GQ magazine tries to trip up Marco Rubio on ‘age of the earth’ question
Caricature by donkeyhotey, donkeyhotey.wordpress.com
GQ, the popular men’s magazine sat down with Florida Senator Marco Rubio to discuss politics, Rubio’s rise to the GOP spotlight following the election and a bizarre moment to ask his opinion on the age of the earth.
After questions about his family, the dignity of his father and grandfather, the interviewer asked:
“How old do you think the earth is?”
Rubio’s response:
“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.”
The questions appears to be designed to get the Catholic to quote the fundamental Christian view of 6,000 years (or so) and based on headlines, that appears to be the theme.
Marco Rubio: Actual Age Of Earth Is ‘One Of The Great Mysteries’ – Huffington Post headline, adding that “Rubio continued, refusing to take a stance on the planet’s age, which scientists have long estimated at 4.54 billion years.”
Several other headlines mirrors HuffPo.
The Slate targeted Rubio’s response as a way to criticize his judgment.
“I know that a large fraction of the people in the United States think the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. These people are wrong, and provably so, but of course they have the right to believe anything they want. But when someone believes in something that is provably false, and then they act on this belief … that’s when it gets very, very dangerous….Science, and how it tells us the age of the Earth, has everything to do to do with how our economy will grow. (emphasis by The Slate)
