COLUMBIA, S.C. – Despite criticism from evolutionists, a proposed bill in South Carolina has been amended to include a reference to the biblical creation account.

House Bill 4482 (HB4482) is a short bill which would officially designate the Columbian Mammoth as South Carolina’s state fossil. Lawmakers say the remains of hundreds of mammoths have been unearthed across South Carolina, so they want to commemorate the animal’s heritage in their state.

Kevin Bryant, a state senator from Anderson, initially proposed to insert three verses from the King James Bible—Genesis 1:24-25 and Genesis 1:31—into HB4482, saying he wanted “to recognize the creator” in the bill.

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so,” the Genesis 1:24-25 passage states. “And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good,” says Genesis 1:31. “And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

However, Bryant’s proposed amendment to HB4482 was deemed “out of order” and dismissed by the state senate.

According to a recent statement from Bryant, he has now proposed a different amendment to the bill which includes a similar reference to Genesis chapter 1.

“The Columbian Mammoth, which was created on the Sixth Day with the other beasts of the field, is designated as the official State Fossil of South Carolina and must be officially referred to as ‘the Columbian Mammoth’, which was created on the Sixth Day with the other beasts of the field,” the new amendment from Bryant reads.

Bryant says the latest proposed amendment is a simple acknowledgement of the creator.

“I just had a notion that we ought to consider acknowledging the creator as we acknowledge one of his creations,” Bryant stated, as reported by Reuters.

However, evolutionists’ responses to the proposed amendment have been “nasty,” according to Bryant.

“You are one very confused man,” one commenter wrote on Bryant’s website. “Go back to school, fool … enlighten yourself … and please stop poisoning others around you with your complete and thorough nonsense, absurdities and ridiculousness … backwoods hillbilly.”

“This is another ridiculous example of people in government attempting to foist Christianity on the rest of us,” another commenter wrote on Bryant’s Facebook page. “You are obviously better suited to stand in front of a pulpit and preach—perhaps you should consider a career change.”

Nevertheless, Bryant stands by his amendment. He told The Greenville News that “it’s an appropriate time to acknowledge the creator.”

“Since we’re dealing with the fossil of the woolly mammoth then this amendment would deal with the beginning of the woolly mammoth,” he said.

Furthermore, including references to the Old Testament in legislation is not unconstitutional, Bryant argued.

“The courts have upheld using Old Testament scripture because it doesn’t point to a single religion,” he said.

In response to the condemnation from evolutionists, Bryant quoted Romans 1 on his website last week.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them,” the passage says. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

According to local reports, Bryant’s Bible-referencing amendment to HB4482 was unanimously supported by the state senate on Wednesday. The bill and the proposed amendments will now be sent to the state house for further consideration.

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