On MSNBC's Rachel Maddow show last night, the leftist host launched into a strange tirade over Noah's Ark. Maddow says that fossils are a problem for people who believe in creation, and claims that that has become a public policy problem because of public funds being used for construction of a Noah's Ark themed amusement park. Because they hate science and want to trick dinosaurs into drowning. Or something.
Maddow's main beef is that this amusement park is partly funded with government money. The group behind the park were offered tax incentives to build it, in much the same way that every other amusement park, sports venue, and businesses of all kinds are offered them every day of the year. Tax incentives to build are based on the desire to bring jobs, tourism, revenue, or any combination of the three to the areas were the construction will take place. It could not be more commonplace. And of course, government money has long been used even in specifically religious or anti-religious ways, from faith-based initiatives to "Piss Christ."
Maddow frames the segment as being about the use of government funds. Yet she spends the entire time talking at length about how silly, backward, ignorant, and stupid the people and ideas involved are. She specifically mocks the Bible in addition to the idea of religious faith in general. The money is her fig leaf. Her beef is with belief.
Contrast Maddow's nine minutes hate with another segment on religion and science on the same network earlier in the day.
The difference is obvious. It is easy to tell people who respect the faith of others versus those who have contempt for it. In Rachel's case, you don't really even need the comparison since she fairly drips with it as she purports to expose some sort of anti-science, disinformation conspiracy on the part of Christians. She has likewise spared no critical eye for Israel in the past.
Of course, Rachel's stomach for conspiracy theory has it's limits. Guess when the intersection of religion and government doesn't bother the MSNBC star.
What a surprising surprise she has surprised us with.
