If I am not mistaken, this man represents Athens, Georgia which is home of the University of Georgia, which is a fine university:
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.
What I find the most odd about his comments is the idea that science is conducted and disseminated for the purpose of undermining people’s belief that they need a savior. No one is perfect and everyone has things that they’d like to be forgiven for having done. That’s all the basis required to attract people to the idea of a savior. You profess your belief in Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness, and you get a giant do-over. I don’t think you even need to add in the promise of heaven or the threat of hell to make that work. But, if you do, you have Pascal’s Wager working for you. If you place no value on being right, Pascal’s Wager is a no-brainer. Embryology has nothing to say on the matter.
I guess another way of looking at this is that anything that undermines belief in the literal truth of something in the Bible undermines everything else in the Bible. But even if you take that view, people aren’t studying geology or biology or embryology in order to undermine anyone’s faith. They are doing it because they are curious or because they get a paycheck or because they want to help people, or some combination of those things.
Scientists are not plotting against Paul Broun and his childlike faith.
