Ken Ham the Warrior?

We know that the Discovery Institute are Enemies of the Enlightenment, but they wage their campaign in courtrooms and in legislative chambers. They’re misguided, but at least their behavior is conventional.

It could be different in the case of Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo), the ayatollah of Appalachia. He ceaselessly promotes himself as the world’s holiest man who knows more about religion and science than everyone else.

Sometimes it seems to us that Hambo considers himself to be more than a successful entrepreneur, with his creationist ministry, Answers in Genesis (AIG), his mind-boggling Creation Museum, and his replica of Noah’s Ark.

In Ken Ham Is Engaged in a War we quoted him saying:

I must admit that sometimes I wonder if the average churchgoer really understands that there is a spiritual war raging around him — in his home, church, school — well, everywhere! The New Testament contains a lot of war terminology.

[…]

It seems to me that many Christians are virtually asleep while a battle rages all around them. They go to church, send their kids to school, and come home and watch TV or whatever they like to do — all seemingly oblivious to a shocking and destructive war that is capturing many of their kids and grandkids for the enemy and is destroying the culture.

[…]

I am burdened by the thought that every Christian must understand they are all soldiers in a battle — and they all need to be at the front line and equipped to engage the enemy, who is set to drag them down and capture the coming generations of children.

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And atheists are becoming more aggressive as soldiers for the enemy, out to capture the hearts and minds of children. The casualties are huge.

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I praise God for the advances that many believers are making on various battlefronts as a result of the Lord using AiG to be a part of equipping them for this war. We are thrilled that despite the lethargy of many Christians, God has an army of people that is becoming more and more engaged in the battle — and we are raising up “soldiers” to teach and equip their children.

About which we said:

Now look — it’s one thing to run a circus side-show or a creation museum to entertain the rubes. But it’s quite another when the proprietor starts ranting in military terms about how he is God’s instrument in a battle against the forces of evil. Are we wrong to be concerned?

Perhaps we’re taking Hambo’s words too literally, and there’s really no cause for alarm. Maybe what we see as deeply disturbing language is merely Hambo’s style and his way of raising money. That could be it. But if there’s more going on, if Hambo truly thinks he’s been chosen to lead God’s army against the forces of evil, then he may be standing on the brink of full-blown, out-of-control madness. We hope we’re wrong. If we’re not, things could get messy.

Well, ol’ Hambo seems to be beating the war drum again in a story we found at the Christian Post, which describes itself as “the nation’s most comprehensive Christian news website.” They don’t have a comments feature. Their headline is Ken Ham Says There’s a Civil War Between Creationism, Atheistic Evolution. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis:

Creationist Ken Ham says there’s a civil war happening in America against young earth creationism and that an atheistic view of evolution is permeating the world.

“Civil war” — not “disagreement” or “debate”. It’s an interesting choice of words. Then we’re told:

Ham recently hosted the premiere screening of the upcoming film “Is Genesis History?” at The Creation Museum and wants to reinforce the film’s message to the public. The film makes the case for creation in six literal days and presents evidence that support the accounts in the book of Genesis.

[*Groan*] We discussed that film in A Bold New Creationist ‘Documentary’. After that the Christian Post quotes ol’ Hambo again:

“What you believe about where you came from affects your whole worldview,” Ham said. “If there’s a God who created us then He owns us, then He has a right to set the rules to tell us what is right and what is wrong.”

In other words, we need a theocracy. And who is more qualified to be ruler of the world than ol’ Hambo? The article continues:

The battle has already begun in America, he argued. “Look at what we see happening, there’s really a civil war going on! It’s a civil war because we now have generations that have come through that atheistic education system,” Ham said. “The consequence of that is [things are] becoming consistent with their worldview of ‘we are our own God.’ That’s really what’s happening! Moral relativism is permeating the culture.” The Australian-born Christian fundamentalist said that people who come out of a system that believes “there is no God” have no one who determines right from wrong.

That’s so sad, when we have Hambo who can make that determination for us. Let’s read on:

The 65-year-old went on to say that as you stand back and look at the world, especially the Western world, you see that everything has become increasingly secularized with a constant rebellion against Christian doctrine and morality. “I believe we’re living in what I would call a post evolution culture,” he stated.

The rest of the article is about the ‘documentary’ and we won’t bother with that. The key point, we think, is that Hambo appears to think that we’re in the middle of an actual war, and his side is losing. Something must be done!

Or, as we wondered before, are we wrong to be concerned about Hambo’s military style of expressing himself? Perhaps it’s just his charming personality, and his drooling followers would never dream of picking up their torches and pitchforks to battle with the godless scientists. We don’t know what’s going on in Hambo’s mind or the minds of his followers. But we prefer freedom to theocracy, so we’re worried about ol’ Hambo. It could be that he’s serious.

Copyright © 2017. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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