Religious opponents of modern biology have been working to undermine evolution, with varying degrees of creativity, for about a century or so. Georgia State House Rep. Ben Bridges (R), however, thought he’d be extra clever by using the reality-based community’s arguments against them — if religion can’t legally be taught in public school science classes, he’d attack modern biology by labeling it a religion.
Naturally, hilarity ensued. (via Josh Marshall)
The Anti-Defamation League is calling on state Rep. Ben Bridges to apologize for a memo distributed under his name that says the teaching of evolution should be banned in public schools because it is a religious deception stemming from an ancient Jewish sect.
Bridges (R-Cleveland) denies having anything to do with the memo. But one of his constituents said he wrote the memo with Bridges’ approval before it was recently distributed to lawmakers in several states, including Texas, California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“Indisputable evidence — long hidden but now available to everyone — demonstrates conclusively that so-called ‘secular evolution science’ is the Big-Bang 15-billion-year alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee Religion,” the memo says. “This scenario is derived concept-for-concept from Rabbinic writings in the mystic ‘holy book’ Kabbala dating back at least two millennia.”
The memo calls on lawmakers to introduce legislation that would end the teaching of evolution in public schools because it is “a deception that is causing incalculable harm to every student and every truth-loving citizen.”
Better yet, Bridges’ memo also refers people to a website that includes model legislation that calls the Kabbala “a mystic, anti-Christ ‘holy book’ of the Pharisee Sect of Judaism.” The same site also declares “the earth is not rotating … nor is it going around the sun,” and describes a “centuries-old conspiracy” on the part of Jewish physicists to destroy Christianity.
Bridges denied endorsing the information in the document, but it was written by his campaign manager, who insists he distributed the memo with Bridges’ permission.
But wait, it gets better.
Bridges’ campaign manager also sent the bizarre memo — over Bridges’ signature — to state legislators in Texas, California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Texas, this lunacy caught the eye of State House Appropriations Committee Chairman Warren Chisum (R), who liked the lunacy so much, he forwarded it around to every other member of the Texas House, telling his colleagues that he “greatly appreciate[s] [Bridges’] information on this important matter.”
Yesterday, Chisum reversed course.
A leader of the Texas House of Representatives apologized Friday for circulating an appeal to ban the teaching of evolution as derived from “Rabbinic writings” and other Jewish texts.
“I had no intention to offend anyone,” said the lawmaker, Warren Chisum, a Republican from the Panhandle who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Mr. Chisum said he had received the information from Ben Bridges, a Georgia legislator, and “I never took it very seriously.”
No, of course not. He sent it to all 149 of his fellow state lawmakers because he didn’t take it seriously.
As for Bridges, the Georgia lawmaker said: “I regret that these people [the ADL] have been offended, but I didn’t offend them because I didn’t put the memo out.” He just agreed to have his campaign manager put it out over his signature, which to Bridges, absolves him of any responsibility.
Does Bridges agree with the ideas in the memo, about the Jewish conspiracy and the earth not rotating around the sun? “I agree with it more than I would the Big Bang Theory or the Darwin Theory,” Bridges said. “I am convinced that rather than risk teaching a lie why teach anything?”
For all of the problems we have with Republicans in Washington, these are the Republicans we frequently face at the state level.