SOMETIMES we encounter a peculiar kind of creationist who provides continuous entertainment. Such may be the case with the one we first met in this earlier post: Louisiana Teachers: Here’s Your “Supplemental Material”.
There we were introduced to Herman Cummings, self-described world’s greatest expert on Genesis, and the man who had the answer to beating the ACLU in court. He recounted how the Dover school board ignored his wisdom — to their infinite regret — and he declared that his wise counsel is available to the creationists of Louisiana, but they’ll have to come to him and ask for his assistance.
That was a good post, so you can imagine our delight when we found yet another Herman Cummings item. This appears at the website of OpEdNews, which describes itself thusly:
OpEdNews.com is a tough progressive website, supporting values that are really dead center American, like fairness, democracy, justice, protection of our national resources and commons, and preferring to support humans and America before corporations and religions.
But enough about them. Herman’s letter is here: A Public Letter to the Discovery Institute. It’s cryptically started with a mention of “Ephraim,” but we’ll tie that up later. Excerpts:
In October 2007, a letter was written to the Discovery Institute, in an effort to create a united front against the false teaching of evolution.
He quotes a bit from his earlier letter. It would appear that everyone Herman writes to ignores him, but Herman, like all great minds, exhibits the admirable quality of perseverance. Continuing:
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m under the impression that all that Intelligent Design has to offer is the principle that “the molecules of life are too complicated or too well designed to not have had a designer”. I have stated in my previous articles that “ID” is a waste of scholastic time, and is too inept and shallow to be of much value.
We agree with this much of Herman’s letter, and it’s no wonder that the Discoveroids ignored him. But so far there’s no amusement value here. Let’s read on:
The theory of evolution is a false scientific conclusion of the fossil record of death.
Okay, the kookishness is starting to appear. We eagerly continue:
How can you expect to be taken seriously, if you align yourself with Creation Science, which foolishly teaches that those life forms all died in the flood of Noah?
Herman may be misunderstanding the Discoveroids here. Still, Herman is carving out a unique niche for himself. An evolution denier who isn’t a creation “scientist” and who also thinks ID is a vacuous doctrine. So what does Herman believe?
The reason I wrote to you last October was to try to establish a united front, and to present the truth of Genesis to the nations of mankind. But it appears that you want to continue with your ineffective position. Why is it that you reject the “Observations of Moses”?
Ah, Herman is touting his book again, titled “Moses Didn’t Write About Creation!”
To show what a great guy your Curmudgeon is, we’ll provide a link to Amazon, which offers that title, by “Ephraim,” the same name Herman mentions at the start of his letter from which we’ve been quoting. Here is Herman’s book: Moses Didn’t Write About Creation!
The Sensuous Curmudgeon 
So he’s just God spamming” everyone he can think of to sell his book.
That’s just standard operating procedure. Religion is a business. Pure and simple.
I guess Herman is working on the premise that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I see elsewhere that he has said, “Intelligent Design is an inept, swallow [sic] doctrine that does not teach the students anything about past life forms. It has nothing to say beyond “the composition of life is so complicated, that it had to have come about by a designer”. After that one sentence, it has nothing different or of value to offer, and is a near complete waste of scholastic time.” ( http://www.bestsyndication.com/Articles/2006/c/cummings_herman/062606-bible_creation_versus_big_bang_theory_creationism.htm ) Well, as they say, a stopped clock has the correct time twice a day.
I was amused by the Amazon link. “Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,783,538 in Books”. Hmmm…I wonder what book is #2,783,537? Amazon has “14 new from $29.94, 4 used from $33.44 ” Used books cost more than new ones? Though if you want, you can spend up to $39.33 for a new one.
Amazon also says, “Publisher: PublishAmerica (August 6, 2007)”
Seems to me that is essentially a vanity press. Since I read elsewhere that Herman had written the book in 1991/92, I guess he gave up on finding a real publisher for his book.
I also see you can buy it directly from PublishAmerica ( http://www.publishamerica.com/ ) in either the softcover or hardcover for the same price of $29.95, Amazon seems only to be selling the paperback version.
Thanks for the comic relief!