I’ve picked on Kansas (and Texas) a lot over the years for pushing Creationism over evolution in their schools.  But Alabama has just set the bar a little higher.  The only good news is this isn’t happening with the school boards, but rather with the Governor’s race.  But I’m not sure how much better that is.

It starts with an attack ad launched against Bradley Byrne, a former Democrat now running as a Republican.  The ad mocks Byrne for supporting the teaching of evolution while on the school board.  It then goes on to chide Byrne for saying the bible is not 100% factual.  The announcer almost laughs at how ludicrous this position is.

It would be easy to dismiss this as a fringe ad aimed at a small demographic, but to give you an idea how different that world apparently is, consider Byrne’s response.

I believe the Bible is the Word of God and that every single word of it is true. From the earliest parts of this campaign, a paraphrased and incomplete parsing of my words have been knowingly used to insinuate that I believe something different than that. My faith is at the center of my life and my belief in Jesus Christ as my personal savior and Lord guides my every action.

As a Christian and as a public servant, I have never wavered in my belief that this world and everything in it is a masterpiece created by the hands of God. As a member of the Alabama Board of Education, the record clearly shows that I fought to ensure the teaching of creationism in our school text books. Those who attack me have distorted, twisted and misrepresented my comments and are spewing utter lies to the people of this state.

He has taken a position that adamantly asserts he is in violation of federal rulings against the teaching of Creationism.  He has promised that his every action is guided by his Lord.  He is promising he will rule with the same religious fervor as the Middle Eastern mullahs—just using a different religion.

And this is resonating with the voters in Alabama.  Think about that the next time anyone attempts to speak for “The American People”.  The cultural diversity in this country is wider than most of us might imagine, but the distance isn’t just between the people who have been here for generations and the recent immigrants.