The Cadre, Thursday, September 30,' 1976. Page 6-.
From The 'Brunswickan ' BySARAH AND PATK.
_In the beginning the earth was flat.
Man did not dispute this, because, after all, it was ‘plane’ to see that it was true. All they needed to do was to look out the cave and see for themselves. Life was simple and uncomplicated and flat.
And it came to pass, in ancient Greece, that a man called Pythagoras suggested that the earth was not flat but spherical. The man was obviously suffering from illusions. But 10 and behold, some people began to go along with this lunatic’s ravings. These people, the Pythagoreans, “performed savage spinning dances of a ritualistic nature which often resulted in blood-letting sacrifices. These dances led to the»,,i,de;r ;of a spinning earth, around a eehtral"' immovable fire. This then was :gyr‘og'lobularism.”
But since Man knew the earth to be flat, this‘theory was generally ignored until later centuries. ‘ -
And it came to pass . . . . again, in the 16th Century _ Copernicus “informed the then- skeptical world that, quite in contradiction of long-standing belief (not to mention the incontrovertable evidence of everyone’s eyes ); the sun did not revolve daily around thecentral and immobile earch According to Copernicus, rather did the reverse apply, so that it was the earth itself (together with the planets) which rotated around the central and immovable sun.”
Isaac Newton went even further to explain the movements of Heavenly bodies with his law of universal, gravitation. People chose to believe his theories, “not because they were true, but because they simplified the mystery."
From this point on, Man “fell prey” to the
scientific theories and globuraristThey began to turn away from the one thing that
was universally obvious -- Common sense. It -
was no longer “seeing is believing”. Rather it became “if something appears to be so, it can‘t be so."
And it came to pass a third time, on November 8, 1970 there were two men with an unlimited amount of common sense. One was; Dr. Leo Ferrari, professor of philosophy at St. Thomas University in Fredencton, NB. and Residence Fellow at Harrison House UNB and the other was Dr.
Alden Nowlan. famed columnist and writer 7 -
in residence at the University. of New Brunswick in Fredericton. ‘ The conversatiOn that took place on that memorable evening, “after a heavy night of drink. I mean. thinking” is now considered one of the . most sensible exchange of words on record.
The. dialogue was as follows:
“Leo. do you think the earth is flat?”
“Of course the earth is flat, anyone can see that?"
A mo." ...ts silence.
are, do you realize that history has just been made. We have just founded the Flat Earth Society!”
Since this most historical moment, the Flat ’
Earth Society has eXpanded to the present
100 members, from many countries of the ,
world. . Leo Ferrari has written a book which he
% TheEarthis-
uanbmed Mats A‘q ozoqd
calls “the Earth is Flat, An ExpoSe of the Globuralist Hoax.” . _ r
Dr. Ferrari has lectured ,widely on “planoterrestrialism” (the study of the flat earth). He has} made several appearances on national television, on such programs as W-5 and Front Page Challenge. He also has been the subject of articles in various magazines across the country.
Dr. Ferrari said that the world is now "
experiencing a “crisis of common sense” and that we discount our own experiences for theories. ' .
He said of the Flat Earth Society, “We are very down to Earth people. We are great believers in Terra Firma and the more Firma‘ the less Terra.” For the skeptics amongst you he ‘offers this question, “Is the earth flat well take a look.” Dr. Ferrari commented that more and more, people do not believe their own eyes, but believe in what they are told is so;
Dr. Ferrari and the Flat Earth Society wants to work toward “a human earth in a human universe in which we. can once more live as human beings.” Q
One of the" main concerns of the planeterrestrialists, is that the glObularists (from here-on-in to be known as “globs”) are and have been for many years, suffering from “terraphobia” or fear. "of Mother Earth, fear of dirt.
Beginning with the theory that the earth is an insignificant speck of cosmos in the universe, Man has attempted to get away from the protection of Mother Earth. Pavements that-covered the earth were built‘for us to walk on; highrise apartments were built for us to live_in;. airplanes were built for us to fly in -- everyday something
new is being built that takesfurther away
» from contact with-Mother.,Earth, the earth
that is our foundation, 'o‘ur' nourishment and the earth that receives us when we die. ’
’This__ terraphobia developed to even
greater “heights” when rockets were built to go to the Moon. Why, research is being done now to find ways .for us to live on the Moon in the future!
Man has bastardized the word “dirt”. Dirt is associated with the Devil in that God-is in
. the Heavens and the Devil is considered to
be in .the bowels of theEarth. v
Country people are looked down upon by some people because they live off the land; they are “dirty”. The word “dirt” took on new meanings besides “soil”; it began to
' , mean “shameful” 'and “disgusting”. When ‘ ,one speaks fof pornographic movies. and
books, they call them “dirty”""movies and “dirty” books,. cleaning solutions are
' “stronger than dirt”. Dirt is Man’s enemy.
The crusade against dirt is constantly accelerating. When one speaks ,of some place being very dirty, one visualizes an army of housewives armed to the teeth with
rmOps, brooms, cans upon cans of'cleaning
fluids and aerosols to fight this dreaded enemy." _ ' v As is admitted on television advertise-
' ments, the best times a family has, seems to ‘
be “getting-dirty times”, and yet they go against this by saying that such-and-such detergent will get clothes cleaner than any other. Everyone is always concerned with removing Mother Earth from their clothes, as if it is something evil and will harm us.
Planoterrestrialists want us to get back to
' living off the land; they are “down to earth”
people.