Godless Wednesday: Rep. Broun (R-GA) Is An Idiot

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) is being subjected to ridicule all over the internet for recently publicized statements which reveal the Congressman (who is also a medical doctor!) to be a theocratic, anti-intellectual ignoramus.

Here's what he said (and there is also video of his remarks):

God’s word is true. I've come to understand that. 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. And it’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior.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. 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. 

And what I’ve come to learn is that it’s the manufacturer’s handbook, is what I call it. 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.

Many commentators have noted that Rep. Broun is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee (along with noted misogynist and Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO)). How do you think Rep. Broun and people of his ilk would react if Rep. Keith Ellison, Democrat from Minnesota, said "I hold the Holy Quran as being the major directions to me of how I vote in Washington, D.C."? Basically just replace "Holy Bible" with any other holy book and the problem with the sentiments expressed becomes obvious. It's the primary point which I simply can not understand about religious extremists who want to combine church and state. Why do they think that their (interpretation of) God will be the one that will be the one that government will embrace and support?

Getting back to Rep. Broun fantastically ignorant remarks, I love how he attempts to enhance the credibility of his statement by saying "as a scientist" and then says "the Earth's [...] about 9,000 years old." 99% of scientists would disagree with this (provably false) statement.