Category Archives: Science

What Ken Ham THINKS the Atheist Agenda is

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Based on a recent YouTube video of a few atheists talking about creationism, home school and Ken Ham, Ham has concluded:

A recent video of an atheist chat session on the internet is a must watch for all Christians! Every pastor, Christian leader, homeschooler, teenager, Christian parent, and, in fact, all Christians need to see this video chat featuring a number of very intolerant atheists (and some are hateful and angry). In fact, watch it at your Bible study, youth group meeting, home group, home, and so on—you will hear for yourself some of the best practical illustrations of many passages of Scripture come to life, including Romans 1, 2 Peter 3, and many other passages of Scripture that refer to people who oppose Christians. This can be an excellent practical Bible study for you.

The atheist video is one of the best I’ve seen to illustrate atheists exhibiting the following traits:

  • Intolerance and arrogance
  • Hatred of biblical Christians
  • Hatred of the Bible
  • Ignorance
  • Wanting to control education and capture your kids’ hearts and minds
  • Extremism
  • Fighting against freedom of religion
  • Wanting to close down or limit biblical, Christian homeschooling
  • Seeking to control what private organizations teach
  • Desiring to control what you teach at home
  • Claim Christians are scientifically ignorant but are themselves scientifically inept
  • Sanctimoniously determining morality for themselves
  • Attempting to shape the culture according to their anti-God beliefs

First, let me say I wish atheists/humanists/secularists would STOP putting out videos like the one mentioned by Ham.  The video is poorly done, quite embarrassing, and certainly should not be taken as representative of how all atheists/humanists/secularists think.

Second, Ham is an expert at ginning-up support for his conspiratorial ideas about atheists/humanists/secularists. It is NOT in our best interest to give him things that he can easily manipulate to gain his desired objective.

Now to Ham’s delineation of what he thinks the atheist agenda is. My response is indented and in italics.

Intolerance and arrogance

Intolerance and arrogance are human traits and not specific to any group. There are lots of intolerant, arrogant Christians, Ham included.

Besides, intolerance has its place, We should be intolerant of beliefs that deliberately promote ignorance, beliefs like the earth is 6,014 years old.

Hatred of biblical Christians

I am sure there are atheists who hate Christians. However, most atheists do not hate Christians. They hate their beliefs. They hate their attempts to promote ignorance. They hate their attempt to hijack the U.S. government and turn our secular state into a theocracy.

Hatred of the Bible

Hate the Bible? Really?  Who in their right mind hates a book, an inanimate object? I HATE you, Moby Dick!  This is a silly statement.

What we DO hate is what Christians DO with the Bible and that’s try to force everyone to worship their God and obey its commands.

Ignorance

Ignorance of what? The Bible? Not a chance. I may be ignorant of many things, but ignorance of the Bible is not one of them.  Ham mistakes disagreement for ignorance. He is also oblivious of the fact that many of us were raised in church and know the Bible inside and out.  We are anything BUT ignorant.

Wanting to control education and capture your kids’ hearts and minds

If Ham is talking about the Public Schools then the answer is Yes.  People like Ham, with his ignorant, unscientific beliefs, have no business being anywhere near the Public Schools.

Extremism

What’s extremism? In Ken Ham’s world, extremism is anything that differs with his beliefs.

Besides, whose beliefs are extreme? Those who follow the path of science or those who get their science and history from an ancient text written by unknown authors thousands of years ago?

Fighting against freedom of religion

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong.

We are fighting those who want to establish a theocracy. We are fighting against those who say the separation of Church and State is a myth.

Wanting to close down or limit biblical, Christian homeschooling

Limit, yes. Close down, no.

Home school teachers should be competent and society has a right to expect that every child receives a quality, comprehensive education. If home schoolers are willing to do this, I have no problem with home schooling.

A number of states need to improve their home schooling and non-chartered private school laws. As it stands now, there is way too much latitude for parents and schools to give their children a poor, substandard education.

See my recent post on this subject.

Seeking to control what private organizations teach

Again, we all have a vested interest in what children our taught. Our future depends on them receiving a quality, comprehensive education.

If he is talking about the Home School Convention, Answers in Genesis, or the Creation Museum, then, yes, they should be free to teach whatever they want, as long as tax money is not being used to support these “teaching” endeavors.

Desiring to control what you teach at home

See above. Ham has repeated this point three times.

Claim Christians are scientifically ignorant but are themselves scientifically inept

No, we don’t say Christians are scientifically ignorant. We DO say that Young Earth Creationists are scientifically ignorant.

Oh wait, Ham says Young Earth Creationism is NOT an article of faith, BUT, he questions the “faith” of Christians who embrace evolution. There’s the intolerant and arrogant Ken we all love.

Sanctimoniously determining morality for themselves

Duh, who else is going to determine what my morals are but me?

Ham wants everyone to have his morals because he got his morals directly from God.

If Christians all get their morals from God, why is it so many of them have differing moral views?

Attempting to shape the culture according to their anti-God beliefs

Guilty as charged with one caveat. I am trying to shape our culture with my humanistic beliefs not my one point atheist belief.

You can check out the video in question here.

Ken Ham Has a Point

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Ken Ham, the CEO of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, posted a short post on his Facebook page today about how some atheists and secularists personally attack the Answers in Genesis staff.

On one hand, Ham never misses an opportunity to gin up hysteria over the secular horde that is, according to Ham, trying to destroy America.  He routinely overplays his hand and it is hard to take him seriously when he does this.

On the other hand, atheists and secularists often do make their attacks personal. Instead of attacking Ham’s ideas, they attack the person, using invectives and disparaging words to demean Ham and those who believe like he does.  I have, on occasion, done it myself. (and I am trying to do better in this regard)

Ken Ham stands as the representative for Young Earth Creationism. His beliefs are no different than mine were for many years. I suspect many of the readers of this blog were at one time Young Earth Creationists.

Ham’s literalistic interpretation of the Bible is generally consistent, and I commend him for sticking to his guns, no matter what comes his way.  I generally have more respect for people who take the Bible as written and don’t try to reinterpret, massage, or reinvent the text when they are faced with teachings that make them uncomfortable. Of course, this way of thinking is a two-edged sword since there are a lot of things in the Bible that most Christians wish weren’t in the text. (i.e. God’s genocidal behavior, approval of slavery)

Now, this does not mean I think Ken Ham’s beliefs are rational or intellectually satisfying. I think modern science, history, and common sense, clearly show that Ham’s beliefs are ignorant and are best left buried in the past where they came from.  Yes, millions of people believe just Ham does, but this does not mean their beliefs have merit. Millions of people are Mormons, and I have no doubt Ham thinks they are deluded.  A large number of people believing something doesn’t necessarily make the belief true.

I think his beliefs impede progress, encourage intellectual sterility, and any attempt to teach his beliefs in the public school system must be stopped. Our children are already science-ignorant, so we don’t need to add to their ignorance by teaching them Creationism or Intelligent Design. (unless it is taught in a World Religion class, a class I think EVERY student should be required to take)

Evangelical Christianity is dying, ever-so-slowly. The extreme Fundamentalist end of Evangelicalism, represented by people like Ken Ham, James Dobson, and the like, is dying even faster.

Time is on our side. We must be vigilant and continue to stop any attempt to sneak Evangelical beliefs, especially Creationism, into the public schools. If we successfully do this, Evangelical beliefs will be pushed back into the church and home where they belong.  Given enough time, maybe another generation or two, Evangelicalism will be a shell of what it once was. Yes, there will always be Ken Ham’s, but their influence will be minimal. I have no doubt that this is a battle that we WILL win.

This is why we should not waste our time personally attacking people like Ken Ham. Let’s challenge their ideas and beliefs. Let’s make public their beliefs and judge and critique them according to science and reason.  If we do this, we will, first of all, keep some people from being attracted to Evangelicalism, and second of all, we might be able to help those who want to be free of the narrow, close minded, stifling constraints of Evangelicalism.

Of course, it would be nice if Ken Ham did the same. While he rightly complains about the personal attacks, he turns right around and does the same thing. In the post I  mentioned above, Ham wrote:

However, I find so many atheists who are not just intolerant of what we believe as Christians but are intolerant of us personally. Why? The Bible tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
(Jeremiah 17:9)—so because of sin it is going to be a lopsided battle. While a true Christian may be intolerant of an atheist’s belief, the atheist is often intolerant of the Christian personally.

Instead of practicing what he preaches, Ham disparages his critics by saying that they are deceitful and desperately wicked. I am sure Ham will say that he is just repeating what GOD said, but he using the Bible to personally attack people. (a common Evangelical practice)

Ham might also want to send his followers a memo about not attacking people personally. Several of his followers, coming directly from his Facebook page or associated with Answers in Genesis, have personally attacked me, going after my “emotional” state instead of my ideas and beliefs.

All the way around, the level of discourse needs to be raised.  Atheists hurling invectives at Ham and his flowers, calling them child abusers unfit to be parents, does nothing to advance the atheist cause. Christian parents are free to educate their children as they wish, and quite frankly, if the only deficient aspect of their education is that they were taught Creationism, I think they will survive.  This is nothing that can’t be corrected at the college level.

Evangelicals need to stop demeaning and disparaging atheists, humanists, and secularists. Hurling Bible condemnations our way, attempting to make us look like immoral, indecent, vile creatures, is not only untrue, but not what Jesus would have done. (Jesus reserved his sharpest criticisms for the religious)

Now, do I think anyone is going to listen to me?

No.

But, I said it. It needed to be said. Do with it what you will.

Dear Hobby Lobby, Is This What Jesus Would Do?

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What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) is a popular phrase among Evangelical Christians.  They like to think that they are doing what Jesus would do. However, as the following story will clearly show, when it comes to money…well Jesus is just going to have to take a backseat to ruthless capitalism.

The Consumerist reports:

A Texas woman might be a little absentminded or beginning to suffer from dementia, but says that she didn’t mean to walk out of a craft store with a handful of embroidered iron-on letters. Unfortunately, she was shopping at Hobby Lobby, a chain whose management takes loss prevention almost as seriously as their Christian faith. The store wants the customer and her daughter to pay more than $1,000 in fines and civil penalties for the theft.

We get it: everyone who gets caught shoplifting says that it was an accident. “Oh, Loss Prevention Officer! I got distracted and didn’t realize that I was walking out with a turkey breast, lobster, shrimp, pork, beef, or a chainsaw stuffed down my pants! I really meant to buy this 43″ TV that I hid under my skirt! I just set down these 24 quarts of motor oil for a second, and somehow they ended up strapped to my body!”

We actually believe this woman, though. She explains that the tiny letters kept falling out of her cart, so she set them on top of her purse. They fell inside her purse. That’s when Hobby Lobby intercepted her at the door

A local TV station reports that the store had the 72-year-old arrested. She pled no contest to misdemeanor theft and paid a $260 fee. She got three months’ probation. Surely that was enough for walking out of the store with four letters worth $1.49 each. Right? No. Hobby Lobby then started sending her daughter, who took her on the fateful shopping trip, letters seeking civil damages and threatening a lawsuit. The last letter demanded $750. That amount would buy 503 iron-on letters.

A local attorney explained to the TV station that the cost of filing an actual lawsuit is quite high, and he has never seen a company pursue damages other than sending a few scary letters. “The cost of suing would greatly outweigh the recovery that they could get,” he explained.

Why I am Agnostic on the God Question

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A commenter on Ken Ham’s Facebook page stated:

Interesting how one billboard says: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”. Notice the word “probably” : ) …and we thought they knew for sure!

Why do many Christians think atheists are certain there is no God?

One reason is that we tend to speak in absolutes when we talk about God. As a blogger, I don’t have the time or energy to modify everything I write about the Gods with nuanced words so it “seems” that I am certain there is NO God.

It is like the word Christian. When I write about Christians and Christianity, I am almost always referring to Fundamentalist oriented Evangelicalism. People who frequent this blog know this, but the newbie who finds this blog via a web search does not know this. As a result, they will often think that I am painting all Christians with the same brush. (and I need to do a better job at being clear about WHO I am writing about)

So it is with atheists and their talk about God.

I am an atheist and an agnostic. I live my day-to-day life as an atheist. The only time God enters my thinking is when I am writing a blog post or working on a book project.

When I first deconverted I called myself an agnostic. But, I got tired of having to constantly explain myself, so I decided to call myself an atheist.  Even then, many people do not really understand what it means to be an atheist. (please read my post The A Word)

When it comes to the God question, no one can be absolutely sure there is no God. Anyone who says they are absolutely certain there is no God is stating something that can not be proved.(no more than the Christian can prove there is a God)

At best, atheists are agnostic on the God question. Based on the available evidence it is unlikely a God exists. It is all about probabilities. Is it probable a God exists? From my seat in the pew, I say No.

An atheist can, however, be atheistic towards the current panoply of Gods worshipped by humans.  It is one thing to say, I am not certain a God exists and a whole other thing to say, the Christian God, as revealed in the Christian Bible, does not exist.

Perhaps there IS a God and that God has not yet revealed itself to us. Perhaps there is a divine energy that we can not see and know.  We simply can’t and don’t know for certain and we need to be honest about not knowing for certain. Of course, the same could be said of those who believe there is a God. They can’t know for certain either.

Some atheists deride agnostics as people who are cowards, people who still have religious sympathies. I don’t think this is a true assessment of agnostics. The agnostic is a still open to new evidence. They are willing to consider any new study, find, or evidence that comes to light. However, the hardcore, there are NO NO NO NO NO God, atheist has closed their mind and is not much different from a closed-minded Fundamentalist Christian. Both have their minds made up.

Some people suggest that science will give us the answer to the God question some day. Science will some day answer the origin question. Perhaps. But, until then, I intend to continue to be agnostic when it comes to God. It will take a lot more evidence than is currently available for me to state with great certainty, there is NO God.

Let me end this post with the words of Clarence Darrow:

An agnostic is a doubter. The word is generally applied to those who doubt the verity of accepted religious creeds of faiths. Everyone is an agnostic as to the beliefs or creeds they do not accept. Catholics are agnostic to the Protestant creeds, and the Protestants are agnostic to the Catholic creed. Any one who thinks is an agnostic about something, otherwise he must believe that he is possessed of all knowledge. And the proper place for such a person is in the madhouse or the home for the feeble-minded. In a popular way, in the western world, an agnostic is one who doubts or disbelieves the main tenets of the Christian faith.

I would say that belief in at least three tenets is necessary to the faith of a Christian: a belief in God, a belief in immortality, and a belief in a supernatural book. Various Christian sects require much more, but it is difficult to imagine that one could be a Christian, under any intelligent meaning of the word, with less. Yet there are some people who claim to be Christians who do not accept the literal interpretation of all the Bible, and who give more credence to some portions of the book than to others.

I am an agnostic as to the question of God. I think that it is impossible for the human mind to believe in an object or thing unless it can form a mental picture of such object or thing. Since man ceased to worship openly an anthropomorphic God and talked vaguely and not intelligently about some force in the universe, higher than man, that is responsible for the existence of man and the universe, he cannot be said to believe in God. One cannot believe in a force excepting as a force that pervades matter and is not an individual entity. To believe in a thing, an image of the thing must be stamped on the mind. If one is asked if he believes in such an animal as a camel, there immediately arises in his mind an image of the camel. This image has come from experience or knowledge of the animal gathered in some way or other. No such image comes, or can come, with the idea of a God who is described as a force.

Man has always speculated upon the origin of the universe, including himself. I feel, with Herbert Spencer, that whether the universe had an origin– and if it had– what the origin is will never be known by man. The Christian says that the universe could not make itself; that there must have been some higher power to call it into being. Christians have been obsessed for many years by Paley’s argument that if a person passing through a desert should find a watch and examine its spring, its hands, its case and its crystal, he would at once be satisfied that some intelligent being capable of design had made the watch. No doubt this is true. No civilized man would question that someone made the watch. The reason he would not doubt it is because he is familiar with watches and other appliances made by man. The savage was once unfamiliar with a watch and would have had no idea upon the subject. There are plenty of crystals and rocks of natural formation that are as intricate as a watch, but even to intelligent man they carry no implication that some intelligent power must have made them. They carry no such implication because no one has any knowledge or experience of someone having made these natural objects which everywhere abound.

To say that God made the universe gives us no explanation of the beginnings of things. If we are told that God made the universe, the question immediately arises: Who made God? Did he always exist, or was there some power back of that? Did he create matter out of nothing, or is his existence coextensive with matter? The problem is still there. What is the origin of it all? If, on the other hand, one says that the universe was not made by God, that it always existed, he has the same difficulty to confront. To say that the universe was here last year, or millions of years ago, does not explain its origin. This is still a mystery. As to the question of the origin of things, man can only wonder and doubt and guess…

Neil deGrasse Tyson Questions Richard Dawkins’s Methods

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What follows is an interesting video clip of astrophysicist  Neil deGrasse Tyson questioning evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on his confrontational approach.  As a accommodationist and an incrementalist, I tend to side with Neil deGrasse Tyson when it comes to Dawkins’s methods. This is why I do not recommend Dawkins’s books to people who are in the initial stages of questioning their faith.

Video Link

HT: Camels with Hammers

The Human Condition According to Evangelicals

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According to Evangelicalism, ALL humans who are not saved are:

  • Born into the world with an inherited sin nature (from Adam)
  • Created in the image of God but that image has been marred by sin
  • Deceitful and desperately wicked
  • The enemy of God
  • The children of Satan
  • Dead in trespasses and sin
  • Taken captive by Satan
  • Unable to do good

And this is just off the top of my head.

Now, when a person is saved, born again, asks Jesus into their heart, puts their faith and trust in Jesus, supposedly they become a new person. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This verse is clear, A saved person, a person who is IN Christ:

  • Is a new creature (creation)
  • The old things of their life pass away
  • All things become new

Of course, anyone who knows anything about Christianity in general and Evangelicalism in particular, knows that, for the most part, Christians are no different from their non-Christian counterparts in the world.

According to the Bible:

  • Christians have a new life
  • Christians have the Holy Spirit living inside them
  • Christians have the Holy Spirit guiding them
  • Christians have the Holy Spirit teaching them
  • Christians have the Holy Spirit convicting and correcting them
  • Christians have the mind of Christ

Surely, based on these things, EVERY Evangelical Christian should be a super-saint.  After all, according to the Bible, the Evangelical Christian has the righteousness of Christ imputed to him and they are sanctified. Why is it then that Evangelical Christians are no different than atheists, agnostics, humanists, Buddhists, pagans, or worshipers of the Spaghetti Monster?

The truth is, Evangelical Christians are human just like we ALL are. They have the same passions, the same desires, the same ability to be good or bad, as we all do. The only difference between the Evangelical Christian and the non-Christian is what they do with their time on Sunday Morning.

What we have in the West is cultural Christianity, a Christianity that is good for births, deaths, and weddings. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Imagine a world where Christians took every command in the Bible literally and made every effort to live by and enforce those commands?

The Bible demands there be no king but Jesus and no law but the Bible. Yes, God allowed Israel to choose their own king, but God was very clear that this was NOT his plan. Theocracy is always the goal when the Bible is taken literally.

Non-Christians in America should be glad that they live in a secular state. If Evangelicals ruled America we would be pushed to the margins and many of our behaviors and words would be deemed blasphemous and punished accordingly.

As a humanist, I reject what the Bible and Evangelicals say about the human condition. Each human has the power to be good or bad. Each human has the power to be a blessing or a curse. We are the final authority not a God.

When the Evangelical looks at the humanist he sees an evil person. (if he is true to the teachings of the Bible) When the humanist looks at the Evangelical he sees a person with potential. The humanist sees a person who has the capacity for love and goodness.

As a humanist, I do not divide the world into two groups like the Evangelical does. I see us all as one, each of us with a vested interest in the furtherance of the human race and the future of our planet.

Yes, I think religion gets in the way of progress. Look at how things are here in America.  Evangelical Christianity is never far from the center of our political debates. It drives the culture war. It is what is behind attempts to keep women chained to the stove with 10 children around their feet. It is what is behind attempts to promote ignorance in the public schools through the teaching of creationism and abstinence-based sex education.

There is no easy way to say it…Evangelicalism, with its Fundamentalist tendencies, along with other sects like the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam, and the Catholic Church, do their best to impede progress. Fidelity to a certain interpretation of the Bible or the pronouncements of a Pope is more important than progress, freedom, and liberty.

While we can not (and should not)  keep people from believing what they will religiously, we must not let their religious beliefs stand in the way of progress. They are free to worship whomever and however they wish within the four walls of their church and home, but when it comes to  public policy and the common good, their religious beliefs and practices have no standing.

All people of faith are welcome to take part in our democracy, but, when they demand their sect be given preferential treatment or demand that their Holy book be used as the standard for our laws, they must be rebuffed.

The U.S. Constitution begins with the words, WE THE PEOPLE. Not, we the Christian people.  We as a people decide what kind of country we want to have and what laws we want to govern us, It would be great if Evangelicals would join us unwashed, uncircumcised heathens in an attempt to make our country a land where hope, peace,love and justice reign supreme.

Ken Ham and the Public School

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A commenter asked me:

With all due respect, please corroborate your claim that Ken Ham and/or AIG have ever suggested that Creation and ID should be taught in the public school science class room along with naturalistic cosmogonies. His commitment to educate the uninitiated has never been in the context of the public schools, to the best of my knowledge.

Let me tell you a story.

There is a mob boss in New York named Kenny Hamboney. He rules the New York Mob underworld with a rod of iron. He tolerates no dissent. His word is the law. Anyone who dares to challenge Hamboney is brutally punished.

When Hamboney wants to expand his territory or whack someone he commands his underlings to do his bidding. Hamboney never does the work himself. He always relies on others. This way, he can never be charged with whatever crime he asked his underlings to commit.

And so Hamboney’s underlings do his bidding. He amasses great power and wealth without ever having to raise a finger. His hands are clean.

This is how Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis operate. Mark Looy, writing for Answers in Genesis states:

…We must once again point out to the Post that AiG has never lobbied legislatures, gone to court, distributed petitions, pressured school leaders, or backed political candidates to force creation or intelligent design to be taught in schools….

See..there ya have it. I am wrong about Ham and Answers in Genesis. Except that I am not.

Ham, like Kenny Hamboney the mob boss, gets others to do his bidding in the public schools. This way he can continue to say that his hands are clean.

Ham and Answers in Genesis hold conferences, operate a museum, and have a website, all dedicated to preaching the gospel of Young Earth Creationism. Ham calls on his disciples to take the gospel of Young Earth Creationism to the ends of the earth.  He encourages students to stand up for their creationist beliefs in the classroom. He encourages Christian teachers and education professionals to tell the “truth” about evolution and creationism.

As I told the above commenter, Ham and Answers in Genesis is like the Catholic Church during the Inquisition. According to the Catholics, the Church never tortured or murdered anyone.  While this is “technically” true…the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say, is that the Church turned the guilty over to the state and the state tortured and murdered them.

I rest my case.

How Ken Ham Manufactures Attacks on Fundamentalist Christianity

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Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis and Creation Museum fame, is always watching for events he can use to manufacture an attack on Fundamentalist Christianity.  One of his favorite targets is atheists.

The atheist community rightly reacted to recent news about a science test from a Christian school. You can read my thoughts on this subject here.

Ham had this to say about the response of atheists:

Recently, a South Carolina Christian school has come under attack for having biblical creation in its curriculum. The controversy was the result of a parent from the school showing a friend a copy of his daughter’s dinosaur quiz, and that friend took a photo of it and posted it on the Internet. The questions on the quiz were based on an Answers in Genesis DVD that was shown at the school.

Today’s lead article on the Answers in Genesis website covers this issue in more detail—I have provided a link to it below. But before reading the article, take a look at the following quotes to give you an idea of some of the things that have been said by secularists who are undertaking this attack on Blue Ridge Christian Academy. The school received some vicious emails from atheists.

Many atheists are outraged over the fact that a Christian school is teaching biblical creation. Many of them didn’t believe that the question sheet was real, while others called the school irresponsible and ignorant for teaching that God’s Word is trustworthy. Some of the comments have been incredibly nasty. I’ve included a few below to give you an idea (though I’ve left off the web links because these atheist sites often have very objectionable content), with vulgar words removed as indicated by brackets…

…Even my own Facebook post on this controversy was flooded with nasty comments from atheists. These atheists have willfully suppressed the truth that there is a Creator and that His Word is true. We need to sincerely pray that these people will come to repentance and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ before it’s too late.

First, let me say that I agree with Ham on one thing. There ARE a lot of atheists who lack basic, decent communication skills. There ARE atheists who spend their time attacking Christianity and they often using vulgar language. I wish they didn’t act this way.

That said, I would be glad to trade emails with Ham. So would the Freedom From Religion Foundation. I have shared some of these emails with readers. Christians can hold their own with atheists when it comes to nastiness and vulgarity. How about we all agree that there are asshole atheists and Christians?

Second, Ham uses the word outrage. Set the emails aside for a moment…exactly where is the outrage Ham speaks of?  Atheists are not outraged as much as they are amused and troubled by the ignorance the creation science test illustrated.

Third, Ham needs to understand that many Americans think that the educating of children is part of the social contract we have with one another. We think that a parent does NOT have the right to deliberately cripple their child’s intellectual development.

Religion is given too much latitude in this area. Here in Ohio the educational requirements for homeschooling or operating a religious school are laughable and as a result way too many religious parents and schools turn out students that are ignorant of most everything but the Bible.

Fourth, Ham mentions nasty atheist comments on his Facebook page. How do we know this is true? We can’t since Ham deletes ALL comments that disagree with him. Now, he has a right to police his Facebook page and delete nasty and vulgar comments. (I do the same)  However, Ham deletes ALL comments that disagree with him, including comments that are respectful. I just posted a respectful comment on Ham’s Facebook page and it was deleted 2 minutes later.  Ham also does not allow any comments on his blog.

Ham is a typical Fundamentalist. He knows for certain he is right and he will not tolerate anyone disagreeing with him.  Ken Ham is armed with a perfect Bible given to him by a perfect God…and he thinks that his interpretations are right. End of discussion.

Ken Ham Says There is No Other Place Like This in the World

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Speaking of the Creation Museum, Ken Ham wrote:

With the ongoing secularization of the culture–bring your family to the Creation Museum where they will be taught the truth from God’s Word concerning the history of the universe–and taught Christian morality and the gospel based in that history and have a family friendly environment that honors God and his Word. There is no other place like this in the world.

I will give Ken credit for one thing…he is very good at hiding advertising for the Creation Museum in verbiage about God, Bible, morality, and the threat secularism and atheism poses to his Christian worldview.

Of course all good advertisers do this. Watch TV and you will see advertisers trying to convince you that driving their car brand or using their brand of shampoo is as good as having sex. Ham does the same thing…except he is hawking a “religious” experience. (all for 29.95)

The goal is the same for both. To make or reinforce converts and to generate income.

Ham wrote another advertisement for the Creation Museum today titled, Visit the Garden of Eden? Ham wrote:

Well, the Garden of Eden must have been a beautiful place—that is, before sin changed everything! And of course the Flood of Noah’s day totally destroyed the pre-Flood world, including the Garden of Eden.

We can’t visit the Garden of Eden today, but you can visit the spectacular gardens at the Creation Museum and, despite a fallen world, get a sense of the beauty of God’s creation.

For many fans of the Creation Museum, the next four weeks are the best time of the year to visit. Not only do they avoid the possibility of some long lines during the summer months, but also the gorgeous gardens are coming into full bloom …

Again, Ham couches his advertisement in religious verbiage. No, Christians can’t go visit the “real” Garden of Eden, but they can visit the next best thing, the garden at the Creation Museum.

The Creation Museum is, above all else, a Christian theme park. Like nearby King’s Island and Cedar Point to the north, the Creation Museum must continually add new exhibits and activities to keep the turnstiles clicking.

What has the Creation Museum added this year to get Christians to return?

  • A spectacular Dragon exhibit
  • A world-class insect exhibit.
  • A professional Zip line course consisting of 16 zip lines that range from 270 ft to 900 ft in length and up to 150 feet in the air.
  • Last year, the Green Family (Hobby Lobby) put in a world class manuscript exhibit–and they will be changing out the manuscripts on display as they will do every six months.
  • And the Gardens are more spectacular than ever.
  • We expanded the Petting Zoo a few months ago.
  • Also added an addition camel–Camel rides are extremely popular.
  • We also have some new workshops such as the microscope workshop.
  • Buddy Davis is sculpting a new Dinosaur–a Kentrosaurus–for the 2 story Dinosaur exhibit.
  • And of course each day there will be presentations by AiG speakers, workshops, concerts etc. Check the program information.

This is no different that King’s Island adding this or that ride or show. Now Ham would say, but the Creation Museum is a “spiritual” experience and King’s Island can’t offer that. I don’t know about that…there are some rides that are quite exciting and the few moments you are on them is every bit as exhilarating as any Creation Museum zip ride might be.

Ken Ham should enjoy the Creation Museum ride while it lasts. Young Earth Creationism is losing ground every day, and as more and more children are exposed to real science rather than fake science dressed in theological clothes, the pool of potential visitors to the Creation Museum declines.  In the end, God won’t be able to keep the Creation Museum running  and good ‘ole amoral capitalism will determine its fate. Both Ham and I will be dead by the time this happens, but I have no doubt it will happen.

For 2,000 years Christians have been saying, Jesus could return today. Yet..here we are, 21 centuries later, and Jesus has not returned. Now, if it really is true that Jesus could come back today…and probabilities being what they are…it is more likely that Jesus will come sooner than later.  If this is so, is it really a good investment to continue supporting the Creation Museum?

Since the Creationism Museum requires tens of millions of dollars to operate and does little to win lost people to Jesus, wouldn’t the money and time spent on the Creation Museum be better spent on world evangelization rather than maintaining a shrine to Young Earth Creationism?

A commenter on Ham’s Facebook page said:

I have heard that the Garden of Eden was translated into heaven by God. I have also heard that it was destroyed by Noah’s Flood. Either way, it no longer exists and it is probably a good thing because given man’s penchant for idolatry we would probably have wound up worshipping that location with annual treks to it being required as part of a religious procedure similar to the Muslim journeys to Mecca.

What this commenter is blind to, is that Fundamentalist Young Earth Creationists have turned Ken Ham into their prophet and the Creation Museum into their Mecca.  I have heard more than a few Christians say that EVERYONE should make a trip to the Creation Museum. How is this any different from the Muslim making a trip to Mecca or the Christian making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land?

Since sin and God destroyed the Garden of Eden, all Young Earth Creationist Christians are left with is the Creation Museum, a museum Ham says is unlike any other place in the world.  On this one point, Ham is correct, there is no other place like the Creation Museum, and for that we ALL should be grateful.

Some day, in the distant future, pilgrimages will be made down I-275 to Kentucky to visit ruins that give testimony to the fact that there once was an ignorant people who believed the earth was 6,000 years old, a people who thought that a mythical ancient book written by unknown authors was actually the words of a God. They will ask, who was the king of this place, and someone will say, Ken Ham. He was the last of the Young Earth Creationist prophets.

And to that the history books will say, Amen.

I am sure a few readers might ask, why bother with Ken Ham and Creation Museum? Can’t you just leave them alone? Who are they hurting?

It is the, who are they hurting, question that continues to drive some of us who are critical of Ken Ham and his Young Earth Creationist enterprises. If adults want to believe that the earth is 6,000 years old, that dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time, and that Genesis 1-3 is actually how the world came into existence, I am quite happy to leave them in their ignorance.

It is the children I am concerned about. Ham knows, as I do, that the key to keeping Young Earth Creationism alive is the children. Fundamentalists like Ham know that if they can reach the children with their message, be it the message of salvation or Young Earth Creationism, they are far more likely to keep these beliefs as adults. (and adults are the ones who have the cash to support the church or ministries like Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum)

Awhile back, in a post titled, Ken Ham Warns Atheists Out to Steal Children and Eat Them Too, I wrote:

So, to Ken Ham, I say this: Yes we are coming for your children. We hope to expose them to the wide, wondrous universe we live in. We hope to teach them to think critically and not to accept something as fact just because a preacher said, God said __________________.

I am not anti-Christian or anti-religion. I am, however, anti-ignorance. I think parents hurt their children when they keep them from ALL the knowledge available about the universe and their place in it.

This is why we must fight any attempt to teach Creationism or its gussied up cousin Intelligent Design in the public school classroom. (I do support it being taught in a comparative religion class) If Young Earth Creationists want to continue to promote ignorance to their children they are free to homeschool their children or send them to a private Christian school. However, they must NOT be allowed to promote their theology in the public school classroom.

As as society, we believe in social contracts. One social contract is the one where we say that we will educate our children. We owe every child in America a good education, an education that is rooted in facts and evidence rather than fairy tales and theology. (fairy tales are fine in a literature class)

We should also pay close attention to our colleges and universities. Creationists are experts at blending in with non-Creationist  teachers in the science department. They then use subterfuge to promote their religious beliefs.

Four of my children, along with my wife, have taken classes and graduated from nearby Northwest State Community College.  Jerry Bergman, a noted Young Earth Creationist is on the teaching staff. There are other teachers with creationist sympathies on the staff too, While they can not directly promote Young Earth Creationism or Old Earth/God of the Gaps Creationism, they say things like, I can’t tell you what  I really believe about these things but if you ask me later I will tell you. This is code for, I believe what the Bible says about________________.

I certainly think college-age students should be exposed to Creationism, but they should gain this exposure in a comparative religion class and not a science class. I am a big supporter of requiring ALL students to take a comparative religion class, along with a logic and philosophy class. (none of which are currently required)

Here is the bottom line for me. I oppose ignorance wherever it might be found. Groups and individuals that promote ignorance should be exposed, discredited, and ridiculed. The only way for America to overcome the ignorance that is so pervasive among its citizens is to expose people to the facts and evidence that contradicts their ignorant beliefs.

Years ago, Tim LaHaye wrote a book titled. The Battle for the Mind.  I agreed with him when he wrote the book and I agree with him now. Our hope for the future rests in us winning the battle for the mind. If we still think enlightenment ideals are worthy ideals then we MUST engage the forces of ignorance in the battle for the minds of children and young adults. We must not stop battling until beliefs like Creationism are driven back into the Church house where they belong.