Rubio, GOP Stumbling Away from Creationist Nonsense

[Ed Hudgins]

Rubio, GOP Stumbling Away from Creationist Nonsense
By Edward Hudgins

December 4, 2012 -- Religious fundamentalists in the Republican Party scare away sensible voters when they inject their superstitions into public forums.

Many fundamentalists, for example, reject the laws of biological and geological evolution. Some even seek to foist this dogma onto school curricula as a legitimate alternative to knowledge gained through the scientific method.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida (a possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate) was recently asked about the age of the Earth in a GQ interview. He responded, “I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. ... At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says.”

Asked about Rubio’s GQ exchange, Jeb Bush Jr., the son of former Florida governor Jeb Sr., called it a “kind of a strange response" to a "strange question.” He added that “We’ve got to be a kind of pro-science and pro-technology party. And I think Marco Rubio is just that.” Jeb Jr. concluded that “On the Earth question, I guess I have to read more closely in terms of getting a better understanding, but, yeah, kind of a strange response, I guess.”

You can hear Rubio and Jeb Jr. struggling 1) to deflect a question about beliefs that could make them sound like nuts, beliefs that have nothing to do with the important issues of the day, and 2) to not offend potential voters who hold those beliefs and who might oppose candidates for not holding to same.

Republicans want to win elections. And most favor a freer market economy with more limited government. But they must also understand the need for a culture of individualism as the foundation of a free society.

In such a culture we each pursue our own happiness. We each take personal responsibility for our own lives and well-being. And we take pride in our achievements. In such a culture we each respect reason as the faculty that allows us to understand the world around us and ourselves: we use reason to discover how to produce food, shelter, medicine, computers, smartphones, cars, spaceships, and everything that makes up a prosperous society. It is impossible to aim for a flourishing and free society while rejecting science and reason.

In such a culture we are all enriched, educated, entertained, and inspired by the achievements of our fellows. In such a culture we would not tolerate statists who would limit our liberty and we would not be tempted by the government handouts to which they seek to addict us.

This positive vision of what our own lives and society can be and should be will appeal to the best in citizens and voters. But voters will be rightly suspicious of the commitment of the GOP and its candidates to this vision when they give credence to creationist nonsense or other such silliness coming out of fringe religious elements. (Even the fringeman himself, Pat Robertson, now admits that the Earth is far older than 6,000 years. Progress!)

Rubio is right to distance himself from these beliefs--he should go even further--and focus on policy. And Jeb Jr. is right about the need for the GOP to be a “pro-science and pro-technology party.” If Republicans want to win elections and to create a culture that supports liberty, they must commit fully to the Enlightenment values on which America was founded.
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Hudgins is director of advocacy for The Atlas Society.

For further reading:

*David Kelley, “The Party of Modernity.” November 2003.

*Edward Hudgins, “The Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party.” Fall 2006.

*Edward Hudgins, “What Are Creationists Afraid Of?” Fall 2005.

[9thdoctor]

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/11/rubio_and_obama_and_the_age_of_earth_politicians_hedge_about_whether_universe.single.html

Here's Rubio, in his interview for the December 2012 issue of GQ:

Q: How old do you think the Earth is?

A: Im not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think thats a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. Im not a scientist. I dont think Im qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, Im not sure well ever be able to answer that. Its one of the great mysteries.

And here's then-Sen. Obama, D-Ill., speaking at the Compassion Forum at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. on April 13, 2008:

Q: Senator, if one of your daughters asked you-and maybe they already have-"Daddy, did god really create the world in 6 days?," what would you say?

A: What I've said to them is that I believe that God created the universe and that the six days in the Bible may not be six days as we understand it...it may not be 24-hour days, and that's what I believe. I know there's always a debate between those who read the Bible literally and those who don't, and I think it's a legitimate debate within the Christian community of which I'm a part. My belief is that the story that the Bible tells about God creating this magnificent Earth on which we livethat is essentially true, that is fundamentally true. Now, whether it happened exactly as we might understand it reading the text of the Bible: That, I don't presume to know.

For some reason its a problem when Rubio says it.

[Ed Hudgins]

9th Dr. -- Thanks for the Obama quote! Gee, I wonder how the media failed to play up this nonsense when it came from The One?

[Selene]

"Wonder"..."Media"...Ed, these are old bourgeois terms...

Now that we have the one, you need to retrain your thinking, or, you will be retrained at one of the reeducation camps...

[Jerry Biggers]

"Wonder"..."Media"...Ed, these are old bourgeois terms...

Now that we have the one, you need to retrain your thinking, or, you will be retrained at one of the reeducation camps...

Actually, we are already in a reeducation camp - aka, USA The mainstream media are the primary indoctrinators.

According to Sean Hannity, The One invited the entire TV news staff of the Ministry Of Truth (oops!- I mean MSNBC) over to The Whitehouse, yesterday, for a "strategy" session, whatever that means. And probably also to thank them for their tireless promotion of Obama-ism during his first term and most notably during the re-election campaign..

[BaalChatzaf]

Pat Robertson had this to say on the matter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Bukw7X8CE

what???!!!!!!

Ba'al Chatzaf