Sean Parnell: 'Only God Knows' How Old Earth Is

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, Sarah Palin's successor, appeared stumped by a question about the age of the earth Thursday, choosing not to answer a multiple choice question regarding the matter during a gubernatorial debate.

"Only God knows," Parnell responded, when asked if the earth was more accurately described as "6,000" or "six billion" years old.

Democratic candidate Ethan Berkowitz wasted no time, telling the moderator, "I'll go with six billion."

Parnell's answer did not go over without some skepticism, however. One person in the recording can be heard laughing, and another asks, "you really don't wanna answer that?"

"I really don't know," Parnell then said. "For either one of us to do it is quite speculative."

Parnell currently leads Berkowitz by about 14 points according to HuffPost Pollster's latest analysis of the contest.

WATCH:

Comments

[Number 6]

02:22 PM on 11/04/2010

Doctor, what do you recommend as treatment for my colon cancer? "Well, it's just hard to say. Only God knows, really... We could go with "science" and "medicine", or you could.... you know.... pray on it.

[Sir Guy Grand]

03:56 PM on 11/03/2010

Another Republican who flunked high school science. Apparently, all science-based knowledge is now out the window, the collective results of several hundred years of human thought. There is no such thing. It's all just a matter of personal opinion in our new age of intestinal thinking.

[nikanj]

11:58 AM on 11/02/2010

Wonder why Parnell even bothers specifying in his proposed college scholarship program that
applicants are required to take four years each of high school science and math ?

Sounds like four years of fundamentalist Bible study, counting 'begats', would suffice.

[Stanley]

05:48 PM on 11/01/2010

The idea that a Creative Source was behind the natural laws governing the atom and the heavens is certainly not a new idea ... at least not among scientists like Einstein and Newton who both affirmed a divine order, one with metaphysical explanations and the other a more humanistic one. But, there has always been an option for a Creator within critical thinking. Believing in natural selection does not negate this idea of a believing in a Creative Intelligence behind everything. What forced created natural selection? There is powerful evidence with peer reviewed scientific review that belief is a healing power, that consciousness is more subtle than energy and that connecting to this higher consciousness can make you healthier and live longer. This does not preclude that evolution does not exist by any means. But why the emotional need to be right about the possibility of a Creative Source and the plausibility of it being the original consciousness behind the fantastic design of all life? Certainly there is not enough scientific proof to end the argument. But there is enough to posture that evolution and creation are not mutually exclusive as popularized by extremists on either side and believing in a Creative Source is not backwards nor unscientific. The basis for the growth for scientific inquiry began with the separation of believing, thinking and knowing. Knowing is the one we all must treat with humble deference without precluding thinking and believing in conflicting philosophies, paradigms and traditions.

[bhu819]

04:16 PM on 11/01/2010

Earth's age isn't really carbon-dated. It is based upon geological evidence by digging deeper into the crust and doing chemical and mineralogical analysis of the rocks lower down in the crusts. From this mineralogical data, we then deduct, through established theories of mathematical analysis, the estimated age of the earth. Now, living organisms (plants and animals) and products derived from them (such as leather or paper) can be carbon dated and that allows us to know how long ago these species were alive or created within a margin of error. The prediction of the true extensive life of the earth is through geological evidence only because of the lack of life for the first few billions years of the earth's existence.

[NickOhio]

02:18 PM on 11/01/2010

God only knows how these people came to hold so much power... oh my.

[Sir Guy Grand]

03:57 PM on 11/03/2010

That was snicker-worthy.

[skykam]

02:09 PM on 11/01/2010

How do we know whether God knows the age of the Earth? Who claims to know the mind of God?

[castleblanca]

01:58 PM on 11/01/2010

If only God knows how old the Earth is, then let's ask her for the answer.

[DesertRatzoRizzo]

01:55 PM on 11/01/2010

The planet we live on is somewhere between 4.3 and 4.5 BILLION years old.

Human beings and dinosaurs did not exist at the same time.

Evolution is science.

Creationism is fiction.

Intelligent design is delusion.

'Nough said.

[akh62]

02:23 PM on 11/01/2010

The "missing link" fossil Ida, found by a Norwegian scientist is 45 Million years old, unless you believe the Earth is only 6000 years old. ;-))

[hallowellboy]

01:52 PM on 11/01/2010

Really ignorant Dude. God AND every person that graduated from high school knows how old the earth is. Get a GED please.

[Sonny Mobley]

01:39 PM on 11/01/2010

Woooow.

[cnart]

01:24 PM on 11/01/2010

Just another evangelical/christo thought control advocate.

[Christian Troy]

01:18 PM on 11/01/2010

I don't know how old the earth is, but I am pretty certain it is not 6,000 years old.

[Ojodelgato]

01:17 PM on 11/01/2010

Hey, this guy found the answer to all the questions in grade school.

Q: How much is 2+2?
A: Only God really knows for sure.

Q: Who was the 1st president of the United States?
A: I wasn't at the inauguration, but God was. Only he really knows.

Q: What is an unscrupulous idiot like you going to do if elected?
A: God only knows.

[Bob Wood]

12:33 PM on 11/01/2010

40+ % of Americans believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old...So it's not surprising that Gov. Parnell would be one of them. This is a saddening statistic. One would think the educational system would better inform it's pupils of the facts. It is creationists that cause this breakdown in education. Knowledge is evrything. To ignore knowledge and promote nonsense is...well...dumb...(sigh)