Recall that Todd Akin’s and Richard Mourdock’s series of unfortunate events began with needling, difficult questions that exposed their religious beliefs. Those questions, and the two men’s answers to them, wrecked their sure-fire candidacies and helped keep the Senate in the hands of the devious Harry Reid. I’m not defending them; they gave bad answers, and Akin in particular allowed his stubbornness to override good sense.

Recall also that Democrats are almost never asked needling, difficult questions that expose their religious beliefs, even though if they are Christians as they claim to be, their answers ought to be identical to the answers given by most Republicans.

With all of that in mind, take a look at this exchange in Sen. Marco Rubio’s interview with GQ, which appears in the lad mag’s December 2012 issue.

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.

“How old do you think the earth is?” That’s a question to ask a rising politician who has a compelling life story and is one of the most interesting and dynamic leaders America has today? It is, if you want to lay out a marker for him to defend later in the face of hostile leftist questioning. Rubio does well enough in his answer but it comes off as a waffle. He’s much more self-assured when describing what he likes about Eminem than what he understands is going on in Genesis’ first chapter. That, actually, is a common issue with evangelicals. We know what we believe, but we’re very deep on why we believe it, and we’re too embarrassed about our own culture to confidently project and protect it. Too many of us believe that science is the enemy, too, which can lead to incuriosity.



How about some enterprising reporter ask Barack Obama how old he thinks the earth is, and what the Rev. Jeremiah Wright taught him about that? I guess that’s literally too much to ask. Instead let’s ask him how cool it is to get re-elected. Rubio, however, represents an existential threat to the new order that the Democrats believe demography will hand them. So he must be needled and prodded for weaknesses, and if he pulls an Akin, he’s toast.

Just tossing this out there, but I’m an evangelical Christian who spent eight years figuratively on the prow of the ship that has done more than any other to figure out just how old the universe is. My Christian beliefs survived that experience not only intact, but enhanced. It’s fair to say that I know more than any GQ reporter and any leftist blogger knows on the subject. If any Republican officeholder or wannabe out there wants my take on this, I’m here to help.

Update: Here come the snarky, ignorant, self-assured intolerant members of the leftist blogosphere.

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