The Principle

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The Principle is a documentary and project of noted traditionalist Catholic crank, Robert Sungenis, dealing with Sungenis' current hobby horse, modern geocentrism first released on the 24th October 2014. In comparison to much of Sungenis' work, the film seems to have distinctly crisp production values, along with a cast of famous personalities providing narration. This isn't to say that the movie looks good, only that it looks much better than the astronomy clip art and watermarked stock photos often used on Sungenis' blog. It also isn't to say that all of the involved personalities knew what they were providing audio for… or even the fact Sungenis was involved.

General overview[edit]

The eponymous principle appears to be the "Copernican principle", the idea that the Earth is not at the center of the Universe and is, in fact, not all that special. Needless to say, the film is dedicated to debunking this principle, and proving that the world and humanity are in fact at the center of everything. It is the basis of the infamous geocentrist tome, also by Sungenis, Galileo Was Wrong,^[1] the title of which strongly suggests that it is chock-full of wingnuttery. While the film has reached some level of fame online, it seems unlikely to be "one of the most controversial films of our time" as suggested by the official website.^[2] The most worrying possible effect of the film would be an increase in interest in geocentrism among fundamentalist Christians, much like the effect of The Genesis Flood on the creationist movement in the late 1960s. Outside of extremely conservative circles (read: idiotic echo chambers), the film is unlikely to be anything more than a blip on the radar of public consciousness. According to IMDb, the film grossed US$86,172 as of April 2015.^[3]

Celebrity and scientist involvement[edit]

Kate Mulgrew and Lawrence Krauss, one a celebrity and the other a scientist, involved in the production of The Principle have stated that they were duped into participating in the documentary; Mulgrew stated that she wasn't even aware of Sungenis' involvement until the trailer came out and would have refused outright had she been. While it seems oddly underhanded for a member of a religion that preaches against deception to use such tactics, it has been done before.

Physicists Michio Kaku, Max Tegmark, and Julian Barbour and other scientists also appear in the film,^[4] and were also tricked into appearing.^[5][6]

External links[edit]

• Official web site of The Principle.
• Physicist Lawrence Krauss' debunking of the film.
• Star Trek actress was not pleased at being tricked into starring in this movie.

References[edit]