Lying to get your way

To push a creationism bill through the legislature, an appalling trend that's happening across the country as the religious right conducts its war on science and reason, it's apparently okay if you lie since the end result, making the US a third would country that loves Jesus over all, is so important.

Tennessee Republican Frank Nicely said this:

I think that if there's one thing that everyone in this room could agree on, that would be that Albert Einstein was a critical thinker. He was a scientist. I think that we probably could agree that Albert Einstein was smarter than any of our science teachers in our high schools or colleges. And Albert Einstein said that a little knowledge would turn your head toward atheism, while a broader knowledge would turn your head toward Christianity.

Okay, let's break down what we can all agree on.

"Albert Einstein was a critical thinker." - Yep!

"Albert Einstein was smarter than any of our science teachers . . ."  - Yep!

"Albert Einstein said that a little knowledge would turn your head toward atheism, while a broader knowledge would turn your head toward Christianity."  - Ye-- Wait, what?

Okay, I'm calling BS on that last one.  You see, not only was Einstein an agnostic, he was a Jew.  It's extremely unlikely he would have said any such thing.  In fact, it was, more or less, said by Francis Bacon centuries ago.

Now it seems possible that Rep. Nicely isn't deliberately lying, maybe he's just mistaken.  Since he's mistaken about so many things that seems pretty likely.  But it doesn't excuse the stupidity.

The bill, an affront against science, easily passed.