Ga. 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 (see below).
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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 (see below).
___
Are we in the 1800s or is it 2012? Crazy that there are people in this nation with beliefs such as this. Lots of stupid people!Â
wow...now adding to this list a couple of Republicans from Arkansas..... is this the party of crazy or what?
Another fine example of Republican leadership, NOT!!!!! This is what happens when you mix religion and politics. Total Hogwash. He need to have the Great Spaghetti Monster to not only touch him with it's Noodly appendage but to slap him silly with it. :)
What is really scary is that the dems don't have anyone that can beat this guy. Â lol
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Just what we need. Â A religious zealot in our government.
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Even our founding fathers didn't want the church involved in the government and they were all religious men. Â It is called the division of church and state. Â Religion has no place in the government.
 @FBrumfield To clarify: None of the Founding Fathers were atheists. Most of the Founders were Deists, which is to say they thought the universe had a creator, but that he does not concern himself with the daily lives of humans, and does not directly communicate with humans, either by revelation or by sacred books. They spoke often of God, (Nature's God or the God of Nature), but this was not the God of the bible.
The 1796 treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was "in no sense founded on the Christian religion".
"ANOTHER religious zealot", that is....
so how, pray tell, does this guy know that X, Y, and Z are "lies from the pits of hay-ell". did god tell him so?
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i love the irony of these dim-bulbs. they don't realize they have more in common w/ the Taliban and other religious fanatics than with the average 'Murricun anymore.
"He sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology."
Clearly he should not be on this committee. Â There needs to be an ignorance committee he can be on so he feels comfortable. Â But he should know that ignorance isn't always bliss. Â Most of the time it's just embarrassing. Â
 @newsie Uniformitarian evolution, as taught to our children, doesn't work.  It would require too many miracles.  Be embarrassed of your own ignorance.
Broun's comments show colossal ignorance. The science of geology tells us that rocks are created and weathered over millions, if not billions of years. Plate tectonics is a fact and took place over millions of years. Carbon and argon dating of fossils is based on chemical principles, fact. Why can't he just give God the credit for all of it over a 5 billion year time frame?
 @Blue Dahlia It's not just ignorance. It's more willful than that. It's a deliberate rejection of science, except for the nice bits that give people like him medicine, MRI machines, and safe water to drink.
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 @nwbackpacker  @Blue Dahlia "give people like him medicine, MRI machines, and safe water to drink."
And nice cars and guns...
Hmmmmm Perhaps Paul Broun should visit the Galapagos and have a guide explain why the same tortoises "evolved" differently on different islands. I am a Christian and understand why Paul Broun made these comments.
i understand, also - he made the comments because his tiny lil dinosaur brain don't work none too good.
There's nothing on the surface of the earth that's older than several thousand years. Â Rates of deposition for topsoil and river deltas; Â Oldest trees; known human history.
 A couple centuries back,  some Scottish guys were putting forth ideas that the earth was very very old.  well,  they've been proven wrong.  Many of the features of Eastern Washington are now recognized as having recent origin (dry falls and undulating hills) Â
Evolution is a sacred cow that's being protected by dupes with an almost religious zeal. Â
Darwin is dead.
@cheekygesturton So the Grand Canyon is just a few thousand years old?
 @cheekygesturton Then explain why locations like the Grand Canyon or Dry Falls here in Washington took nearly 2000 million to form as it is today. Im all for respecting others beliefs in a higher being and religious claims but only an ignorant type refuses to accept others beliefs in other proven facts.
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http://www.nps.gov/grca/faqs.htm#old
 @DarkRenegade I looked at the link.  More dogma than proof. Â
The surface of the earth shows evidence of cataclysmic events; Â processes that can occur within days, Â not eons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmLihCxie_U
 @cheekygesturton With your eyes closed as they are, how do you not run into everything when you walk?
 @cheekygesturton HA HA HA HA!
@cheekygesturton Posting that evolution is being protected with a near religious zeal is really cheeky.
 @flyskiwindsurf  @cheekygesturton this link has some interesting tidbits;
http://www.0095.info/en/index_thesesen.html
 @cheekygesturton  @flyskiwindsurf I read a couple of those links and sprayed coffee out of my nose laughing. No single cell evolution has ever been observed? Then why do I need a NEW flu vaccine every year? That's just one easily obtained example.
 @cheekygesturton Then pull your head out of the sands of ignorance and explain the following:  "Rocks collected from the Moon have been measured by radiometric dating techniques. They range in age from about 3.16 billion years old for the basaltic samples derived from the lunar maria, up to about 4.5 billion years old for rocks derived from the highlands.[1] Based on the age dating technique of "crater counting," the youngest basaltic eruptions are believed to have occurred about 1.2 billion years ago,[2] but scientists do not possess samples of these lavas. In contrast, the oldest ages of rocks from the Earth are between 3.8 and 4.28 billion years old."
 @growlerxrunner seems like you have a lot of faith in the info you're fed.  What do you personally know about 'moon rocks'?  Google "wernher von braun" antarctica rocks
@cheekygesturton bwahahahahaâ¦.. Youâre also one of those huh? Go figure.
 @cheekygesturton Whack job, just like Paul Broun (who can't even spell "Brown" correctly).
 @cheekygesturton And you are an idiot!
The comments on this story are more interesting than the story.  But this story would fit well and belongs on SNL.  For those who really believe our Founding Fathers were all Talibangelical  Christians need a lesson in history outside of Fox News and money grubbing cronies like Pat Robertson and Kenneth Copland and their so called Republican based Prosperity Theology.  And Thomas Jefferson created his own Bible by cutting out what he considered to be  mythology.  It is called the "Jefferson Bible" of all titles.
 @growlerxrunner Jefferson is one of my heroes.  True independent; for nation, state, and most importantly - for the individual.  He was a man of the age of reason, influenced by Locke among others.  He threw out the miraculous. Â
Centuries later, Â we're taught as school kids to accept another set of miracles.
"the entire universe sprang from a region billions of times smaller than a single proton" National Geographic. Â
Hydrogen gas exploded and wanted to become more. Â Violating known laws of science, Â stars were birthed.
Out of the primordial soup, Â life emerged.
One form of life could , Â with lots of time, Â morph into all forms we now see.
Alright. Stop there. Â Back to reality. Â Back to science. Â The forgoing is impossible from 'natural' processes.
With Jefferson, Â I will throw out the miraculous. Â Let's start with the 'simple cell'
'Simple cell' Â has been proven to be an oxymoron. Â spend some time on that.
9000 years hmm? The physical proof of dinosaurs existing 65 million+ years ago just escaped his mathematics? Politicians would know if something is from the pit of hell as most have a parking spot reserved for them eventually.
FTA
"He sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology."
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this is what is wrong with our country.Â
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/republicansÂ
WTF, why can't people just live and let live. I don't care what you believe, but you don't need to be a d*ck about it and this guy is just being a d*ck who refuses to respect others rights not to believe.
Closed minds can not be changed. There is no reasoning with them. Man made the bible and said it was from God. Every religion has its own god but you can't have any other God but your own religion. it's like when Mobil oil tells you that chevron will ruin your car even though the oil came from the same place.
@32jim2 Interestingly, the opening creative act in the Bible has sound "God spoke" organizing matter,"let there be light" light is matter, then we read that "he" separated the light from the darkness. more organization of matter. Did you know that in a black hole light and dark are indiscernible, and seemingly inextricable? I dont lean on the Bible for much more than pointing out how stupid most Christians are. Man did make the Bible but it and other ancient text, Hindu and Taoism just to name a couple, seem to be describing the makings of our uni/multiverse in very specific ways. Something to ponder.
 @32jim2 I thought that was Arco that wrecked your car...
the earth is flat to
It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. ⦠Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A manâs ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death. - Albert Einstein
You either believe or you don't.Â
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This clown has a lot more integrity than many of you fake Christians who pick and choose what to believe from these Jewish fairy tale books.Â
 @caphillkid I ignore the part about Death To The Lobster Eater.Â
 @caphillkid This guy still picks and chooses, just different bits. He doesn't take his healthiest livestock to be slaughtered in the temple of the Lord, nor stone to death those who advocate other religions (although he probably would do the latter if it was legal).
It would be really funny to just give away these states to Mexico.Â
This is the only country in the world that elects so many idiots who admit their idiocy so openly.
"An now, ifn yaaaall skayoose me, Â ah gotter git goin an' hunt down sum dem witches ta burn. Â
Them's whah there be a drought."
 It tells me this guy does not let the so called experts do his thinking for him. None of this is supported by repeatable experiments. It is philosophy and mostly poor philosophy at that. The only thing Broun has wrong as far as I am concerned is "9000 years". It is only 6000. I can admit this too is philosophy and cannot be proven with repeatable laboratory experiments. I am not calling it science and forcing it into the public school curriculum. I am not charging a small fortune to teach it in college and shouting down any detractors. The facts are far more frequently on the creationist side of the debate and never on the side of evolutionism. Consensus is not science and has a abysmal track record. Flat earth used to be the consensus.Â
 @Boilingfrog Some locations have several hundred thousand years of visible sedimentation in the rocks, each layer deposited at...
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Aw hell, never mind. Science, fact, evidence...all are useless and bow before the implacable wall of willful ignorance.
 @stratoonist  @Boilingfrog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmLihCxie_U
 @cheekygesturton  @Boilingfrog Thanks for posting that video, cheeky. In response, I don't know where to begin. The gist of the video seems to be that the Earth was created rapidly by one giant volcanic eruption? There are so many holes in the "reasoning" that the narrator was describing, I don't know where to begin. And I know it is useless to point them out to you.
 @Boilingfrog Actually, it is supportable and repeatable.  But you have to (1) be curious, (2) have an open mind, (3) be able/willing to read. Â
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The data is out there, and available. Â Isn't magic you know.
 @T-Prop  @Boilingfrog able? willing to read?
http://www.0095.info/en/index_thesesen.html