Marco Rubio: I'm Not Saying How Old The Earth Is; It Doesn't Have Anything To Do With Economic Growth

Eh. It's a story, I guess.

GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?

Marco Rubio: 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. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm 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, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.

Seems like an attempt to create a per se bar to fundamentalist Christians serving in political office, or any sort of public position, period.

I don't know if this is a good answer but maybe, when confronted by the typical "crazy fundamentalist Christian beliefs" stuff, a Christian could reply, "I believe in a lot of crazy things. I believe that a loving God has a plan for us, and that He gave His only son to redeem us. The Bible tells me crazy things like that we should feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and that I should love my neighbor as I would have him love me. I'm a zealot with the same crazy beliefs as Isaac Newton, Alexander Hamilton, St. Augustine and C.S. Lewis. I'm filled with crazy ideas like the notion that we should all aspire to be worthy of God's gift of life, in our personal lives as well as how we conduct our affairs of office." *

Eh, I don't know. It's a tough thing. For every person who believes there is another person who either actively disbelieves (and thinks the believers or crazy) or thinks of religion like he thinks of straight vodka -- a sip here and there in public gatherings is okay, but no more than that and never when you're alone, or else you've got a problem.

* Just for disclosure, I'm actually not a believer. I'm just a little annoyed at those of the nonbelievers who have Things All Figured Out and are as intolerant as a pilgrimage of Aztecs.

posted by Ace at 04:04 PM

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