Tag Archives: Creationism

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.

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.

A Young Earth Creationism Science Test

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What follows is a 4th grade Christian school test based on a DVD put out by Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis.

This science test was originally posted on r/atheism.  Snopes.com picked it up thinking it was a hoax. Surely, no one with their wits about them would teach a child these things. Sadly, this is an actual test. This is what passes for “science” in at least one Christian school.

As always, Ken Ham is outraged.  Ham writes on his Facebook page:

Atheists aren’t content to impose their anti-God religion on the public schools—they want to impose their religion on everyone—and attack Christian schools and Homeschools. They do not believe in the free exercise of religion as outlined in the 1st Amendment. If anyone knows the name of the Christian School referred to in this article (apparently North of Greer, South Carolina), then I would be prepared to send them some DVD’s and books as a gift to encourage them.

It seems a father of was upset this Christian School was teaching his child the true history of the world from Genesis. His attack on the school and the truth from God’s Word taught concerning Genesis (it would seem the school showed the students my Dinosaurs, Genesis and the Gospel DVD) ended up on a number of atheist websites. The atheists are not content to impose their anti-God religion on the public schools—they attack Christian schools.

I applaud the school for teaching children the truth—and I’m sure they would be only too willing to unashamedly be named publicly. This father should be thrilled his daughter is being taught true historical science so she will understand the Bible’s history is true, that’s why the gospel based in that history is true.

Anyhow, as an encouragement to them to continue teaching the truth of God’s Word, I would like to give them some resources to help them continue to teach children the true history of the world. So if anyone can let me know the name of the school, please advise me on this post and I will have someone message you for the detailed information.

You can read what he father wrote at the snopes website. I guess snopes covered it as they thought it might be a hoax–I guess they couldn’t believe a school would actually teach biblical creation as true!

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Liberals, Evangelicals and the Bible

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been following a discussion about creationism on James McGrath’s blog.  The discussion has been quite entertaining.  As an atheist who thinks the Bible is an errant, fallible book made up mostly of mythical stories, I find the arguments between Evangelical Christians and Liberal Christians about the nature of the Bible better than Saturday Night Live.

The recent discussion on McGrath’s blog is primarily between a young earth creationist named Tim, (yes THAT Tim who commented on this blog a few weeks ago and here too)  and McGrath and several other like-minded commenters.

While the discussion is primarily about science, there are a few comments about the Bible, salvation, and who owns the “real” Christian interpretation of the Bible.  McGrath, a liberal Christian, believes his interpretive tradition is the historic tradition of Christianity. Tim, however, believes his literalistic interpretation of the Bible is the historic position of Christianity.

Added to the entertainment is  Tim insisting on knowing the spiritual credentials of McGrath and other commenters.  Tim asked McGrath:

Have you ever come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord?
Do you know Him and love Him today?
Do you believe what He says?

Standard Evangelical stuff.  McGrath did not answer Tim directly, pointed to other things he has written on his blog, and refused to give Tim what he wanted; a clear, concise, testimony of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Why is this important to Tim? Simple. Tim states:

One’s relationship with Jesus Christ has EVERYTHING to do with our discussion. One may be highly educated, yet not wise. For it is the fear of the LORD that is the beginning of wisdom.

According to Tim’s interpretation of the Bible, true wisdom, knowledge, and understanding comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In Tim’s mind. believing in evolution is a denial of the Word of God, and a denial of God himself.

The Evangelical believes the Bible as it is written. For the most part they are literalistic in their reading of the text.  This is why almost half of Americans believe God created the world, as is,  in the last  ten thousand years.  It is, after all, what the Bible says.

Evolutionary biology, geology,physics, astronomy, and archeology tell a very different story. We live in a universe that is billions of years old, a world where humans evolved over millions of years.  It is clear that modern science and creationism are incompatible and no matter how one tries, it is impossible to reconcile the two.

Liberal Christians like McGrath allow modern science to shape their understanding of the Bible. When science conflicts with the Bible, science wins.  The Evangelical, on the other hand, never lets science have the final say. When science conflicts with the Bible, the Bible wins.

Does this mean the liberal Christian has the upper hand? Not necessarily.  While the Evangelical is way too literal in his reading and interpretation of the Bible, the liberal Christian is far too willing to abandon anything that doesn’t fit their modern, scientific understanding of the world.

So, the Evangelical says, The Bible says_________________________ and the liberal Christian replies, that is poetry, allegory, or meant for a different culture or time.  Rarely does a liberal Christian explain how they come to their conclusions on a particular text. It seems they just explain away anything that doesn’t “fit.”

Here’s the problem I have with how liberal Christians read and interpret the Bible. If Genesis is poetry or allegory why not treat the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the same way? While modern science certainly discredits the Evangelical belief about Genesis, can we not say the same thing about the liberal Christian’s belief about who and what Jesus Christ was?

At the end of the day, every Christian is a literalist.  The question is, to what degree are they a literalist.  The Evangelical views most  of the Bible from a literalistic viewpoint, the liberal Christian only views small parts of the Bible as literal.

The  liberal Christian is quite willing to jettison most everything  in the Bible except their belief in Jesus.  Why is the story of Jesus special?

The liberal Christian will argue that modern science clearly shows that creationism is false.  Fine, I agree. But, modern science also shows us that virgins don’t get pregnant, the miracles ascribed to Jesus didn’t happen, and dead people don’t get back out of the grave.  Why does the liberal Christian willingly use science to discard creationism to the ancient relic dustbin but not Jesus himself?  Maybe Jesus was just an allegory or a metaphor? (and I am not a mythicist. I think Jesus was a real person who lived and died in Palestine during the early days of the first century.)

In most cases, I prefer talking about the Bible and theology with the Evangelical.  With the liberal Christian, discussing the Bible with them is often like nailing Jell-O to the wall.  They are a constantly moving target, ever-changing depending on changes in their understanding of the world.

Let me be clear, I think Evangelicalism is harmful mentally and emotionally. I think it teaches people a naïve way of looking at the world than often has tragic consequences. (especially when their beliefs enter the political arena)

In every way, the liberal Christian way of thinking is better for our world. I just wish they would go one step farther, and admit what many of us agnostics and atheist suspect is true; that liberal Christians are atheists/agnostics who like to go to church.

For Further Investigation

Tim’s Blog
James McGrath’s blog

It is Never About the Science

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The Butler Staff and Faculty Ministry at Butler University plans to have Terry Mortenson from Answers in Genesis speak at an April 11th event.  James McGrath, a professor at Butler University, does not think Mortenson should be permitted to speak at Butler.

In a letter to the Butler Staff and Faculty Ministry McGrath wrote:

I would like to express my dismay that BSFM has chosen to invite a representative of an organization opposed to not only the mission of Butler University, but also the historic Christian faith and respect for the Bible, to our campus. Answers in Genesis promotes views which are at odds with both the scientific evidence and what the Bible says.

I have blogged more than once about Terry Mortenson’s previous visit to campus. Here is a link to one example.

I wonder what motivates the invitation of someone who represents an organization that brings the Christian faith into disrepute. Those who make false claims, and who maintain that the making of such claims is what it means to be a Christian, do only harm to the faith. That is what Answers in Genesis does. They persuade many people that they have to choose between what science concludes and Christianity, and in a self-fulfilling prophecy, many people who then discover the weight and extent of the scientific evidence then leave their faith.

Why not invite someone like Francis Collins, an Evangelical Christian who headed up the Human Genome Project and who is now director of the NIH? Someone who actually knows about the relevant scientific information and can talk about it from a Christian perspective? Why not invite a Christian like John Walton who is also a Biblical scholar and can talk honestly and accurately about the creation accounts in Genesis? Why invite self-proclaimed experts without relevant expertise who deceive the gullible and drive people away from the faith?

I am very disappointed with BSFM. I am not sure who is responsible for the invitation, but I hope that you will forward my e-mail to them. I do not know whether there is any hope that the invitation extended to Answers in Genesis could be reconsidered, but it ought to be.

McGrath’s posting of his letter has elicited almost 300 comments on his blog.  Defenders of  Terry Mortenson, Answers in Genesis, and young earth creationism, quickly found out about McGrath’s post and left comments objecting to McGrath’s letter.

The discussion quickly turned to a creationism vs. evolution debate.  The debate went like these debates ALWAYS go…nowhere. While I totally agree with James McGrath on Butler University giving Mortenson a platform to spread the creationist religion (in the name of science), I do wonder why people like McGrath continue to engage creationists in discussions.

Several times I tried to point out that the issue was not one of science. My comments were ignored. I suspect McGrath enjoys talking about science like I enjoy talking about theology. It is easy to get involved in discussions that ultimately are a waste of time. The reason is simple.

McGrath and others wrongly assume that if they show the creationist the science that they will see the error of their way.  This wrong assumption results in long drawn out discussions about science and totally misses what the real issue is.

The real  issue is the Bible and the authority the Evangelical grants the Bible.  Evangelicals are literalists who believe the sixty-six books of the Christian Bible are the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God.  According to the Evangelical, God spoke through human writers to write the Bible.  As such, the Bible is different from any other book ever written. It is a divine text, ultimately written by God himself.

When the Evangelical reads Genesis 1-3 they read it literally. The Bible is clear. God created the world in six days and this is how he did it.   The findings of modern science, and not so modern science, directly conflict with what the Bible says. What is the Evangelical to do? He will always reject the science. When he ceases to reject the science he ceases to be an Evangelical. (with rare exception)

So arguing with an Evangelical about matters of science is a waste of time.   The only matter for the Evangelical is what God said in his Word.  The Evangelicals sees the debate as one of authority. They reject the authority of science over the Bible and contend that evolutionary science is nothing more than a religion built upon faith assumptions.

I am of the opinion that the best way to reach an Evangelical is by embracing their viewpoint and then trying to poke holes in their interpretation of the Bible.  To reach the Evangelical, their belief that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God must be challenged and eroded. Like Satan in the Garden of Eden, they must be brought to the place where they are willing to say, Yea hath God said?  Get an Evangelical to question the authority of the Bible and you have a good chance to change what he thinks is true.

I realize that scientists are not trained in theology and often have a poor understanding of church history.  As an atheist,  I am often embarrassed when some of the leading scientists wander off into discussions about theology, the Bible, and church history.  I wish they would leave the theological debates to those of us who have experience with Biblical issues.

I am no scientist and I have no problem deferring to people like Steven Hawking, Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, Jerry Coyne, or Lawrence Krauss.  They have spent their entire lives studying science and I trust their expertise in their respective fields.  I just wish they would do the same when it comes to matters of theology.  Like the scientist, those of us who know the Bible and theology well, have given our entire lives to understanding these things.

And this is why scientists need to listen to us when it comes to creationism. The creationist will never be won over by scientific evidence.  It has NEVER been about the science. In McGrath’s case, his area of expertise is religion and philosophy. While not a trained scientist, he does have a good understanding of  science. (far superior to yours truly) I just wish, in the most recent discussion on his blog, McGrath would have attacked the foundation of the creationists, the Bible and their interpretations of the Bible, rather than engaging in a log, drawn out debate about science. (and numerous commenters did this)

When it comes to what creationists believe it is never about the science.

Ken Ham Asks His Disciples to Pray for Me

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Should I feel honored?  Smile You can check out what Young Earth Creationist  Ken Ham had to say on his Facebook page.  Here is what some of his disciples had to say in response to a recent post of mine:

The level of pure hatred in their writings are almost palpable. They are the blind, leading the blind right into Hell!

Should not their own venomous hatred be a warning to them that they are not thinking clearly and rationally? How can they possibility imagine that they are walking in truth when they are eaten up with bitterness and loathing?

And as is highly typical of skeptics, they use lots of insults and personal attacks.
In fact, insults are their personal mark and business card. Remember too – Satan is called the accuser of the brethren.

Sad for them. Their hearts are hardened.

evil is cancer…it spreads quickly everywhere…it destorys the ability to think or even reason…the worldly mind just cannot understand the wisdom of God. Praise God for grace.

So much anger and hatred. Just proves, in my mind, that this is a spiritual battle.

I really think the average Christian needs to have a better quick come back for the “God said” “God is speaking to me” and why the Bible is true… Those objections are voiced over and over again and I find the average Christian raised in our churches today simply has no good quick answer….

Jesus said we would be hated by this world because it hated Him first. Also all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

“we are coming for your children.” Over my dead body.

“We are coming for your children” … Arrogant, conceited, rude and intrusive, aren’t they?

This may be the most difficult part of being a Christian, Ken: standing in the face of uncalled-for hatred. Perhaps we should all think of Jesus being nailed to the cross as we hear this kind of nonsensical hatred. Their pride will destroy them. Repentance is the only way….

While we MUST expose the wiles of the evil one, we must also remember that apart from the Grace of God, many of us would likely be in the same position they are in. Jesus warned us that in the End Times there would be a great deception and this is obvious. It is only by the Grace of God that we do not fall for this deception. We are indeed in a war and our enemy does not play fair. Fortunately, we fight with a Commander-in-Chief who also does not fight fair. Our Commander wins…PERIOD because he overcame death, sin, the grave, deception, and every other weapon the enemy throws at us. NO WEAPON formed against us shall prosper. The lies, the hate, the slander, the fear, all the weapons these atheists throw at us shall not prosper.

These atheists are not as secure as they present themselves to be. The truth of God’s Word dispels darkness. Be encouraged Ken. “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” Romans 5:20

The claim that Bible belief and teaching retards the thinking of young people is not true. Since the Bible is true, that would be impossible! If science from the beginning had believed and searched the scriptures, there would have been more progress. For example, science once believed in bleeding people to make them feel better, a flat earth, and more. Bible knowledge would have prevented those errors of “science” along with the impossible theory of evolution – the “belief” that everything came from nothing with no influence from any power or intelligence. Now that’s retarded thinking.

And again we see the humanists’ “tolerance”!

I’m interested in reading these updates, but I’d like to follow up on something you wrote above. I have NEVER met anyone who hates God, ever. I’ve never heard anyone say that. They do hate us and our interpretation of God’s word (truth!).

Thank you for sharing. It is so sad that the lost cannot understand the truth and their deception turns their anger towards those who proclaim the truth. We need to understand those on the other side to know how to combat their influence.

Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

Wow…such hatred. I think it is sad that the Christians use to be dogmatic, and that crowd was quiet, and now it has flipped around. They are dogmatic, and the Christians have become the quiet ones. And the gall of people like this to discredit all Creationists, and especially to discredit the credentials of scientists who are Creationists, is unjust. These scientists have payed for their education, and spent as much of their life in school, as the secular scientists, and so it is unjust to claim that these guys are dumb and stupid.

Never forget a man got up and walked out of the grave……….Atheists are such fools.

He needs to know that we don’t believe in the 7 day creation because a pastor said “God said,” but because God said! We need to stick to the word. Thanks Mr Ken.

if God is not real, why would I waste my time arguing or caring about what Christians thought….nothing meanings anything if there is no God….so I would spend my time in as much pleasure and selfishness as possible as I only have maybe 80 years of meaningless existence…I would not want to waste a second on science or Christianity…who cares?…the fact they oppose so strongly shows they are scared and insecure in their own beliefs

I asked a few Athiest once, why do you talk about God so much if God doesn’t exist? Why do you mock it? An Athiest told me its because of all the violence and wars. And I asked if that is true. Why is it a Christian God and not any other gods, for example Allah the god of Islam?.. I have personally paid attention to the media and tv shows that would make fun of religion. And also been in Philosophy classes where they would bring up a Christian God most of the time. Even they say Christianity copied other religions when it was the other way around they pic and choose things. Indeed we are living in the End times I believe. More Christians are being persecuted there was/still is being more Christians being persecuted in the last century than the 1900 years after 0A.D all together. The Lord has really told me that He is my shield. And to have full Faith in Him. As I’ve been reading Scripture lately.

These comments are a good primer on how Fundamentalist Christians think about people like me. Did you notice how often the words angry, hate, hatred are used? However, outside of saying Ken Ham is a snake oil salesman, which he is, there is nothing angry or hateful about my post. I was simply responding to an article written by Ham.

As long as they can convince themselves atheists are angry and hateful, they are free to dismiss us. But I , for one, am not angry or hateful. I am pointed and forceful and I oppose the bankrupt belief system Ken Ham is selling. But, angry and hateful? They got the wrong guy. Smile

Here’s my favorite comment from Don Swaringen, a 1961 graduate of Bob Jones University :

The claim that Bible belief and teaching retards the thinking of young people is not true. Since the Bible is true, that would be impossible! If science from the beginning had believed and searched the scriptures, there would have been more progress. For example, science once believed in bleeding people to make them feel better, a flat earth, and more. Bible knowledge would have prevented those errors of “science” along with the impossible theory of evolution – the “belief” that everything came from nothing with no influence from any power or intelligence. Now that’s retarded thinking.

Let’s see:

  • “The claim that Bible belief and teaching retards the thinking of young people is not true.” Why ? The “Bible is true.”  Talk about circular reasoning. The Bible is true because the Bible says it is true.
  • Bloodletting? A procedure performed on people for 1,900 years, long before the modern scientific era.  Countless Christians and clergymen were bled by Christian doctors. All of them had the Bible at their disposal, yet none of them found the “truth.”  It took scientists, not theologians, to find out that, in most cases, bloodletting does not help a sick person.
  • Flat earth? Evidently, Swaringen is not aware that the flat earth belief came, in part from the Bible. (Daniel 4:10, Isaiah 11:12, Revelation 7:1)  (Excellent article on the relevant Bible passages that teach the earth is flat)
  • There would be more progress if science believed the Bible? Really? I mean really? What about the scientists that were killed for going against the Bible and the teachings of the Christian church? What does history tells us about countries that have a religious-text based science? Look at the Muslim world and see for yourself.
  • Science does make errors but it correct them. When’s the last time the Don Swaringen’s of the world have “corrected” an error in their Bible or theology? Everyone now….NEVER!

I stand my my statement:

…Teaching children the earth is 6,000 years old, that God killed with a flood every human being save eight a few thousand years ago, and that anyone who does not accept the Evangelical version of the Christian God will be tortured by the Evangelical God in hell for eternity, is quite harmful to the intellectual development of children.

The waiting rooms of mental health professionals are filled with people who have had their sense of self-worth damaged or destroyed by Christian teachings like original sin. Being told you are wicked, that you can be oppressed or possessed by Satan, and that God holds absolute power of your life, does not make for a healthy mind,

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….

Ken Ham Warns Atheists Out to Steal Children and Eat Them too

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world_hold_on_children

Eat them, metaphorically speaking. Smile

In a recent blog post,  young earth creationist, and snake oil salesman, Ken Ham wrote:

… Christians today are hungry to be equipped with the resources to fight the battle before us in this increasingly secular culture, where God’s Word is being attacked on nearly every front.

I love teaching children. Once again, as we’ve seen across the country at similar conferences, we were able to reach hundreds of children and young people who attended the special school assembly programs in Florida.

I want to remind you that our theme at AiG for the next two years is “Standing Our Ground, Rescuing Our Kids” as we focus on rescuing them from this present evil age.

Recently, I coauthored an article for the AiG website about Arizona State University Professor Lawrence Krauss. He has now posted videos accusing Christians who teach their children about creation of committing “child abuse.” He even accuses those who teach their children about hell of committing “child abuse.”

Lawrence Krauss is an atheist, and he is an atheist on a mission right now to capture your kids for the anti-God religion of atheism. Think about it—he wants you to hand your kids over to him so he can try to brainwash children into believing they are just animals and that they are not made in the image of God. He wants them to be taught when you die, you rot—and that’s it! In essence, he wants your kids to be captured for the devil.

You know, I often think about why people such as Krauss are so aggressive in preaching their anti-God message of meaninglessness, purposelessness, and hopelessness. We we know that in Romans 1 we are told such people know that God is real, so they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” And it’s even more than that. They want the focus on them—it is a self-centeredness. They want you to think they are a god! They have succumbed to the devil’s temptation in Genesis 3:5—they want to be like God—they want to be a god!

Such God-haters like Lawrence Krauss and others usually go ballistic when they hear of AiG teaching kids about Genesis. And they just hate me teaching children the truth about science, origins, and how to think correctly about such matters.

This past Monday in Florida, I taught young children for an hour and a half, covering topics like dinosaurs, fossils, the Flood, creation, evolution, the gospel and much more. I showed them how the history recorded in the Bible explains dinosaurs and that observational science confirms the Bible’s history. Secularists hate me teaching children to think correctly about origins as I help them understand what God taught Job in Job 38:4. God asked Job if he was there when God made the earth. But of course, he wasn’t—and that’s the point. When it comes to origins, no human was there to see the earth come into existence! But God has always been there. Evolutionists were not there to see the supposed millions of years of evolution. So I love to teach the kids to ask the question, “Were you there?” when someone talks about millions of years. The kids get it! The atheists don’t want to get it because they don’t want to give up the starting point for their worldview—i.e., that fallible man determines truth.

I taught the high school students how to understand science in relation to the origins issue by showing them the difference between beliefs about the past and knowledge gained by observation, which enables us to build technology.

Recently, Dr. Krauss made the false statement that evolution is the basis of biology and the basis of technology. Absurd nonsense! I made sure I taught the students how to think correctly about such issues. Then I gave them answers to many of the questions skeptics will use to try to make them doubt God’s Word—questions like these: Who made God? How did Noah fit the animals on the Ark? Isn’t natural selection evolution? What about Carbon dating?…

Evangelicals like Ham love a good conspiracy theory.  They believe we are living in the last days and Jesus could come again at any moment. (Ham hopes Jesus doesn’t come before he gets his Ark Park built) They also believe  the world will become increasingly more sinful the closer we get to the return of Jesus.

Evangelicals like Ham believe they are called by God to stand against Satan and his lies.  In their eyes, secularism, atheism, humanism, evolution,and acceptance of homosexuality are Satanic lies that must be exposed and defeated.

Ham is right about one thing; America is becoming more secular. He is also right that the battle for the future of America will be fought in our public schools and universities. Make no mistake about it, secularists, humanists, and atheists, believe the kind of Christianity Ham peddles is intellectually harmful and retards the thinking of young people.

And so we fight. No longer do secularists, humanists, and atheists hide in the shadows, fearing the wrath of Christian America. We can sense the tide is turning and so does Ken Ham.

Secularists, humanists, and atheists use reason and fact to show  young people a better way. They show there is no need to appeal to myth or religious superstition. Science is revealing a universe to us that is amazing and wondrous, but it is also showing that the religious explanations of the past 1800 years no longer explain the universe as we know it.

Ham does his best to disparage secularists, humanists, and atheists. According to Ham:

  • We preach a message of hopelessness
  • We preach a message of meaninglessness
  • We preach a message of purposelessness
  • We know God exists but suppress it
  • We are self-centered, it is all about us.

Only with his last point does Ham get it right. Secularists, humanists, and atheists plead guilty to being human-centered. (though that is not the ONLY focus we have)  We know focusing on prayer, God, or pronouncements from ancient religious texts will do little to improve the world we live in. In fact, such things might actually make our world  a worse place  to live in. (since many  wars are religiously motivated and many people deny global climate change for religious reasons)

Ham and his devoted disciples are infuriated that people like Lawrence Krauss say  teaching children creationism is child abuse. However, let’s consider for a moment whether Krauss’s claim is true.

If creationism is a religious fiction then teaching children it is true is a lie. From the time they can walk and talk, Evangelical Christian children are taught all sorts of lies from the Bible. How can this not have a negative effect on children?

Teaching children the earth is 6,000 years old, that God killed with a flood every human being save eight a few thousand years ago, and that anyone who does not accept the Evangelical version of the Christian God will be tortured by the Evangelical God in hell for eternity, is quite harmful to the intellectual development of children.

The waiting rooms of mental health professionals are filled with people who have had their sense of self-worth damaged or destroyed by Christian teachings like original sin. Being told you are wicked, that you can be oppressed or possessed by Satan, and that God holds absolute power of your life, does not make for a healthy mind,

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.