Montana (artist's rendition)
While plenty of Republicans are excited about wealthy businessman Greg Gianforte, who is likely to run against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, others are worried that he may be
too conservative even for Montana. And Gianforte didn't exactly help allay those fears
with comments newly unearthed by the Huffington Post in which he decried the very concept of ... retirement?
Actually, it's even more absurd and hilarious. For a little context, Gianforte's remarks were made at Montana Bible College, though his particular brand of biblical inspiration is really, really out there:
"There's nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it's been an accepted concept in our culture today," he said. "Nowhere does it say, 'Well, he was a good and faithful servant, so he went to the beach.' It doesn't say that anywhere."
"The example I think of is Noah," he continued. "How old was Noah when he built the ark? 600. He wasn't like, cashing Social Security checks, he wasn't hanging out, he was working. So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical."
A billionaire claiming the "concept of retirement is not biblical"? What could possibly go wrong? We wish we could share more of Gianforte's divinely channeled wisdom with you, but sadly, Montana Bible College appears to have already removed a recording of his address
from their website (though some evidence lingers at
Archive.org). We should expect another 550 or so years of useful output from Gianforte, though, so there will undoubtedly be plenty more to come.