Apparently, the freshman senator Marco Rubio from Florida is taking the lead from other "giants" of the republican party like Rick Perry and saying that he is not sure about the age of the earth. According to him, "It's a mystery". Someone should clue Mr Rubio in to the fact that in scientific circles, there is no mystery about the age of the earth. We know for a fact that it is approximately 4.5 billion years old. We know the process through which the sun formed, it's age and when it will run out of fuel, expand and swallow the earth. These are scientific facts that are not a mystery to anyone except those who choose to establish their beliefs through the ignorance of religion. The worst of them believe the earth was literally formed in 7 days and is now approximately 6 - 10 thousand years old. Never mind the fact that every scientific body in the world agrees that this is absurd, reality just doesn't appear to matter to these people.
Here's the worst of it, this newly elected Senator sits on the Senate's Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee. You would think that the lowest requirement for membership on this committee would at least be some degree of scientific literacy, but you would be kidding yourself. Apparently you don't have to accept scientific principles in order to sit on science committees in congress. You have fools like Rep Paul Broun who sits on the house science committee who declared not long ago that "All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell". The worst part of this one is Broun has a BS in chemistry and an MD, so it's not like he's some uneducated dolt - he's an idiot by choice!
Sadly, these people are not an anomaly among our elected representatives. From the halls of congress to state legislatures there are far too many of these people who hold antiquated and superstitious views regarding science that are in power and have influence over science and education in our country. This is more than troubling; it is absolutely absurd. Bit it should not surprise anyone when close to 50% of Americans think that god created humanity and all life in its current form in the last 10,000 years. This is simply insane.
For a nation that thumps its chest constantly and claims to be the greatest in the world, we certainly are overpopulated with far too many ignorant people who would be more than happy to return to the dark ages. If greatness is measured by the level of ignorance of your populace, then we have a pretty good chance of winning that race. One thing is certain, America needs to have an enlightenment of its own before it's too late. We cannot continue to have religious foolishness put forth as valid conversation regarding science, reproductive rights or anything else that really matters. If you want to believe in Santa for adults, that's fine. Just keep your nonsense out of our legislature and away from our classrooms. I know the constitution says we can't have a religious test for representation, but it doesn't say we can't test people to make sure they are not complete idiots before running for public office.
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