Congressman calls evolution lie from 'pit of hell'

[Jabberwonky]

Full article here.

Emphasis added by Jabberwonky

Congressman calls evolution lie from 'pit of hell'
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia Rep. Paul Broun said in videotaped remarks that evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory are "lies straight from the pit of hell" meant to convince people that they do not need a savior.

The Republican lawmaker made those comments during a speech Sept. 27 at a sportsman's banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell. Broun, a medical doctor, is running for re-election in November unopposed by Democrats.

"God's word is true," Broun said, according to a video posted on the church's website. "I've come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. And it's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who are taught that from understanding that they need a savior."

Broun also said that he believes the Earth is about 9,000 years old and that it was made in six days. Those beliefs are held by fundamentalist Christians who believe the creation accounts in the Bible to be literally true.

Broun spokeswoman Meredith Griffanti told the Athens Banner-Herald (http://bit.ly/Us4O0Z ) that Broun was recorded speaking off-the-record to a church group about his religious beliefs. He sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
It seems unlikely that Broun's remarks were supposed to be kept private. The banquet was advertised, Broun spoke before an audience and the video of his remarks was posted on the church's website.

[shadowinthelight]

Gotta love how Wikipedia has already been updated with this info. Broun is one of those guys who lives up to all the worst stereotypes about the Tea Party. He is a prime example of why fundamentalists of any religion should not be allowed to hold political power. Another article about the greatness of this man here.

[Fairportfan]

Quoting from the Salon article linked^:

Meanwhile, Broun’s fall 2009 speech to the [John] Birch gala is a pretty good overview of where the congressman’s head was at in the first year of the Obama administration.

I see no need to elaborate on that sentence.

[Mark N]

When do members of the Flat Earth and Hollow Earth Societies get into the picture???

[Fairportfan]

More on Dr Broun (emphasis added below):

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) tore into scientists as tools of the devil in a speech at the Liberty Baptist Church Sportsman’s Banquet last month.

“All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell,” Broun said. “And it’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior.”

According to Broun, the scientific plot was primarily concerned with hiding the true age of the Earth. Broun serves on the House Science Committee, which came under scrutiny recently after another one of its Republican members, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), suggested that victims of “legitimate rape” have unnamed biological defenses against pregnancy.

“You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I’ve found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth,” he said. “I don’t believe that the Earth’s but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That’s what the Bible says.”

Broun — a physician, with an M.D. and a B.S. in chemistry — is generally considered to be among the most conservative members of Congress, if not the most. He drew national attention in 2010 for saying he did not know if President Obama was an American citizen.

In his speech, a clip of which was provided to TPM by The Bridge Project, a non-profit progressive tracker, Broun credited his literal Biblical interpretation with driving his approach to government.

“What I’ve come to learn is that it’s the manufacturer’s handbook, is what I call it,” he said. “It teaches us how to run our lives individually, how to run our families, how to run our churches. But it teaches us how to run all of public policy and everything in society. And that’s the reason as your congressman I hold the holy Bible as being the major directions to me of how I vote in Washington, D.C., and I’ll continue to do that.”

A couple of the comments on this piece picked up on the fact that Broun has a BS degree.

Here's a frame-grab from the video, BTW:

[Jabberwonky]

When do members of the Flat Earth and Hollow Earth Societies get into the picture???

At least they're entertaining, not frightening...

[Jabberwonky]

More on Dr Broun (emphasis added below):
EDIT: Quoted Article

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) tore into scientists as tools of the devil in a speech at the Liberty Baptist Church Sportsman’s Banquet last month.

Another quote from the article:

TPM reached out to a spokeswoman for Broun, but did not immediately receive a response.

Why did they expect him to answer a woman working outside the home?

[bmonk]

Just so the denizens of this forum know: not all religious people, or all faiths, abhor reason and science. This candidate is not representative of us all.

[Jabberwonky]

Please don't think I'm slamming religion, or even politicians as a whole. I'm hoping this gentleman is one of a kind...

[Dave]

Please don't think I'm slamming religion, or even politicians as a whole. I'm hoping this gentleman is one of a kind...

Unfortunately (or so I believe) there's a pretty significant chunk of the American population which shares this gentleman's beliefs, to a greater or lesser extent. It's not a majority, but is (last I heard) a very substantial minority.

According to Wikipedia's reporting of a Gallup poll in 1997, belief in "young earth creationism" was at around 44% in the American public as a whole (vs. 5% among scientists).

The U.S. is not unique in this.

[stjen]

In an old SF book I read once "God: The Ultimate Autobiography" (by Jeremy Pascall, his holy ghost-writer) (click here), there were comments that when he created the planet, he put those dinosaur fossils there just to confuse the Evolutionists.

[Fairportfan]

Just so the denizens of this forum know: not all religious people, or all faiths, abhor reason and science. This candidate is not representative of us all.

Unfortunately, he's not a candidate. He's been in Congress since (i think) 2008.

EDIT: Of course, he's in the House, so he is also a candidate, come to think.

[Fairportfan]

More on Dr Broun (emphasis added below):
EDIT: Quoted Article

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) tore into scientists as tools of the devil in a speech at the Liberty Baptist Church Sportsman’s Banquet last month.

Another quote from the article:

TPM reached out to a spokeswoman for Broun, but did not immediately receive a response.

Why did they expect him to answer a woman working outside the home?

Actually, the woman in question works for him.

"...a spokeswoman for Broun..." makes her one of his staffers.

[Leak]

Obligatory XKCD link...

[Mark N]

The part of this that scares me is that it was hard nosed believers like this that started most (if not all) of the Inquisitions and the Dark Ages, I still find it hard to swallow that a medical doctor can believe the absolute literal interpenetration of the Bible.

[Mark N]

Obligatory XKCD link...

Thank you for linking that strip. It hits the nail on the head and drives its point deep into the mater at hand.

[Fairportfan]

I just looked back up at that picture i included ... and i wonder if the person who mounted all those deer heads on the walls of the hunting club intentionally placed them so that they seem to be staring reproachfully at someone standing up there to speak...

[shadowinthelight]

I never wanted to insinuate that I believe being religious automatically makes you crazy. I just believe the nuts have disproportionate amount of attention and power both here and abroad.

[lake_wrangler]

I, for one, applaud him for his courage to stand for what he believes and to announce it so clearly and boldly, in an age where political correctness and political expediency will sway many to either flip-flop or be wishy washy about what they stand for. He does indeed represent a sizable constituency, who will no doubt be pleased to hear him speak in this manner. Whatever else you may say about him (I'm not too gung-ho about the conspiracy theory stuff associated with him, as evidenced by the second linked article, but I don't know about those things, so I won't pronounce myself on those subjects), here is a man who is principled, and will not waver to go with the flow.

And one does not need to be a "nut" to be a young earth creationist. Many areas of science are such that they can study via repeated experiments, whereas other areas of science are more of an interpretive type, examining evidence from past events, and interpreting it based on prior assumptions. If those assumptions are erroneous, the interpretations will be faulty. So when science and the Bible disagree, it is entirely possible that faulty assumptions led to faulty interpretations from the scientist.

BTW, the Bible never said that the earth was flat, or that the sun revolved around the earth...

[Fairportfan]

I never wanted to insinuate that I believe being religious automatically makes you crazy. I just believe the nuts have disproportionate amount of attention and power both here and abroad.

In any organisation that depends heavily on volunteer work, the extremists will tend over time to exercise more and more power.