WHY WHAT BEN CARSON THINKS ABOUT THE PYRAMIDS IS IMPORTANT

It’s Not Just An Idiotic Quote
By Gregory Jacobs-Roseman (composer-lyricist)

I haven’t written a politics-related post since the 2014 midterm election results came in, which is odd for me as I’m a political junkie and we are currently in the middle of a presidential election cycle. Frankly, this is due to the fact that I hadn’t seen any news that I could lend a voice to that would be unique or appropriate for Crazytown. Until this week.

Dr. Ben Carson

This week we were treated to a 1998 video of Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson in which he made the following remarks:

"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids in order to store grain, and all the archaeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs' graves. But you know, it would have to be something awfully big, if you stop and think about it. And I don't think it would just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain."

Now this is utter bullshit and it flies in the face of what is known to be undisputed archeological fact. Still, when asked this past week if he still thought that he said: “it’s still my belief, yes.”

And everyone in the media had a field day with this, because it’s absurd on its face. Pundits laughed it off. Some asked why are we even talking about the pyramids? And sure, it continues the narrative of weird shit that Ben Carson has said during this campaign. After all, this story came on the same day he released this laughingly bad rap radio ad that is frankly just bizarre (I can’t listen to the whole thing all the way through because I find it too cringe-worthy. If you can make it to the end, you are made of stronger stuff than I):

But seriously. That flute line. Is this 1993?

Silly, right? But I’m not laughing. I think this is serious, and I think you should take it seriously too. Because it speaks to a disturbing trend going on in the American right wing right now – one that seeks to blur the lines and even entirely dismantle the separation of church and state.

Let’s stick with Carson for the moment. When asked why he could be President when he’s inexperienced, has never held elected office, and really doesn’t know anything about how to run a government, he shrugged it off, saying: “It is important to remember that amateurs built the Ark and it was the professionals that built the Titanic.”

Then there’s his tax plan. He has said in the past that he would crate a title-based tax plan drawn directly from his bible, saying: “what I agree with is that we need a significantly changed taxation system, and the one that I’ve advocated is based on tithing, because I think God is a pretty fair guy.”

Now, this last one is a policy proposition, the larger implications of which I’ll get to in a moment. But let’s start with those pesky pyramids.

Hey neighbor, I'm all out of grain. Can you spare a cup?

When Ben Carson says he believes that “Joseph built the pyramids to store grain” that’s the phrase the really shocked me. Essentially what Carson was doing here was taking one of the seven great wonders of the ancient world, which was built as tombs for the kings of ancient Egypt (who practiced a polytheistic religion), and usurping it – saying that in fact the pyramids came out of a Judeo-Christian history and tradition, and not a heathen civilization who worshipped many gods instead of one. That’s some fucked up revisionist history right there. But it serves to make the pyramids to be a product of Judeo-Christian ingenuity. Not of some massive temple of a heathen cult. 

But in Ben Carson’s brain, that’s what happened. Why let the facts get in the way of his version of the story? Who even cares about facts? Who cares about centuries of Egyptology? Ben Carson won’t have some smarty-pants archeologist sully his beloved pyramids.

The Ben Carson school of thought.

This refusal to see the world as it is, but rather as you want it to be, is particularly concerning. We live in an age when on the American right, knowable, researched facts have been deemed “opinions.” And when someone seeking the highest office of the land, facts need to be facts, otherwise we step into dangerous territory. ‘So what if every major scientist agrees that climate change is a problem? That’s just your opinion. In my opinion it’s not. So let’s do nothing.’

But it gets even worse and more insidious when we let a lawmaker or public servant when use their religion to influence actual policy. Ben Carson’s plan to model tax policy on a “tithe” would (from how I understand it) basically create a 10% flat tax. Now I’m no economist, but I’m not sure how you would even fund the federal government at that rate. A tithe also was a lax levied to pay for the church, not a state government. And again, the United States is not a church.

But it’s the rhetoric that gets me the most. This seeping into our politics and government the idea that everyone reads from the same religious text. Why the hell are we talking about “Noah’s Ark” for example? Does Ben Carson actually believe that story literally happened?

I remember this whole thing took an insidious turn over the summer when Kim Davis got splashed all over the news for refusing to issue marriage licenses. When a couple trying to get a license ask her on what authority she was refusing them, re replied: “on God’s authority.” I thought: there it is, right there. Folks, WE DON’T LIVE IN A THEOCRACY. The founding fathers made that abundantly clear – but these people so often incorrectly interpret the First Amendment it makes my head spin.

The power of court compels you.

The religious freedom clause of the First Amendment has two phrases, and you can’t claim you’re protected by one while ignoring the other. It reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

Conservatives like to make hay shouting “religious freedom!” but they don’t know what that means. They like the second phrase “prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” but there’s that pesky first half that states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” which means you cannot legally establish an official religion within the United States of America. Government cannot be used to impose any religion on citizens of the United States. That’s called separation of church and state. That’s why Kim Davis must comply with the Supreme Court. That’s why so-called “religious freedom” laws are unconstitutional on their face. That's why Ben Carson using his blind faith to make policy decisions would be a very, very slippery slope into theocracy. Your God has no authority when it comes to the Constitution, and your religion has no place in our laws.

It’s clear that if elected, Ben Carson would make decisions from the bible he placed his hand on to swear the oath of office, not the Constitution he swore to protect. I find this a disturbing development in American politics. You can call him a wacky sideshow who says weird things about the pyramids, but he’s one of two frontrunners on the Republican side now, and that says a lot about where we are as a nation. 

Oh, and apparently he wants to have a beer with Jesus. So, throw that one onto the pile as well.

GREGORY JACOBS-ROSEMAN is a composer/lyricist and theatrical sound designer. His musical Save The Date: A Wedding Road-Trip Musical won the Overall Excellence Award for a Musical in the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. gregjr.com
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