Seriously? Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen says, “Earth is 6,000 years old”

July 8, 1:32 AMLiberal ExaminerJenny Kakasuleff

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This undated picture made available by the British Library shows a reader examining a page from the earliest surviving Christian Bible. The British Library says the surviving pages of the world's oldest Bible have been reunited _ digitally. The library says the early Christian work known as the Codex Sinaiticus had been housed in four separate locations across the world for more than 150 years. It became available Monday for perusal on the Web so scholars and others can get a closer look. The library says the work will allow scholars to further study the "unique treasure." The project united organizations from Great Britain, Germany, Russia and Egypt. Each possessed parts of the 1,600-year-old manuscript. They worked together to publish new research into the history of the Codex and transcribed 650,000 words during a four-year period. (AP Photo/The British Library)

Proving once again, that one need not rely on The Onion for their daily, news-based comic relief—there is just nothing better than the ridiculous things that people actually do. Scouring headlines, I often find myself asking, “Seriously? That actually happened?” In honor of this reaction, I have begun a new series, tentatively and appropriate titled, “Seriously?”

It is difficult to understand how, in a time of unprecedented information-sharing, an individual could escape learning that the earth is roughly 5 billion years old. It would seem, as a public official, one would have to go out of their way to harbor the false belief that the earth is only 6,000 years old.

Even if it is a belief you personally hold, it is not exactly the type of thing you go blurting out in public as an elected official. Further, if one feels the inescapable urge to profess their archaic beliefs to the public, perhaps making them outside the purview of policy-making may warrant a little compassion.

Recently, Sen. Sylvia Allen claimed the earth is only 6,000 years old. She also claimed that because we have not gone extinct over this period, climate change could not possibly be occurring. The idiocy is mind-boggling. It’s not enough that Sen. Allen professes beliefs that are in opposition to 99 percent of the global scientific community, but her stubborn ignorance, and inability to grasp the effect that fossil fuels, expanding energy use, increasing agri-business, and various infrastructure are having on global warming. We also haven’t been destroyed by an asteroid in 6,000 years, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.

Apparently, in Sen. Allen’s Rick James Bible, Jesus cruised the Vegas strip in a Cadillac Escalade with the Apostle’s, and skyscrapers were abundant; making the environment from multiple millennia ago, perfectly comparable to today.

I have often wondered why we expect medical professionals, legal professionals, even nail technicians, to pass a standardized text before engaging in their respective specialties, but not public officials. Sen. Allen gives me reason to believe that candidates for public office should be held to at least the same standards as my hairdresser, and required to prove they are competent to hold any particular public office.

Copyright ©2009 Jenny Kakasuleff