Once upon a time, the consensus was that the sun revolved around the earth. But Galileo Galilei did not accept this orthodoxy, so Father Vincenzo Maculani da Firenzuoloa began an inquisition into Galileo for his heresy.
On June 22, 1633, the Church issued its findings: “We pronounce, judge, and declare, that you, the said Galileo … have rendered yourself vehemently suspected by this Holy Office of heresy, that is, of having believed and held the doctrine (which is false and contrary to the Holy and Divine Scriptures) that the sun is the center of the world, and that it does not move from east to west, and that the earth does move, and is not the center of the world.”
They ordered: “. . . that by a public edict the book of Dialogues of Galileo Galilei be prohibited . . .”
Of course today, we know that earth revolves around the sun despite what the best and brightest minds thought back in and before the 1600’s, but it took more than 300 years for the Church to admit that Galileo was right and to then clear his name of heresy.
Now, I am not saying that climate change is not real (or real for that matter). I make no claim about it either way. That fact is irrelevant to my point.
What I ask is: In banning ads that “deny the scientific consensus”, how is Big Tech any different from the Church of the 1600’s? They act like inquisitors moving to silence those who do not conform to the “consensus” and those who “believed and held the doctrine (which is false and contrary to . . .” that accepted “consensus.”
Galileo agreed to refrain from teaching his “heresy”. Ultimately, he was confined to house arrest for the remainder of his life and weekly required to recite the Seven Penitential Psalms. I cannot help but wonder when such punishment will be meted out to those who dare to confront any current “consensus”.