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The powers that be have throughout history caused grief when new ideas were presented. These powers consisted of the Catholic Church and British Monarchy. Despite the actions of established industries, individuals have encountered strife’s in religion, government, and science. Three men that overcame these odds were Martin Luther, Galileo Galilei, and Thomas Paine.

Martin Luther was a monk. He believed that the Catholic Church was corrupt. Luther objected to priest having concubines (which lead to children out of wedlock).

He also disagreed with the simony for positions in the church and nepotism. To display these discrepancies he wrote the “95 theses”. It was an explained list of what was wrong with the church. In retaliation the church burned and banned Luther’s books. However, their actions were too late. Citizens had already begun to retaliate against the Catholic Church and leave. These ex Catholics became protestant. In modern times the Catholic Church has reformed and the performance of priests has improved.

Galileo Galilei took a huge interest in astronomy. He believed that the sun had dark spots and Jupiter had four moons. Galilei also believed that the earth’s moon had a rough exterior. These beliefs supported the ideas of Copernicus however, went against the beliefs of the Church. Due to his beliefs Galilei was summoned to the courts. He was then forced to recant his beliefs in order to live. For the rest of his life he was kept under house arrest. The world today accepts the theories of Galileo as proven fact and apart of science. In 1992 the Catholic Church publicly announced that Galileo’s ideas were also correct.

The author of “common sense” was Thomas Paine. He was a political journalist during the 1700’s in Philadelphia Paine believed that self governing was inevitable for the colonies he often pondered why the large colonies of American were governed by an inferior country such as Britain. These ideas were thought as by the colonist as common sense and soon caused a revolution against the British Monarchy. Paine originally from Britain was seen a trader and rebel. Not only did Paine write of the colonies becoming independent, but of creating a declaration. Today, America is dependent on Britain. The country also has a Declaration of Independence influenced by the suggestions of Thomas Paine.

Despite the actions of the Catholic Church and British Monarchy individuals persevered. These three men were correct in their ideas and theories. Martin Luther, Galileo, and Thomas Paine reformed in religion, government, and science.