Ben Carson and the Pyramids

An anonymous commenter pointed out this morning that Ben Carson has "forfeited his right to be taken seriously" because of his belief that the Pyramids were not built by the pharaohs, but by the biblical figure Joseph for use as grain silos. An AP article about this came out this afternoon.

I agree with the commenter: I don't want a President who subscribes to theories which fly in the face of all the evidence. Carson is a Seventh Day Adventist; his base has always been the fundamentalists, who as a group tend to take their religion more seriously than most Christians do.

If Carson should get the nomination, expect the liberals to lambaste him for this faith-based belief the same way they lambasted fundamentalists who don't believe in evolution. The liberals, of course, never framed their insults as a matter of mocking religious beliefs; they simply referred to those who believed in Creationism as "conservatives" or "Republicans."

But what about other religious tenets? Islamic beliefs are staggeringly at odds with Western civilization on issues like women's education, homosexuality, and marriage. Yet when was the last time you heard a liberal mock a Muslim?

Jewish people have historically seen themselves as God's "Chosen People." You'll occasionally hear some rabbi bemoan the fact that too many Jews marry non-Jews. And the Talmud states that one cannot be a real Jew unless one's mother is Jewish. These attitudes all directly conflict with the modern non-discriminatory ethos. Yet when was the last time you heard a liberal mock a Jew for any of those things?

Religious beliefs really matter only to the extent that they impinge on national policy. Obviously, Carson's beliefs about the Pyramids have no bearing on any current national debates. In all fairness, the debate about Creationism vs. evolution did affect educational policy; some of the creationists wanted Creationism taught in the schools alongside evolution, or, in some cases, even in lieu of evolution.

(Of course, the liberals don't want the teaching of evolution to go too far.)

Liberals believe -- or at least pretend to believe -- that intelligence is completely independent of genetics, and any differences in accomplishment between the races must be ascribed to white racism. This is profoundly unscientific, yet liberals go after anyone who argues otherwise with the fervor of a Muslim who's just seen a cartoon of Muhammad.

Liberals also believe -- or claim to believe -- that, other than a few minor physical differences, men and women are essentially the same. That, despite all evidence to the contrary, there are no differences when it comes to logic, mathematical aptitude, mating instincts, nurturing abilities, and so on.

Their equalitarian beliefs affect national policy on any number of fronts: educational policy, affirmative action, disparate impact, the military, and so on.

If you tell Ben Carson he's wrong, he'll calmly defend his (misguided) beliefs. If you publicly pronounce the liberals wrong, they'll do their best to destroy your career.