Dr. Kent Hovind and the Evolution Debate

I ran acros this letter from the Fall of 2005 and it brought back a whole bunch of memories for me!

Dr. Kent Hovind, (Who I'm sure you have heard of) was offering a quarter of a million dollars to anyone who could prove evolution so naturally I took him up on the offer and sent him a whole bunch of stuff!

I started out with this quote from Isaac Asimov. (Who I am also sure you have heard of!)

The exact mechanism of evolution, (the fine details) remain under dispute since the process of discovery and development is not yet finished and may never be entirely completed. Even the most argumentative of those who quarrel over the details do not deny the evolutionary concept itself.
Creationists, on the other hand, present no evidence in favor of their view. They argue entirely from the negative. They maintain that if the concept of evolution is wanting, then that alone is sufficient to force acceptance of creationism.
They then insist that the concept of evolution is indeed found wanting. They point out insufficiencies, uncertainties and contradictions in the evolutionary arguments and say, triumphantly, “Thus we establish creationism!”
-Isaac Asimov - The Dangerous Myth of Creationism

I then went on to give arguments from people who are much smarter than I am including the likes of Albert Einstein, Dr. Richard Dawkins, Dr. Burton Mack, Dr. Susan Blackmore, Max Weber, Durkheim and a host of others.

Then at the end of these arguments I put in my two cents worth from my book "The Plain Truth About God"!

A final few words to end the “evolution/creation” debate once and for all!

“What we have here is failure to communicate!”

Maybe not an original quote, but as far as the evolution / creation debate goes, perhaps a very appropriate one! The constant war of words between Darwinists and Creationists has been ongoing for many years and has not been resolved to anyone’s satisfaction.

Perhaps we should go right back to the very basics and start to build from there; just to see what happens!

First of all we have to take a position that there is either a God, or there is not!

If there is no God then the Darwinists are absolutely right and everything was created by dumb luck and there is no purpose to anything!

I can see why evolutionists have been so adamant that natural selection and the progression of lower life forms into higher ones, without outside help, seem to be the natural order of things.

They have a compelling argument and the term; “Just the facts, Ma’am” bear them out.

However, the supposition that life, and by correlation intelligence, is the result of blind chance with no interference from a God, is the same as saying that by default there is no God!

In other words, to accept evolution from a scientific point of view without taking into account the theological implications of the Atheists being right, does a great disservice to anyone who has any feelings at all of a religious/spiritual nature.

I personally cannot imagine a world where there is no God at all. That this whole kit-and-caboodle we call the Universe is just a random organization of the basic elements with no ultimate purpose!

This extremist’s view is no better than those of religious fanatics who try and tell me that the world is no more than seven thousand years old. Both are the result of people polarized in their own views and beliefs.

After all, a belief that there is no God is in no way any different than the view that there is a God; both depend on a personal belief system, since neither can be scientifically proven!

This is not to say that we should teach the biblical version of the creation of the universe as literal truth.

Any rational, semi-educated person realizes that Holy Scripture is a compilation of parables, prophesy, folk-lore, metaphor’s and common sense in a first century context!

Nor should we refer to the bible as a historical work since it is more concerned with the mind-set and morality of people than an account of their achievements!

If we can learn to distinguish between the metaphorical and the historical aspects of the scriptures then it makes it all the easier to differentiate between the divergent aims of scientific and theological schools of thought.

Just as the far right claims biblical truth and rejects scientific evidence, the Darwinists are at a loss to explain how the Universe (The Big Bang) came into being from absolutely nothing.

It’s like comparing apples and oranges. Both are different and have a different purpose.

To attempt a comparison is the same as looking for common ground when talking about two totally different things. With this in mind there is no real conflict between religion and science. God is by God’s very nature unknowable.

What I object to is the human trait of forming special interest groups whose sole job is giving only their explanation of God and even making proclamations and laws in God’s name.

This to me is the height of human arrogance and self-deception.

We do not know how God interacts with our universe and should not use one philosophy (religion or science) to try and explain the other.

“Render therefore to Cesar the things which are Cesar’s, and to God the things which are God’s.” In other words, I am all for teaching Creationism in school; as soon as they start teaching evolution in church!

After all this effort and writing Hovind sent this letter back! (You might have to click on it to enlarge it enough to read clearly)



This was a very neat trick from DR. Hovind; "You mentioned that you offered proof for evolution. I have read it carefully and failed to find any evidence whatsoever presented for evolution!"

So, in effect, what he said was; "You can say what you want and prove what you want BUT, I don't see it, so there!" (And no $250,000.00 dollars for you!)

Since then this shyster has gotten his just desserts by being sent to jail for tax fraud and a bunch of other stuff. I think it was about 5 years for the tax beef and another two just for being an asshole!

Doesn't matter though, I'm still pissed about the quarter million.

Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available at the web site http://www.god-101.com/

Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com