A popular creationist links Darwin to racism

Transcript of today's show:

Ken Ham, evangelical creationist and founder of the very popular Creation Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, has just come out with a new book entitled Darwin’s Plantation: Evolution’s Racist Roots. Ken Ham and co-author Dr. Charles Ware reveal a compelling history of the effect of an evolution-based belief system on the history of the United States, touching on abortion, slavery, and the civil rights movement.

[source: Answers in Genesis]

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from The Associated Press:

In the new book, Ham says that Darwin's theory - that natural selection caused gradual biological changes over time - puts some races ''higher on the evolutionary scale'' and others ''closer to the apes.''

''Although racism did not begin with Darwinism, Darwin did more than any person to popularize it,'' Ham writes. He further contends that the theory fanned the flames of ''ethnic superiority.''

''Stalin, Hitler and Mao were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions - and it can be shown they did this because of the influence of Darwinian naturalism,'' Ham writes.

Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a California group that defends teaching evolution in public schools, said Hitler rarely mentioned evolution.

''Darwinian evolution is based on natural selection, which means that any population can adapt to its environment,'' Scott said. ''The ironic thing for the creationists is that Hitler grounded Aryan superiority as a God-given quality.'' [read full story]

from the blog The Darwin Report:

Historically speaking, Charles Darwin came from a family of abolitionists. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, strongly disapproved of slavery. And Charles Darwin wrote negatively about the slavery he witnessed on his travels in his book, The Voyage Of The Beagle. Darwin’s The Descent Of Man is also an argument against racism, since one of the points in it is the common ancestry of all the humans races. And simply using the word “savage”, as Darwin did, in its 19th century context doesn’t make a man a racist. Political correctness and cultural sensitivity were more than a century away. [read full blog post]

from a report by WDC Media, a Christian Media relations firm:

Ham and Ware show that although racism certainly did not begin with Darwin, his beliefs did more to fuel racism than the ideas of any other single individual. "Racism is a consequence of sin in a fallen world infused with evolutionary thinking," Ham writes.

The subtitle of Darwin's "Origin of Species" is "The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life." Darwin himself writes in "The Descent of Man" that he would rather be descended from a monkey than a "savage."

"As soon as one believes that human beings have evolved from creatures of lesser intelligence, it is an easy corollary to assume that some people groups are more evolved than others," the book says. [read complete article]



from PZ Myers' blog Pharyngula:

Just when you think these guys can't get any more dishonest, here comes Darwin's Plantation: Evolution's Racist Roots. The tag line on the book is a quote from Ham: "Although racism did not begin with Darwinism, Darwin did more than any person to popularize it."

Wow. More than Martin Luther, who helped make anti-semitism a favorite German pastime? More than Nathan Bedford Forrest, who helped the Ku Klux Klan grow to half a million members? More than Hitler? More than our Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision? More than Richard Butler, founder of the Aryan Nations? More than Lester Maddox and Strom Thurmond? More than King Leopold II of Belgium? [read full blog post]

A look back at the controversy in 2007

Today's show:

2007's first big story opened on Darwin's Birthday, February 11, with the release of the feature film documentary Flock of Dodos. In May, Ken Ham proudly placed baby dinosaurs in Noah's Ark at the Creation Museum, while a Turkish publisher spent millions FedExing the Atlas of Creation to European and American universities. Also in 2007 three presidential candidates went on the record that they don’t believe in evolution.


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The Creation Museum emerges as a learning institution

Transcript of today's show:

Six months after its opening, the controversial Creation Museum has attracted over one quarter of a million visitors, double the number predicted. The largest audiences are home-school families and Christian school students, who come to learn the creation-based science that the museum so vividly portrays. Museum founder Evangelist Ken Ham, who has focused his ministry extensively on education, has added afternoon lectures and plans several children's workshops.
[source: Northern Kentucky News]

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from an editorial by James K. Willmot, appearing in the Louisville Courier-Journal:

There is a great educational injustice being inflicted upon thousands of children in this country, a large percentage of whom come from the Kentucky, Ohio and, Indiana areas…. If adults want to believe in a 6,000-year-old Earth, that dinosaurs and humans lived together in harmony (all dinosaurs were vegetarians, you see) and that Noah saved all of the Earth's animal species by placing them on his ark, then they have the right to do so. What I object to is that thousands of children, particularly the growing number of Christian home-schooled children in this country, are visiting the museum in droves, much to the delight of the museum's founder, Ken Hamm….

The obstruction of scientific information is nothing new in the history of fundamentalist theology. What is new is the way this organization is using the power of radio (AIG is broadcast over 850 radio stations), the Internet and, now, a pseudo-natural history museum to convince well-meaning, hard-working people that science is not to be trusted, that the theory of evolution is evil and that belief in scientific theories of our creation leads to barbaric behaviors…. Unfortunately, the creation museum in Northern Kentucky has been very successful at encouraging their non-thinking, anti-reasoning philosophy, especially among young, dinosaur-loving children. Inaction in this matter may come back to haunt us in the future. [read full story]

from Evolution Blog:

The issue is not that someone knowledgeable about science will go in understanding the evidence for evolution and come out a fire-breathing creationist. Rather, it is the people who have never really thought carefully about the subject, who go out of curiosity or because a friend roped them in, we have to worry about. Such people rarely consider the possibility that such slick and expensive propaganda could possibly be wall-to-wall nonsense. Where there's smoke, there's fire, right?

Furthermore, the success of the creation museum leads to favorable press coverage…. That leads to young-Earthism being a ubiquitous and accepted part of the social discourse. If the polls are to be believed, fully half the country is already in thrall to this garbage. Add in a lot of neutral to favorable press coverage and you bet people are going to start being persuaded. If not of full-blown YEC, at least of the idea that this is something that needs to be presented in science classes….

The fact is that if the courts ever step out of the way we will have some sort of creationism taught in virtually every school-district in the country. Frame your way out of that. We're one Supreme Court justice (and the right case, of course) away from having it found constitutional to teach this dreck in public schools. If, as seems a distinct possibility, we have President Giulliani in January of 2009, I'm afraid I see little hope for keeping the forces of darkness and ignorance from finally getting what they want. [read full blog post]

excerpt from an article in Answers Magazine, published by the Answers In Genesis ministry, which funded the Creation Museum:

Most parents who take their children to church on Sunday also send them off to a secular school the rest of the week. This is the case in approximately 88% of U.S. households with school-age children. If the teacher teaches from secular textbooks, the child’s Christian education is challenged.

At church they are taught that they are special in God’s eyes; in fact, they are created in His image. In most secular schools they hear the philosophy of naturalism, the idea that mass and energy are all that exist and that the universe and life all arose by natural processes. There is no supernatural Creator God.

In a key 1995 statement, the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) affirmed that naturalism is a fundamental tenet of science education:

The diversity of life on earth is the outcome of evolution: an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable and natural process of temporal descent with genetic modification that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies and changing environments.

“Unsupervised” means no Creator God. “Impersonal” means life has no special meaning. “Unpredictable” means we are a product of blind chance. “Natural process” means processes inherent in matter. It should be noted that in 1997, the NABT removed the words, “unsupervised” and “impersonal” when they realized they were distancing themselves from religious people, but the words “unpredictable” and “natural processes” remain. [read complete article]



Signed statement from concerned scientists in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana

"We, the undersigned scientists at universities and colleges in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, are concerned about scientifically inaccurate materials at the Answers in Genesis museum. Students who accept this material as scientifically valid are unlikely to succeed in science courses at the college level. These students will need remedial instruction in the nature of science, as well as in the specific areas of science misrepresented by Answers in Genesis." [see full statement]

The Kentucky tourism board promotes the controversial Creation Museum

Transcript of today's show:

A Kentucky scientist is furious at the state visitor bureau for it's favorable description of the controversial Creation Museum. The bureau's tourism web site praises the museum as an alternative to natural history museums "that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture."

Daniel Phelps, president of Kentucky's Paleontology Society, who calls the museum and 'anti-museum', is speaking out against the visitor bureau's actions. He says: “Natural history museums don’t turn people against religion. If they did, there would be regular protests outside those museums.” [source: The Cincinnati Enquirer]

Editor's Note: Within days after this story originally broke, changes were made to the descriptions of the Creation Museum on both the Northern Cincinnati and the Northern Kentucky tourism web sites. Both web sites have removed the phrase "This 'walk through history' museum will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture."

Phelps review of the Creation Museum

The rebuttal of the Creation Museum


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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
I agree with Mr. Phelps: natural history museums have co-existed quite respectfully with the church. This is evident in the fact that they do not post any material that discounts religious belief, nor do they post propaganda slogans or displays that attack religion. Like so many who have a fundamentalist orientation to the science/religion schism, Mr. Ham believes he and his museum are under attack by the scientific community. Perhaps this fear of attack is a misinterpretation of the threat that modern science poses to Biblical cosmology generally. For example, could it be that the Old Testament stories of the origins of life (conceived during a time when humans believed the Earth was flat!), are profoundly threatened by scientific theory that posits the universe is billions of years old?

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
This is much ado about nothing. The Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau simply picked up copy from the Creation Museum’s website and quoted it word-for-word, as they likely do for all businesses they feature on their website. This certainly doesn’t mean that the publicly funded Convention & Visitor’s Bureau is suddenly endorsing creationist belief nor that the Bureau is calling those who attend natural history museums “non-believers”. This is just another example of scientists so threatened by another point of view they have to lash out about any misunderstanding no matter how miniscule.

The Creation Museum planetarium proves the universe is thousands of years old.

Transcript of today's show:

Ken Ham’s Creation Museum planetarium uses blue supergiant stars to prove that the universe is very young — only thousands of years old. Dr. Jason Lisle, astrophysicist for the museum, claims that because blue supergiant stars go supernova after a couple million of years, our Milky Way galaxy could not be billions of years old, since all of its stars would have self-destructed by now. [source: Answers in Genesis]

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The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
Dr. Lisle is indeed an astrophysicist. He has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and joined the Creation Museum team after graduation. His claim that short supergiant supernova lifetimes prove a very young universe has yet to be published in any peer reviewed journals.

I’m not an astronomer, but I have to ask myself how someone could go through an ENTIRE doctoral program in astrophysics — where the big controversy and debate are centered on how many billions of years old the universe is (12billion? 13 billion? 14 billion?)— and not be affected by the overwhelming evidence. A 6,000 year old universe would mean that all the great cosmologist minds of the last century should be fired as science authorities:

Edwin Hubble, namesake for the Hubble Telescope, and his Hubble Constant, which defines the recessional velocities of galaxies: FIRED!

Albert Einstein, perhaps the smartest human being ever born, and his space-time continuum: PINK-SLIPPED!

And Stephen Hawkings with his big bang, black holes, and baby universes: POPPYCOCK!

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
Ken Ham’s Creation Museum continues to go where “no man has gone before." By attracting a staff of qualified experts who have the science credentials to back up their claims, Dr. Ham continues to blaze new frontiers in science where few have dared to tread.

It is a great and noble effort, the reconciliation of the Word with science, and none has done it better nor more beautifully than the Creation Museum. The Museum has won the admiration of some scientists around the world. The majority of secular scientists, however, are still obviously frightened quite threatened by the notion that the true cosmological laws of the universe could be other than their own Bible – the Word according to Secular Science.

I applaud Dr. Lisle for his exciting, innovative cosmological theory and look forward to reading about it in scientific journals as well as seeing it included as part of astronomy curriculum in schools. Young Earth Creationism is a theory that is growing in popularity among Christians and others who find the evidence of secular science to be preposterous. Here are some of the groups on the web who support Young Earth Creationism, I invite you to visit them:

Answers in Genesis
Creation Ministries International
Institute for Creation Research
The Center for Natural Studies
EarthAge.org
Dr. Dino (Creation Science Evangelism)
Creation-Evolution Headlines

Ken Ham makes an eloquent appearance on NPR

Peter here, with a response to the scientific community's characteriazation of Ken Ham as a fringe lunatic evangelist who promotes bad science. In an NPR interview aired on May 28, Rev. Ham presents his case in a delightfully sober, well-thought out way.

On the question of the validity of scripture versus emperical science, he replied that all scientists begin with one or more presuppositions when they embark on scientific investigation, notably the supposition that God does not exist or was not involved in the phenomenon being observed. He added that scientists were not around to see dinosaurs walk the Earth anymore than creationists can claim to have been present to observe Adam and Eve.

A fair argument.

Speaking of fair, it's worth mentioning that Creation Museum visitors are exposed to both sides of the evolution-creationism issue. An exerpt of the interview on the NPR web site:

"We actually do give both sides as people walk in," Ham says, explaining that a fossil exhibit has "a creation paleontologist" and "an evolutionary paleontologist" offering different interpretations of the same fossil.

Listen for yourself to this interview and hear it from the horse's mouth. It's helpful, when making assessments, to go to the source of a story, rather than read secular reporters' versions of them.

Baby Dinosaurs in Noah's Ark!

Transcript of today's show:

Yes, there were baby dinosaurs in Noah's Ark, according to Australian evangelist Ken Ham, whose Creation Musuem opens this Memorial Day. The Baby Dinosaurs were in the Ark because they were small enough to fit and co-existed with mankind on an Earth that is only 6,000 years old, according to Answers in Genesis, the organization responsible for the Museum opening May 28th near Cincinnati, Ohio. Source: Dylan T. Lovan/Associated Press

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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
Sure, Ken, go ahead and rewrite anthropological history. Hey, your guess might be as good as anyone elses'. Though it's too bad you don't like that carbon dating thing. I understand how it completely throws off your biblical data vis-à-vis the age of the earth, the time of the dinosaurs and the date of Noah's voyage. So, yeah, if the empirical tool doesn't support your theory, hell yes, throw it out! (And don't let the scientists' vehement disapproval of that practice deter you. What do they know? Most of them are atheists!).

And Ken, if you're going to ditch a precision scientific tool, carbon dating is the perfect choice: now you can date historical events to your heart's content! For a Biblical literalist, you can get a lot of mileage out of this one. Brilliant, Ken, you've done it again.

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
They said it couldn’t be done. By “they” I mean the godless Darwinists who claim that Biblical knowledge cannot be reconciled with science. Ken Ham has done so seamlessly, elegantly and with a child-friendly presentation. He has not left science behind, as the unbelieving naysayers insist. The quality of the exhibits and the science from which they were conceived and created rival the best natural history museums in the world. It is not what Ken Ham 'left out' that makes this museum so controversial, it’s what he has revealed -- the Gospel truth about our origins, which incidentally, hundreds of millions of Christians and Jews have accepted for thousands of years. This museum is for their edification and pleasure. And for you who cannot handle the Truth, take the kids to DisneyWorld.

Bill Maher sneaks into the Creation Museum

Transcript of today's show:

Left-wing political satirist Bill Maher may be the first celebrity to visit the Creation Museum, the 27 million dollar crowning achievement of evangelical Ken Ham opening this Memorial Day. Maher, who says Christians suffer from a neurological disorder that “stops people from thinking,” covertly snuck in the back door of the museum as part of a video crew filming under the fake moniker First Word Productions. Ken Ham and museum staff were not amused. [source: World Net Daily]

Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
Ken Ham was so not amused, he later called the visit from Maher part of "an elaborate media deception." Here is some elaboration on the Ham-Maher meeting from World Net Daily:

Nothing could have prepared Ham and the Creation Museum team for its surprise reconnaissance mission by Maher – known for his biting criticism of fundamentalist Christianity.

"When someone like a vehement anti-Christian Bill Maher goes to elaborate lengths to get into AiG, it tells me how threatening our museum must be to their worldview," said Ham. "But it was a good wake-up call for us, and our security crew is already taking measures – ahead of the museum's opening on May 28 – to prevent a reoccurrence."

While there is no word from Maher and HBO as to how the shoot will be used, Ham said he did answer the comedian-commentator's questions.

"Bill Maher did interview me; though respectful in one sense, most of his questions were just mocking attacks on God's Word," he said.

Albeit a prank befitting a rowdy schoolboy, you have to hand it to Bill Maher for trying to lighten things up a bit. Evangelical self-righteousness, after all, can be so redundant and boring. And, actually, scary. Evangelicals and fundamentalists have begun to take themselves way too seriously. They're becoming a social hazard! And the problem with this is: if you aren't willing to laugh at yourself, you're probably not willing to look at yourself – or your sacred cows -- with an objective and critical eye. You just go on pretending that you possess The Truth. You go on unquestioningly believing, "We have been saved and are blessed knowers of The Truth. It is our sacred duty to open the eyes and minds of all non-knowers, to show them the light of The Truth."

To followers of a religious (or political) group, a leader's self-righteousness is a measure of his greatness, and of course, his rightness (look how effectively George W. Bush has snowed everyone). And this is how organized insanity tends to propagate: seeding itself in the rich soil of blind faith, where, as Bill Maher might say, the neurologically challenged lead the neurologically challenged.

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
Few could argue that Mr. Maher's cunning and deceit were a bold display of arrogance, insolence, and utter disrespect. Attacks of this kind demonstrate a vulnerability, however, on the part of the perpetrator. Does the Truth so frighten Mr. Maher, a self-described atheist, that he must attempt to squash it underfoot with an underhanded and cynical affront of humor? Mr. Maher, be courageous! Be a man! Please, use the front door next time.

Public mockery is still free publicity

Transcript of today's show:

The Memorial Day Opening of the Evangelical Creation Museum is heating up the evolution-creationism controversy. While foreign media and science critics have mostly come to snigger at exhibits explaining how baby dinosaurs fit on Noah’s Ark and Cain married his sister to people the earth, museum spokesman Mark Loy said the coverage has done nothing but drum up more interest reminding creation critics that “Mocking publicity is still free publicity.” [source: USA Today]

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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
Yes, there is no such thing as bad publicity, but I'm not so sure I want the foreign press making fun of a pseudo-science museum, when the US is already carrying such a low image in foreign policy and the environment. As Al Gore says in his new book, The Assault on Reason, the U.S. is a country whose informed electorate has a long history of making reasoned decisions based on the best available information. A Holy Book written in primitive times when everyone still believed the Earth was flat should not be used as a scientific guide for the origins of life.

Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
Mockery is indeed free publicity. And I say "bring them on!" The opening of the Creation Museum, mockery or not, is proving to be an Evangelical media event of Biblical Proportions. Despite this inordinant lavishing of attention on the mockery, petitions, and naysayers, the Creation Museum is receiving robust and quite positive media attention. Ken Ham's tireless promotional tour, in which he's talked about the museum's opening Memorial Day, has been well received. And the Louisville, Kentucky daily recently carried a touching story about museum construction workers who's lives have been changed by the experience. One man says he found the Lord after working at the museum for a few months. ("I came to work for the museum, now I'm working for God"). He says he owes his transformation to the Creation Museum itself, both from what he learned while working on the installationos, but also from the loving attitude of those he worked with. As I expected, the Creation Museum will indeed be a beacon of light, of hope, and of God for many, many souls -- those who already believe, those who are looking, and those who are neither.

Internet Petitions Oppose the Creation Museum

Transcript of today's show:

Petitions asking educators to voice their opposition to evangelical Ken Ham’s Creation Museum have begun to circulate on the Internet. Our offices received one from an organization called Defending the Constitution. The petition calls the museum the most recent example of the religious right’s war on science education -- whether in the form of anti-evolution stickers in textbooks or the promotion of intelligent design in the classroom. [source: Defcon Blog]

Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
Educators can sign the online petition here. If you're not an educator, you can sign this petition. By doing so, you are voicing your stand against religion's war on science. If you are concerned about the integrity of science education in our country, I urge you to take part in this small bit of advocacy. Every voice counts.

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
As Ken Ham himself has noted, scientists and atheists are clearly and profoundly threatened by the Creation Museum. Perhaps one reason is the fact that the Evangelical Community spared no expense at making the exhibits as realistic as possible. They may also fear the very dramatic and public message that there is a compelling alternative to Darwinism.

A new skirmish in the war between God & Science

Transcript of today's show:

Ken Ham’s Creation Museum may become the biggest controversy yet in the God vs. Science wars. The museum depicts the origin of life according to a literal interpretation of the Bible -- including the premise that the Earth is only 6,000 years old -- a notion violently opposed by most of the scientific community. The Museum opens this Memorial Day. [source: Christian Post]

Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
I urge all scientists and sane-thinking people to make some kind of protest. We who remain silent will ironically voice approval, not just for this museum, but for the others of its kind to make their promised appearances in the coming years. Do something! Get online and sign a petition. Inform friends and family. If you live near Cincinnati, get on a bus and protest. This whole affair is being carefully watched by bloggers and media. Any little bit of activism can be noticed and have some measure of impact.

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
The outcry in response to the opening of this museum smacks of 'double standard.' For decades and decades, evolutionary science has held a monopoly on science museums and the historical and biological portrayal of the origin of earth and man. To deny Christian believers the opportunity to build museums that portray this history according to their truths, is the attitude of a poor sport. The scientific community, it appears, is deeply threatened; it recognizes the vulnerability of its pre-eminent theories in the face of Gospel Truth. The scientific community has demonstrated, again and again, that it will not share power with any world view that in any way is deemed contradictory.