About
Dr. Ben Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2016. He is well known for his religious beliefs in Seventh-Day Adventism, his conservative politics, and his controversial statements.
Background
Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1951, Carson studied at Yale and the University of Michigan Medical School. He became the head of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, where he became well-known for performing difficult surgeries including the separation of conjoined twins and hemispherectomies.[1]
In 1992, he published an autobiography, Gifted Hands, which went into further detail about his childhood and his religious thought; the book became a made-for-TV movie of the same title which aired in 2008 and starred Cuba Gooding Jr.[2] Carson has published five more books, mostly about applying religious philosophy to modern day life. He is a devout Seventh-Day Adventist. [3]
In 2013, Carson became a columnist for the Washington Times[4] and a commentator on Fox News. In addition, he has worked widely as a motivational speaker, including with a supplement company called Mannatech, which is known for its “multi-level marketing strategies.”[5]
2016 Presidential Campaign
On May 3rd, 2015, Carson confirmed he was running for the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party via a radio station in Detroit, and the next day he officially announced it at a rally in that city.[6] Since he has never served in office, Carson is considered by most to be an outsider candidate, like Donald Trump, or Carly Fiorina. His campaign proved to be popular, if plagued by controversy. As of October 28th, 2015, a CNN poll indicated that Carson was leading in the race.[7]
Background Controversy
Some aspects of Carson’s background, as depicted in his autobiography, have come into dispute. For instance, an account for the book in which Ben Carson attempts to stab a childhood friend, but instead only stabs the friend’s belt buckle has been contested; it is unclear if it was a friend or a relative, and if the incident ever actually happened at all.[8]
In addition, on November 6th, Carson’s assertion that he had been “offered a full scholarship” to the American military academy West Point was contested by a variety of political reporters, who claimed that not only did Carson never apply to West Point, but that West Point is free for all attendees and therefore a scholarship is impossible.[9]
Controversial Statements
In addition to controversy surrounding his background, Carson has made many controversial statements in his speeches and writings. On September 4th, 2015, while appearing on Meet the Press, Carson declared that he did not believe that Muslims could not legally be president, saying, “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.” He also declared that he believed the Muslim religion to be unconstitutional.[10]
On Wednesday, November 4th, 2015, Buzzfeed[11] found footage from a 1998 commencement speech made by Carson at Andrews University indicating that Carson believed that the Egyptian Pyramids were not, as archaeologists say, used as burial tombs by the Egyptians, but rather built by Joseph to store grain during his enslavement by the Pharaoh, as depicted in the Old Testament. When questioned that day on the topic by CBS News, Carson said, “Yes, this is still my belief.”[12]
Various media outlets, including The Christian Post[17] and the Mail Online,[18] have written articles regarding Carson’s outspoken creationist beliefs, in particular a 2011 speech in which he claimed that evolution was “encouraged” by “Satan”.
Online Presence
Carson has presences on all social networks, including Twitter, where he has over 886,000 followers as of November 7, 2015.[13] On Facebook, his official profile is liked by over 4.6 million users,[14] and the /r/bencarson subreddit, founded in 2013, has 198 readers.[15] His official YouTube channel has over 15,000 subscribers and the most viewed video has over 520,000 views.[16]
Search Interest
External References
[1]Wikipedia – Ben Carson
[2]Wikipedia – Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
[3]Zondervan – Authors: Ben Carson
[4]Washington Times – Ben S. Carson
[5]National Review – Ben Carson’s Troubling Connection
[6]Washington Post – Ben Carson announces presidential campaign
[7]CNN– Donald Trump on poll slump: ‘I don’t get it’
[8]New York Magazine – Ben Carson Defends Himself Against Allegations That He Never Attempted to Murder a Child
[9]Politico – Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied
[10]Politico – Ben Carson: America’s president can’t be Muslim
[11]Buzzfeed – Ben Carson: Egyptian Pyramids Built For Grain Storage, Not By Aliens Or As Tombs
[12]CBS– Ben Carson’s unusual theory about pyramids
[13]Twitter – RealBenCarson
[14]Facebook – Real Ben Carson
[16]YouTube – RealBenCarson
[17]Christian Post – Ben Carson Criticizes Young Earth Creationism, Says Earth Could Be Billions of Years Old
[18]Mail Online – Ben Carson told Christian conference he believes God created the world in six days