Glenn Beck's latest theory: EU building in France modeled after mythical Tower of Babel

-- by Dave

OK, here's your daily bit of comedy, courtesy of Glenn Beck ...

Yesterday, Beck brought his Black Robe pal, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, on to support his latest theory: that the new European Union Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, is actually designed to look like the Tower of Babel. Or at least, one well-known version of it.

Beck showed the two buildings side by side, then launched into a long disquisition on the Biblical meaning of the Tower of Babel (zzzzzzzzz) and then wrapped it all up thus:

Beck: You're not saying, Rabbi, that they intentionally are building the Tower of Babel.

Lapin: I think they are. I really do. I do believe and was told that the design of the headquarters of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, was -- designers were asked to make it resemble the Tower of Babel.

Beck: They said -- because we called -- we tried to verify, and what they say is, [laughs] they're just reflecting like the Coliseum.

Lapin: Yeah, that's what we want to build in Europe -- right? A place where Christians got fed to lions.

Too funny. Of course, as a matter of fact, as the Wikipedia entry notes (citing a press release): "The architects were inspired by Roman amphitheatres."

Well, duh:



Meanwhile, it's always helpful to remember that if the Tower of Babel actually existed, no one has the remotest idea what it actually looked like. Which is why there are a gajillion different artists' renditions of the Tower of Babel. God only knows why Beck chose the version depicted by Flemish renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel.

I'm willing to wager that Rabbi Lapin's "source" for his information that designers intended the EU Parliament to look like the Tower of Babel is never made public. But then, this is a guy who already has quite a history of wingnuttery. There's a reason, after all, that David Duke loves to quote Lapin.

[Cross-posted at Crooks and Liars.]