathematics. They salvaged the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. Where did it all go wrong.

the ancient greek fountain of wisdom ran dry after a while, and then the rest of the world moved on...

old_aussie

maybe the muslim cleric was hanging out with this guy.....

Muslim scientist says world is flat and the sun revolves around the earth because Quran says so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g84g2KJcUV0

or, was he hanging around with this muslim cleric

A prominent Saudi Arabian cleric has whipped up controversy by issuing a religious ruling forbidding the building of snowmen, described them as anti-Islamic.
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Saudi-cleric-condemns-snowmen-as-anti-Islamic-387479

or, was it the muslim religious police who...

Members of the religious police attend a training course. The Saudi authorities have a unit dedicated specifically to hunting witches.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/saudi-arabias-war-on-witchcraft/278701/

The list of this type of warped behaviour goes on and on and on, and they live in todays world.

I wonder if the book they are reading starts with "Once upon a time" and finishes with "and they all lived happily ever after"

Egginacup

This never happened. The whole report is a farce and a hoax.

It's on RT so it must be a hoax.

AndonHandon

Akrasia wrote: »

Huh?
If you look up you'll see the sun moving across the sky. That is direct evidence that the earth rotates.

Intuition and low intelligence result in some funny 'logical conclusions'

He seems to think that a plane can not go faster than the rotation speed of the earth. he completely forgets that the plane is travelling at the rotational speed of the earth when it is parked and at rest. When it accellerates, it is travelling at a different speed in relation to the orbital speed of the earth which allows it to change position

It's like those travellators at airports. You can walk at 3mph and get to the gate in 10 minutes by walking on the floor, or you can walk at 3 mph on the travellator and get to the same destination in 5 minutes.

That is actually direct evidence that the Earth moves around the sun; indirect evidence would be someone telling you otherwise.

iDave

old_aussie wrote: »

A prominent Saudi Arabian cleric has whipped up controversy by issuing a religious ruling forbidding the building of snowmen, described them as anti-Islamic.
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Saudi-cleric-condemns-snowmen-as-anti-Islamic-387479

Didn't think that would be an issue in Saudi Arabia

riffmongous

Maybe he was just using a different coordinate system?:-P

Akrasia

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I was just thinking the same thing. The huge surge in knowledge after the dark ages was in large part due to the sharing of knowledge by muslim scientists with the backward europeans who were restricted by religion for centuries.

Hopefully this is just muslim dark ages and they move out of it in the near future.

I think part of the problem is that pretty much anyone can become a 'cleric' by just declaring themseves one. Islam is not a heirarchical religion, anyone can be a 'scholar' (as long as you're a man)

To raise through the ranks in Islam, you just need to acquire followers who think you know what you're talking about. Any idiot can be an immam, as long as he can convince other idiots that he knows what he's talking about.

It's no different to the term 'pastor' in christianity. You can just call yourself a pastor of your own crackpot church without having to do anything to prove you are in any way qualified in theology or anything else. In bigger, more heirarchical religions, you need to be appointed a priest or pastor and this usually requires training

Harry Palmr

/googles to see how many Americans think the same...

floggg

iDave wrote: »

The Islamic world was once at the forefront of science and mathematics. They salvaged the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. Where did it all go wrong.

Did I miss the part where this one idiot was appointed as chief scientific advisor and spokesperson for the entire Islamic world?

That would be akin to us appointing Jim Corr as appointing Jim Corr as the official economic advisor and spokesperson for Ireland.

Son Of A Vidic

La Mer wrote: »

Move over Galileo! Saudi cleric says Earth doesn’t revolve around sun

Yet it's not quite as bad, when compared to some Christians who think the Earth was created in six days.

WoollyRedHat

Next he'll be saying there's no sea monsters, looper.

Peregrine

Glad he cleared that up. The globe manufacturers had us fooled for centuries.

Wurzelbert

La Mer wrote: »

http://rt.com/news/233063-saudi-cleric-earth-sun/



Here a translated version of the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yv7MFfIdEQ




http://www.doomjunkie.com/images/smilies/lulz3.jpg

as i think somebody else has already pointed out, what he seems to be talking about with the plane and going to china is the rotation of the earth itself, not earth’s orbit around the sun...so the headline of the article would be wrong or he got it all mixed up anyway...
a pathetic show of idiocy either way. and i would like to see that guy’s explanation of day and night...allah operating a switch or what?

The_Valeyard

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

backward europeans who were restricted by religion for centuries.

Hopefully this is just muslim dark ages and they move out of it in the near future.

I think you will find ancient Christianity very pro science and exploration. It would be the Goths, vandals, Visigoths, and their 'smash smash' strategy that resritcted the progress.

Turtwig

Akrasia wrote: »

Huh?
If you look up you'll see the sun moving across the sky. That is direct evidence that the earth rotates.

Or that the Earth moves around a stationary. Showing the rotation of the Earth isn't a simplistic appeal to common sense. Even less so if you're confined to pre 19th century technology.

kneemos

If the Earth spins at a thousand miles an hour and the airplane travels at five hundred miles an hour does it travel at 1500 or 500 when it takes off?

darkpagandeath

Must have no Idea what a closed system is...

NachoBusiness

Michael Stipe will be fuming.

Turtwig

kneemos wrote: »

If the Earth spins at a thousand miles an hour and the airplane travels at five hundred miles an hour does it travel at 1500 or 500 when it takes off?

Question is nonsensical.

stevedublin

kneemos wrote: »

If the Earth spins at a thousand miles an hour and the airplane travels at five hundred miles an hour does it travel at 1500 or 500 when it takes off?

The plane flies at 500 mph in the opposite direction to which it wants to go, this means it gets there at a speed of 500mph (1000 - 500 = 500).

Standman

But if the earth spins at 1000 miles an hour, how comes when I jump up in the air I don't land in the Atlantic Ocean or in Russia or somethings?????

Dr. Mantis Toboggan

jamesbere wrote: »

That man is insane, shur the sun isn't real anyway. It's a holographic projection put up by the CIA

Duh, Denis O'Brien owns it and he's going to make us pay for sun light.

sbsquarepants

Standman wrote: »

But if the earth spins at 1000 miles an hour, how comes when I jump up in the air I don't land in the Atlantic Ocean or in Russia or somethings?????

You're jumping in the wrong place.
I've jumped and landed in the atlantic - fúcking cold so it was. Haven't landed in Russia yet though so I can't comment on that one:D

gerrybbadd

Seems legit.

Egginacup

floggg wrote: »

Did I miss the part where this one idiot was appointed as chief scientific advisor and spokesperson for the entire Islamic world?

That would be akin to us appointing Jim Corr as appointing Jim Corr as the official economic advisor and spokesperson for Ireland.

Well Sarah Palin was nearly made Vice President of the United States and she thinks the world is 6,000 years old.

Grayson

The_Valeyard wrote: »

I think you will find ancient Christianity very pro science and exploration. It would be the Goths, vandals, Visigoths, and their 'smash smash' strategy that resritcted the progress.

It depended on the time and place really. At the time Constantinople was the centre of learning the west of Europe was in bits. Shortly before a group of Christians had burned down the library of Alexandria.

To say that Christians were anti science isn't really correct as there were at most times places that were pro science (Newton was a devout Christian). However there was normally someone burning books somewhere else.

the_monkey

Ah yes, I love these "Scholars" ...