Strange Contradiction at AIG

One thing which is absolutely clear in the bible is that The Earth Is Flat! In our post we cited at least two dozen scripture passage saying that, and we left out some duplicates. There are none saying that the Earth is a sphere — and that includes the often mis-translated Isaiah 40:22, in which “circle of the earth” actually refers to a disk.

We’re all together on that, so take a look at what was just posted at the blog of Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo) — the ayatollah of Appalachia, the world’s holiest man who knows more about religion and science than everyone else. The title is Falling Flat: A New Book by Dr. Danny Faulkner Refuting the Flat Earth. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

Ten years ago, Answers in Genesis [Hambo’s creationist ministry] was rarely asked about whether or not the earth was flat. We often heard atheists comparing a belief in creation to a belief in a flat earth (implying the creationist view violates what we can observe from observational science, which it doesn’t [Yes it does!]), but we didn’t receive serious inquiries about the earth’s shape.

For some reason, things are different now. Hambo says:

However, that’s all changed — it’s a question we hear frequently, particularly directed at our astronomer Dr. Danny Faulkner. In fact, it’s become such a popular topic that Dr. Faulkner wrote a book, Falling Flat, that’s now available for order.

Here’s AIG’s biographical information about Danny. They say he taught physics and astronomy until he joined AIG. His undergraduate degree is from Bob Jones University. And here’s the listing for Danny’s book at Amazon: Falling Flat: A Refutation of Flat Earth Claims. The publisher is Master Books. Their website brags that they’re “the exclusive publisher for Ken Ham, the founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, the Creation Museum, and the Ark Encounter.”

Let’s get back to Hambo’s post. He tells us about Danny:

When he’s out speaking or meeting guests at the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, he receives many questions. He also hears heart-breaking stories about the impact the flat-earth movement has had on families, marriages, friendships, and even whole churches. [Really?] The prevalence of this teaching, and the damage it’s doing inspired Dr. Faulkner to write a book on the topic. He trusts it will be a helpful resource for those with “flat earth” family members or friends and those who are “on the fence” about the issue.

It’s difficult to imagine a family torn apart over the issue of whether the Earth is flat, but some families really are troubled by creationism, so hey — why not flat Earth too? Hambo continues:

Dr. Faulkner was also part of a documentary produced by The Creation Guys [whoever they are]. It features a biblical and scientific look at various pieces of evidence, conclusively showing that the earth is a sphere [Gasp!] and that the Bible doesn’t teach a flat earth. [But it does!] You can find the documentary Faith on the Edge in our online bookstore. [Link omitted.]

And now we come to the end:

If you know someone who has been captured by the modern flat-earth movement, if you have questions yourself or just want to thoroughly investigate the matter, I encourage you to order Falling Flat. [Link omitted.]

This whole topic is strange. Hambo insists on what the bible says when he preaches that the Earth is young, along with the whole universe. The same goes for the global flood and Noah’s Ark. He also believes in Adam & Eve and their sin which caused Yahweh to curse all of creation and condemn us to the Lake of Fire. All that stuff is scientific nonsense, but he claims it’s true because it’s in the bible.

He’s obviously not worried about looking foolish. In for a penny, in for a pound, right? Yet for some reason he’s not a flat-earther, although that’s in the bible too. Can you figure it out, dear reader?

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Creationist Wisdom #986: The Worst Ever?

Today’s letter-to-the-editor appears in the NorthWest Iowa Review of Sheldon, Iowa. It’s titled Origin questions worthy of rebuttal, and the newspaper doesn’t have a comments feature.

Because the writer isn’t a politician, preacher, or other public figure, we won’t embarrass or promote him by using his full name. His first name is Gary. Excerpts from his letter will be enhanced with our Curmudgeonly commentary, some bold font for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]. Here we go!

The Rev. Stanley Groothof suggested that the question of origins is a squabble that is of lesser importance than things like climate change, creation care, sexism, etc. (Sept. 7 REVIEW letter) May I suggest the following:

We can’t find the rev’s letter, but it doesn’t matter. Gary is enraged and he says:

Darwin was a racist and taught that Negroes and Aborigines were inferior to whites and would someday be eliminated. The full title of his book was “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.”

Madness! As we said in Racism, Eugenics, and Darwin, that book’s title is often the only thing by Darwin the creationists ever read, and they mindlessly misinterpret it. Darwin, like his contemporaries, uses the terms “race,” “sub-species,” “variety,” and similar expressions interchangeably in connection with a great number of animals (dogs, horses, etc.) and also plants (flowers, cabbages, etc.), sometimes intermixing them in the same context. Aside from that, Origin of Species doesn’t even talk about the evolution of humans.

That was only the first of several mindless clunkers in Gary’s letter. After that one he tells us:

The evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould wrote, “Biological arguments for racism may have been common before 1859, but they increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory.” Ontogeny and phylogeny (1977)

We can’t find any confirmation of that alleged quote. Gary continues:

Darwin also taught that men are superior to women. (sexism) [Groan!] Darwin’s ideas inspired the German generals to start World War I because, as they wrote in their military books, Germany would win in nature’s war for the survival of the fittest because Germans were the superior race.

[…]

World War II carried this philosophy even further when Hitler accepted Darwin’s view of superior races and declared that the Jews, Slavs and Africans were “untermensch,” men lower (“under”) in ability and worth. Millions were slaughtered by him in the name of evolution.

Aaaargh!! How many times do we need to debunk that nonsense? See Darwin Caused World War One, Part 3 and also The Ultimate Hitler-Darwin Debunking.

And that’s not all. In successive paragraphs, Gary then blames Darwin not only for Hitler, but also Stalin and Mao. His letter seems to contain the whole creationist list of deranged clunkers. He even continues for several paragraphs after that, but we won’t bother with any of it. Suffice it to say that Gary’s letter is certainly one of the worst we’ve ever seen — perhaps the worst. We’re outta here!

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Discoveroids Say Scientists Are Idiots

For years we’ve been laughing at the Discovery Institute’s bizarre concept of “information.” Its some kind of imaginary pixie dust their intelligent designer — blessed be he! — injects into the genome so that DNA can do the wonderful things it does. Back in 2014 we analogized it to phlogiston — see Phlogiston, Vitalism, and Information.

Hambo liked the Discoveroids’ idea so much that he adopted it — see Ken Ham: Natural Selection Is Not Evolution. As we all know, endorsement by ol’ Hambo is an absolute guarantee that the concept is 100% pure creationism.

Why do we bring up this creationist history? Because today, dear reader, the Discoveroids are fighting back. Look what just appeared at their creationist blog, with no author’s by-line: The Modern-Day Phlogiston: Darwinism Explains Everything and Nothing.

Isn’t that title glorious? They’re saying the theory of evolution is our phlogiston. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

On a new episode of ID the Future [Ooooooooooooh! A Discoveroid podcast!], host Andrew McDiarmid reads an excerpt from Heretic: One Scientist’s Journey from Darwin to Design, by Finnish bioengineer Matti Leisola and Jonathan Witt.

We’ve blogged about that book a few times — see, e.g.: Creationist Review of a Discoveroid Book. You know it’s great science because it was published by — drum-roll, trumpets — the Discovery Institute Press.

What’s in the new Discoveroid podcast? Their post tells us:

It makes the case that modern neo-Darwinism is today’s “phlogiston,” [Gasp!] a theory that explains everything but nothing, faces mounting contrary evidence, and survives only with ever more ancillary hypotheses.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! We’ve been flinging phlogiston at them, and now they’re flinging it back at us. This is jolly good fun! The Discoveroid post continues:

In the excerpt Leisola and Witt also discuss the well-documented pattern of scientists defending an existing scientific paradigm even after fresh discoveries have turned against it, with the obsolete dominant paradigm dying only very slowly.

Those scientists keep clinging to discredited theories — like evolution. What stubborn fools they are!

Here’s the end of the Discoveroids’ post:

An especially dramatic and tragic example gave the name to this all-too-human tendency — the Semmelweis reflex. Download the podcast or listen to it here. [Link omitted.]

The Semmelweis reflex? This is embarrassing, but we hadn’t heard of that before. Wikipedia describes it as: “a metaphor for the reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts established norms, beliefs or paradigms.”

Well, dear reader, it looks like the Discoveroids have got us all figured out. We’re clinging to our phlogiston and Darwinism, while they’re boldly moving forward with their dazzling new “theory” of intelligent design. We’ve been such fools!

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Drooling School Board Chairwoman

We haven’t had one of these for a long time. The story appears in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, the largest city in the state of Minnesota. Their headline is Brainerd school board chairwoman questions teaching of evolution. They’ve got 144 comments so far.

“Brainerd” in that headline presumably refers to Brainerd, Minnesota. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

The chairwoman of Brainerd’s school board this week questioned the teaching of evolution and suggested that it’s incompatible with Christian beliefs. [Really?] “I did have a question about evolution,” Sue Kern said at a Monday board meeting after a presentation about the planned biology curriculum at Brainerd Senior High School.

What was her question? Here it comes:

“You know, Darwin’s theory was done in the mid-1800s and it’s never been proven,” Kern said. “So I’m wondering why we’re still teaching it.”

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! What happened next? The newspaper informs us:

The district staff and faculty members who gave the presentation responded by explaining that the theory of evolution has actually gotten stronger with further scientific discovery — for example, the study of DNA.

That didn’t satisfy Susie Kern, did it? No, apparently not. We’re told:

Kern then wondered about those whose religious beliefs don’t include evolution. “And then with regard to your Christian students, then — how do you do that? How do you tell them?” she said. “Because they are taught not to agree with that, so….”

Great question! It’s wonderful to see a public official who is so concerned with good education. What happened next? The newspaper says:

Craig Rezac, a Brainerd science teacher who led the presentation to the school board, answered that teaching evolution is not in conflict with Christian beliefs. “This is science, and science doesn’t deal with a belief system,” he said. “We deal with facts. It doesn’t have to be a dilemma or a concern with someone to choose between evolution or Christianity,” he said. “You can actually embrace both.”

Did that satisfy Susie Kern? We may never know. The Star Tribune tells us:

Kern didn’t respond to requests for comment.

How frustrating that meeting must have been for her. The news story continues:

In a statement, Brainerd Public Schools Superintendent Laine Larson said Kern’s comments “reflect her personal views and do not reflect the views of the Board of Education as a whole or the Brainerd Public School District. “The District’s approved science curriculum aligns with the MN State Standards,” Larson’s statement said, adding that “the Board of Education unanimously approved the Science and Biology curriculum at Monday’s meeting.”

Jeepers. Susie didn’t get any support from anyone. How frustrating it must have been for her. Here’s our last excerpt:

Kern was first elected to the school board in 2012. In a candidate questionnaire in 2016, as she ran for a second term, she promised “to maintain family conservative values and culture.” According to her LinkedIn profile, Kern is a registered nurse and works as a realty assistant.

Well, the people of Brainerd elected her, so now they’re got what they wanted. She’s good blogging material, so we hope she keeps fighting the good fight. Go, Susie, go!

Copyright © 2019. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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