Candidate for Lt. Gov in VA disputes evolution

[RachelB]

Because monkeys can't talk:

Scientist have made much of the fact that chimpanzees have been trained to use sign language. They take this as proof that primates are our ancestors because they, like us, have “language capacity.†It is amazing the length to which people will go to prove what is so palpably false. The ability to make sounds which serve to communicate the simplest to most complex ideas is an astounding thing, almost supernatural in itself. Equally remarkable is the ability to reduce those sounds to written symbols universally understood and capable of conveying the ideas that those sounds represent. To suggest that all this is an accident of evolution belies the intellectual power language represents. Those are gifts given to mankind by God who created us. He gave those gifts to no other creature. There is an unfathomable gulf between humans and all other creatures because creation was designed that way. No amount of time or theorizing will ever bridge that gulf. Only mankind was made to represent the divinity and genius of God himself.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski ... ieve-in-ev

(Not breaking the link, as buzzfeed will not care.)

Just because E.W. Jackson fails to understand something-- like language acquisition-- that doesn't make that thing a miracle.

[gustava]

Even the gubernatorial candidate is trying to distance himself from this idiot. They don't run as a ticket.

[Loveday]

Even the gubernatorial candidate is trying to distance himself from this idiot. They don't run as a ticket.

Thankfully. It will be bad enough if Cuccinelli wins. If Jackson wins, too, my state is doomed. :?

[GenerationCedarchip]

Oh my word. This guy is just a nutter. I don't agree with Cuccinelli's ideology, but I have to say he's brighter and more logical than this loony tune. I actually find Cuccinelli one of the more fascinating people in state political circles because he's one of the few where what you see is what you get. His most extreme conservative ideas get a lot of press(and they are something!), but he's actually not a straight right-winger which surprised me when I starting having to read a lot more of his stuff because that was not what I expected to find. I do a lot with mental health law and he's one of the most liberal voices for reform in that area.

The Lt. Gov. selection was crazy from the start, though, and I think that's why we ended up with Jackson. They had 7 people in and once you weeded out the ones no one had heard of and who didn't really run campaigns, you were still left with 4 or 5 candidates, many of whom were pretty polarizing. We had one who was socially very conservative, but voted on tax increases which fiscal conservatives weren't going to stomach. Another was basically a pretty standard "establishment"(i.e. not Tea Party) Republican, but has such an abrasive and condescending manner that many in the party who have dealt with him hate him like fire. A third has a good, moderate record, but the social conservatives weren't going to vote on her. And in the end, I think what really happened is that Jackson (who was pretty much an unknown in most of the state) showed that he had fantastic speaking ability and that swayed a lot of people - particularly those whose pet candidates didn't survive the early round.

[Becket70]

Because monkeys can't talk:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski ... ieve-in-ev

(Not breaking the link, as buzzfeed will not care.)

Just because E.W. Jackson fails to understand something-- like language acquisition-- that doesn't make that thing a miracle.

Well, if human beings are the best God has got, something is very, very wrong.

[RachelB]

Even the gubernatorial candidate is trying to distance himself from this idiot. They don't run as a ticket.

So theoretically you could wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor from different parties. Interesting.

[OddlyAmused]

So theoretically you could wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor from different parties. Interesting.

Not just theoretically-it most recently happened from 2006-2010, with Tim Kaine (Democrat) as governor and Bill Bolling (Republican) as lieutenant governor.

[darkplumaged]

I was dismayed to see a Jackson yard sign in my neighborhood. There was a car with a teabagger license plate parked right near it. :roll:

[PennySycamore]

Jackson is also against yoga and meditation. He says that if you empty your mind then Satan will get in.

[RandomTrivia]

So theoretically you could wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor from different parties. Interesting.

Yep. Missouri also does this. Currently the Governor is a Democrat, Lieutenant Governor is a Republican. Fun times (not).

[ILoveJellybeans]

Jackson is also against yoga and meditation. He says that if you empty your mind then Satan will get in.

Is this why fundies are so focused on filling their every thought with Jesus-cause theres nothing else in there and if they dont they are worried they will be possessed?

[Jana814]

Jackson is also against yoga and meditation. He says that if you empty your mind then Satan will get in.

How lovely!! Sounds like a winner!

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

How lovely!! Sounds like a winner!

I guess he's never heard of hesychasm, an Eastern Orthodox monastic practice that involves stilling the mind and body so that you can be filled up with the Holy Spirit? Oh wait, Eastern Orthodoxy, one of the most ancient Christian traditions, probably doesn't

count as Christianity, right? :roll:

It ASTOUNDS me that people who are so devout don't even bother to learn any of the history of Christianity. It's FASCINATING for me as an outsider - wouldn't it be doubly so for someone with faith? :think:

[RachelB]

I guess he's never heard of hesychasm, an Eastern Orthodox monastic practice that involves stilling the mind and body so that you can be filled up with the Holy Spirit? Oh wait, Eastern Orthodoxy, one of the most ancient Christian traditions, probably doesn't

count as Christianity, right? :roll:

It ASTOUNDS me that people who are so devout don't even bother to learn any of the history of Christianity. It's FASCINATING for me as an outsider - wouldn't it be doubly so for someone with faith? :think:

He probably thinks that curiosity and learning are sins. I have no respect for someone who is so content to be ignorant.

[August]

Just because E.W. Jackson fails to understand something-- like language acquisition-- that doesn't make that thing a miracle.

Not least because something tells me there's very few things in this world he does understand.

No, EW, fresh bread isn't a miracle. No, EW, matches are not miracles. No, EW, that's just plumbing.

[ceg045]

He also thinks birth defects are the result of sin.

From his 2008 book:

Keep in mind that the whole cosmos has been made imperfect — wounded — by sin. It is the principle of sin, rebellion against God and His truth which has brought about birth defects and other destructive natural occurrences. Leaving aside that for a moment, recent discoveries about the genetic code of each human being are a fulfillment of scripture. Your genetic code is the handwriting of God, written before you or the world existed. Our genetic blueprint is proof of the existence of the Living God and His infinite intelligence, purpose and design. Sadly, many will ignore the deeper spiritual truth which underlies the advance of this scientific knowledge.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski ... fects-were

[JesusFightClub]

So theoretically you could wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor from different parties. Interesting.

Hey, we've got a Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from different parties...

[RachelB]

Hey, we've got a Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from different parties...

But you have more than two functional parties, right? Because third parties in the U.S. have so little leverage, we tend not to get the kind of coalition building across party lines that seems to happen in parliamentary democracies.

[ADoyle90815]

So theoretically you could wind up with a governor and lieutenant governor from different parties. Interesting.

That's happened at least a couple of times in my state, even though it's a relatively blue state.