Broun: Evolution, big bang theory are "lies straight from the pit of hell"

Evolution and the big bang theory are "lies to keep me and all the folks who are taught that from understanding that they need a savior," U.S. Rep. Paul Broun said in a recently released video.

In the video, taken from the 2012 Sportsman's Banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Broun also repeated fundamentalist Christian tenets that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old and the Holy Bible is a guidebook to every aspect of life.

Talking Points Memo first posted a short clip of the 47-minute speech Friday afternoon. The full speech was posted Thursday, according to the Liberty Baptist Church's YouTube page.

Broun, a Republican from Oconee County, is a medical doctor and running unopposed in District 10 on the November ballot. He serves on the Congressional science and technology, and homeland security committees.

"God's word is true. I've come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution, embryology, the big bang theory; all of that is lies straight from the pit of hell," Broun told the crowd.

"And it's lies to keep me and all the folks who are taught that from understanding that they need a savior. You see, there's a lot of scientific data that I've found as a scientist that this really is a young earth. I don't believe that the earth is but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was made in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible tells us."

Meredith Griffanti, the Washington, D.C., spokeswoman for Broun, made just a brief statement about the video.

"Dr. Broun was speaking off the record to a large church group about his personal beliefs regarding religious issues," she wrote in an email.

In the full video, he told the crowd that he was inspired by God to make his first run for Congress in 1990. He was elected in 2007.

In the video, he also shared stories of how he acquired some of the hunting trophies that adorn his Washington, D.C., office. In particular, there was a story of shooting a bear in the chest and then the bear running for 15 minutes. When they found it, Broun said the bear's heart and lungs were destroyed by his bullet.

"I can tell you as a medical doctor, in four minutes, your brain dies," he said. "How that bear did that, I don't know."

In another story, Broun said he believes God guided a bullet to kill a lion that was about to bound into the back of a truck he was riding in.

The shortened video can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rikEWuBrkHc. The entire speech is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU4B86AL5Go.

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