masterblaster72 0 #1 October 7, 2012 Arkansas rep calls slavery ‘blessing in disguise’ Rep. Charles Fuqua: "I see no solution to the Muslim problem short of expelling all followers of the religion from the United States." Congressman calls evolution lie from 'pit of hell' What a sad, sad bunch. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #2 October 7, 2012 So let me see if I have this straight. On your first link, a State Senator wrote something in a book he published in 2009 that he thought blacks in the US today, were better off than blacks in Africa in places like Somalia, etc. The immediate response from the State Republican Party was to call the remarks offensive and divisive and they condemn the remarks in the strongest terms. Then another Republican who served for 2 years in the Arkansas House from 1996-1998 wrote "“no solution to the Muslim problem short of expelling all followers of the religion from the United States,” in his 2012 book, “God’s Law.” in a book in 2012. His comments were also called divisive and racially offensive by the Republican Party in Arkansas. And MasterBlaster see's this as 2012 Republican Campaign Brilliance? Do I have that about right? I didn't bother clicking on the other links you posted as this one pretty much said all I needed to know. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Southern_Man 0 #3 October 7, 2012 Quote Congressman calls evolution lie from 'pit of hell' What a sad, sad bunch. Hmm, a medical doctor who doesn't believe in embryology and a congressman who doesn't believe in evolution or the Big Bangand yet sits on the Space, Science and Technology committee. "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 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."What if there were no hypothetical questions?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #4 October 7, 2012 Did that belief affect his competence as a physician? If not, then no problem, as I see it. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #5 October 7, 2012 QuoteDid that belief affect his competence as a physician? If not, then no problem, as I see it. Odd how they find someone with strong religious beliefs as extreme but view murdering millions of babies as perfectly normal. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeorgiaDon 379 #6 October 7, 2012 QuoteDid that belief affect his competence as a physician? If not, then no problem, as I see it.Well, we're not really talking about his ability to practice medicine, though, are we? Doctors are basically highly skilled technicians, not scientists. Although some scientists are doctors, most doctors in clinical practice do not do experiments, or publish new knowledge related to the cause or treatment of disease. A doctor could still be skilled at diagnosis and prescribing appropriate treatments, even if they believed the root cause of disease is demonic possession, and dismissed the idea of antibiotics killing pathogenic microbes and instead believed that antibiotics drive out evil spirits. Of course, the treatments would have been developed by real scientists, not by our demonic possession-believing crackpot. US Representative Paul Broun (who is Representative for my district), on the other hand, sits on the Congressional Science and Technology committee, and so is in a position to affect national policy in science, which has the potential to influence US competitiveness and leadership in biotechnology and other sciences. However, he has made it clear that he believes essentially all of modern biology, geology, and astronomy (for starters) is (to use his words) "lies straight from the pit of hell", intended "to keep me and all the folks who are taught that from understanding that they need a savior." Apart from the small personal issue that I don't especially appreciate having my representative to Congress implicitly accusing me of being a Satanist, I think it's inappropriate at best and at worst dangerous for the long term economic health of this country to have national policy made by someone who prefers to turn the clock back to when magic and Bronze-age mythology constituted state-of-the-art explanations for the nature of the world. Don_____________________________________ Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996) “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grimmie 186 #7 October 7, 2012 Republicans have lost their minds over religion=votes. Vote the Bible... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #8 October 7, 2012 Quote Republicans have lost their minds over religion=votes. Vote the Bible... Right, because these politicians represent ALL Republicans in the same way that Shelia Jackson Lee represents ALL Democrats. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Southern_Man 0 #9 October 7, 2012 QuoteDid that belief affect his competence as a physician? If not, then no problem, as I see it. I don't know, I am not even sure what kind of a physician he is, as I don't believe the article said [or I missed it]. I personally would not want to go to a physician who believed what he had been taught about embryology is a lie."What if there were no hypothetical questions?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Southern_Man 0 #10 October 7, 2012 QuoteQuoteDid that belief affect his competence as a physician? If not, then no problem, as I see it. Odd how they find someone with strong religious beliefs as extreme but view murdering millions of babies as perfectly normal. Who is they and why are you throwing abortion into the conversation?"What if there were no hypothetical questions?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #11 October 7, 2012 QuoteQuoteQuoteDid that belief affect his competence as a physician? If not, then no problem, as I see it. Odd how they find someone with strong religious beliefs as extreme but view murdering millions of babies as perfectly normal. Who is they and why are you throwing abortion into the conversation? Nobody's throwing abortion in. Why do you hate babies? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,078 #12 October 7, 2012 >Did that belief affect his competence as a physician? Depends on his position. If he does not believe that bacteria can evolve, and is in a position to prescribe antibiotics, then yes, he's a threat to public health. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,078 #13 October 7, 2012 >Who is they and why are you throwing abortion into the conversation? Don't fall into his trap! He will claim that "murdering babies" has nothing to do with abortion, and that your assumption that it does makes you evil or something. Then he will say that he never mentioned you were evil, and that you must feel guilty about something . . . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #14 October 8, 2012 Quote>Who is they and why are you throwing abortion into the conversation? Don't fall into his trap! He will claim that "murdering babies" has nothing to do with abortion, and that your assumption that it does makes you evil or something. Then he will say that he never mentioned you were evil, and that you must feel guilty about something . . . Nope, that's one of your tactics. Interesting that you project it on others. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,547 #15 October 8, 2012 I don't really have any issue with a fundamentalist of any persuasion in Congress, if that's what the constituents want. However, someone who believes settled science to be from the pits of hell doesn't belong on the science and technology committee, does he? Wendy P.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #16 October 8, 2012 QuoteI don't really have any issue with a fundamentalist of any persuasion in Congress, if that's what the constituents want. However, someone who believes settled science to be from the pits of hell doesn't belong on the science and technology committee, does he? Wendy P. I agree. However, I highly doubt he believes what he said. The Republicans have already made it clear that campaigning has nothing to do with facts or truth. It's more like advertising. The party that does the better job of manipulating the public wins - facts are not part of the process. - other than the fact that at least 80% of the public are very easily manipulated. He's a politician, and he'll say whatever the audience of any particular moment wants to hear. He was speaking to fundies - so he panders to them. I doubt very much he'll say the same thing speaking to a group of doctors, or university students, or anybody living north of the Mason-Dixon line (well, maybe an Indiana chapter of the KKK)." . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeorgiaDon 379 #17 October 8, 2012 QuoteQuoteI don't really have any issue with a fundamentalist of any persuasion in Congress, if that's what the constituents want. However, someone who believes settled science to be from the pits of hell doesn't belong on the science and technology committee, does he? Wendy P. I agree. However, I highly doubt he believes what he said. The Republicans have already made it clear that campaigning has nothing to do with facts or truth. It's more like advertising. The party that does the better job of manipulating the public wins - facts are not part of the process. - other than the fact that at least 80% of the public are very easily manipulated. He's a politician, and he'll say whatever the audience of any particular moment wants to hear. He was speaking to fundies - so he panders to them. I doubt very much he'll say the same thing speaking to a group of doctors, or university students, or anybody living north of the Mason-Dixon line (well, maybe an Indiana chapter of the KKK).In this case, I'm pretty sure he absolutely believes every word. He is my representative in Congress, and he has a long history of similar and equally outrageous statements. A couple of years ago he was the author of numerous Obama = Hitler type speeches, which are red meat around here. As far as speaking to university students and similar types is concerned, he simply doesn't bother. Athens/Clarke County is an island of blue voters in a sea of red, due to the presence of the University of Georgia. The Republican solution was just to gerrymander the district so Clarke County is divided up between three districts, all of which are overwhelmingly rural/agricultural and Republican; 1/3 of Clarke County per district dilutes the D vote to where there is no risk that anyone who isn't a R might get in. And it would be impossible to overestimate the influence of fundie Christianity around here. So Rep. Broun does not hold any events in Athens/Clarke County, and declines every invitation to speak. His power base is elsewhere, and although he "represents" us we aren't worth his time to speak to us. There's a reason why Rep. Broun is running unopposed: nothing he could possibly say or do would be outrageous enough to impede his election. It's a waste of money for the Democratic party to campaign here. Don_____________________________________ Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996) “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,108 #18 October 8, 2012 QuoteDid that belief affect his competence as a physician? If not, then no problem, as I see it. It certainly affects his competence to sit on the Space, Science and Technology committee. Big problem as I see it.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
