The Craziness of Creationists
Lovers of the nutjob Kent Hovind have this cute little website dedicated to spreading his message and proving he's a great cult leader or whatever. The best part is the quote from him at the bottom of the page:
"If I am crucified, I want people to know why. I want my message to continue. I want people to say wow - Hovind was right! Lets spread these tapes around!" - Kent Hovind ~ audio recording from jail
Here's the thing. This would be a great thing to say if he was put away for his beliefs. The creationists have this funny way of believing that they are somehow oppressed by people who choose not to blindly believe the intricacies of their myths. But the fact is, Hovind was not jailed for proclaiming his belief that the Earth is only 6000 years old or his belief that evolution is a myth dreamed up by Darwin and perpetuated by the big bad scientists who want to kill God by whatever means they can dream up just to prove they know stuff. He was jailed for years and years of tax evasion. I had the displeasure of speaking with this man personally once when I was in Ruston with Adam and Nikki. He bragged about the wealth that he had accrued, stating that it was obviously given to him by God as a reward for his missions. He went on and on about his private jets. He shamelessly promoted his theme park in Pensacola throughout his lecture, even claiming that it was built upon the land where the Garden of Eden once stood. The worse part about it was that the people of Ruston bought it, loved it, and praised him for his work as Christian authority who was finally bringing some truth to their kids! Upon learning that Adam and I were students not of Louisiana Tech in Ruston, but rather of Loyola University in New Orleans, he promptly broke off the conversation to go fly kites with some children. I wonder what that was all about.
Back to the tax fraud. Maybe his adherence to literal interpretation of the Bible was stuck on Genesis when he reached the part where Jesus told the crowds to render onto Caesar what is Caesar's when asked about paying taxes. Even in the quote above, his only real concern is convincing people that he is right. It's not about the Bible. It's not about God. It's not about science. It's about Hovind. "I want people to say wow - Hovind was right!" How do people allow themselves to succumb to this man's message? How do they see quotes like the one above, and put it on the home page of a website supporting his release, and not realize how telling it is of why no one should give him any credibility or the benefit of any doubt? Men like Hovind are the reason why I abhor religion. I strongly encourage everyone who reads this to consider what I am saying and to look upon whatever faith you may have with scrutiny and critical thoughtfulness. To not do so is to become Kent Hovind.
"If I am crucified, I want people to know why. I want my message to continue. I want people to say wow - Hovind was right! Lets spread these tapes around!" - Kent Hovind ~ audio recording from jail
Here's the thing. This would be a great thing to say if he was put away for his beliefs. The creationists have this funny way of believing that they are somehow oppressed by people who choose not to blindly believe the intricacies of their myths. But the fact is, Hovind was not jailed for proclaiming his belief that the Earth is only 6000 years old or his belief that evolution is a myth dreamed up by Darwin and perpetuated by the big bad scientists who want to kill God by whatever means they can dream up just to prove they know stuff. He was jailed for years and years of tax evasion. I had the displeasure of speaking with this man personally once when I was in Ruston with Adam and Nikki. He bragged about the wealth that he had accrued, stating that it was obviously given to him by God as a reward for his missions. He went on and on about his private jets. He shamelessly promoted his theme park in Pensacola throughout his lecture, even claiming that it was built upon the land where the Garden of Eden once stood. The worse part about it was that the people of Ruston bought it, loved it, and praised him for his work as Christian authority who was finally bringing some truth to their kids! Upon learning that Adam and I were students not of Louisiana Tech in Ruston, but rather of Loyola University in New Orleans, he promptly broke off the conversation to go fly kites with some children. I wonder what that was all about.
Back to the tax fraud. Maybe his adherence to literal interpretation of the Bible was stuck on Genesis when he reached the part where Jesus told the crowds to render onto Caesar what is Caesar's when asked about paying taxes. Even in the quote above, his only real concern is convincing people that he is right. It's not about the Bible. It's not about God. It's not about science. It's about Hovind. "I want people to say wow - Hovind was right!" How do people allow themselves to succumb to this man's message? How do they see quotes like the one above, and put it on the home page of a website supporting his release, and not realize how telling it is of why no one should give him any credibility or the benefit of any doubt? Men like Hovind are the reason why I abhor religion. I strongly encourage everyone who reads this to consider what I am saying and to look upon whatever faith you may have with scrutiny and critical thoughtfulness. To not do so is to become Kent Hovind.