Thanks to Michael Shermer for the link to this article, also for confirming that, yes, "Dr." Kent Hovind is still in jail after being convicted of tax evasion. Too bad he doesn't accept evolution, then he could pull the creationist canard that "well if we're nothing more than animals, then people will act like it," as an excuse. The occasion that now finds Hovind blasting Shermer and the Skeptics Society is a fundraising dinner for the organization; he is infuriated that somehow he even received the mailing, listing the top ten myths about evolution.
"Shame on you!" he says, finger wagging, to the Skeptics Society. He goes on to discuss how he's debated (and apparently won, in his mind) debates with Shermer in the past, and decides to attack these "myths" as actually being true! In regard to debating Shermer, he declares that he "will do it again (plus 10 other evolution experts to assist him) any day of the week with 90% of my brain tied behind my back!" He then lists the full "conditions" of any future debate.
The full article is here: http://www.drdino.com/skeptics-society%E2%80%94shame-on-you/?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=cd7c99f7d5-1_27_111_27_2011&utm_medium=email
That's very bold, coming from a tax-cheating charlatan. According to Shermer's research into the matter, "Dr. Dino" won't be released from jail until 2015, so he'll have a long time to work on his debating skills. It would seem to me that Hovind wouldn't have to offer to only use 10% of his brain during the debate as he never uses more than that any other time.
In "destroying" the proofs of evolution, Hovind simply repeats a long list of discredited creationist arguments. He starts with the argument that: "Nobody has seen ANY plant or animal (including apes and humans) produce ANYTHING other than their own kind." Well, I can write with words fully capitalized too, Dr. Dino, just to show that, like you, I'm fully serious about what I mean. ANY semi-educated person who hasn't purposely BLINDED themselves to the scientific facts available knows that we can see numerous examples of microevolution within our own lifetimes (the evolution of different strains of bacteria, for instance). But we also know that macroevolution, which he is referring to, doesn't happen in a single generation. Only a total fool would (purposely) confuse the two. For evidence of macroevolution we have the fossil record, the incredible similarities between the DNA of totally different organisms (humans and fish share fully half of our DNA, for instance) among others.
But wait, Kent disputes fossils too, saying that there is no such thing as a "fossil record." There are only fossils, in his view, created during the Flood, no less. He believes that we have no proof of evolution in the fossils, because they don't come with a date on them or an explanation. But they do! Using radioactive isotope elements, we can confidently date fossils that we find. "Fossils don't form in any quantity today even though millions of animals die every year." How does he know that? I doubt that he's going out and looking for "modern fossils," an oxymoron if there ever was one. I recommend an introductory course in taphonomy, the study of what happens to organisms after they die and how fossils form.
He also attempts to say that the fossil record doesn't show gradual change. But of course, it does! Over time, in the fossil record we see a gradual process of change from simple to more complex organisms. If Hovind's Flood fantasy were true, we would expect to see animals of all different sorts buried together; we find nothing like it. When we find massive numbers of fossils, they are all of similar organisms; triceratops with hadrosaurs, for instance. What we don't find is a mass grave of Flood victims ranging from humans to dinosaurs to rabbits and horses. Again, Kent is plain wrong. He ends with a call to accept divine creation (an "either-or" fallacy, for it does not follow that even if he could disprove evolution, creationism would automatically be correct), which was his hook all the time.
I would think that the person who needs salvation is not the one who accepts evolution, but Dr. Hovind himself. He has repeatedly misrepresented himself, not only on his tax forms but also about his education. While he calls himself "Dr. Dino", his advanced degrees, as well as his undergraduate work, is in Christian education. He is not a paleontologist, as the moniker would imply, not even a scientist.
It was never about the evidence, after all, and never even about the science. It would be a mistake to think that he actually cared that.
"Shame on you!" he says, finger wagging, to the Skeptics Society. He goes on to discuss how he's debated (and apparently won, in his mind) debates with Shermer in the past, and decides to attack these "myths" as actually being true! In regard to debating Shermer, he declares that he "will do it again (plus 10 other evolution experts to assist him) any day of the week with 90% of my brain tied behind my back!" He then lists the full "conditions" of any future debate.
The full article is here: http://www.drdino.com/skeptics-society%E2%80%94shame-on-you/?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=cd7c99f7d5-1_27_111_27_2011&utm_medium=email
That's very bold, coming from a tax-cheating charlatan. According to Shermer's research into the matter, "Dr. Dino" won't be released from jail until 2015, so he'll have a long time to work on his debating skills. It would seem to me that Hovind wouldn't have to offer to only use 10% of his brain during the debate as he never uses more than that any other time.
In "destroying" the proofs of evolution, Hovind simply repeats a long list of discredited creationist arguments. He starts with the argument that: "Nobody has seen ANY plant or animal (including apes and humans) produce ANYTHING other than their own kind." Well, I can write with words fully capitalized too, Dr. Dino, just to show that, like you, I'm fully serious about what I mean. ANY semi-educated person who hasn't purposely BLINDED themselves to the scientific facts available knows that we can see numerous examples of microevolution within our own lifetimes (the evolution of different strains of bacteria, for instance). But we also know that macroevolution, which he is referring to, doesn't happen in a single generation. Only a total fool would (purposely) confuse the two. For evidence of macroevolution we have the fossil record, the incredible similarities between the DNA of totally different organisms (humans and fish share fully half of our DNA, for instance) among others.
But wait, Kent disputes fossils too, saying that there is no such thing as a "fossil record." There are only fossils, in his view, created during the Flood, no less. He believes that we have no proof of evolution in the fossils, because they don't come with a date on them or an explanation. But they do! Using radioactive isotope elements, we can confidently date fossils that we find. "Fossils don't form in any quantity today even though millions of animals die every year." How does he know that? I doubt that he's going out and looking for "modern fossils," an oxymoron if there ever was one. I recommend an introductory course in taphonomy, the study of what happens to organisms after they die and how fossils form.
He also attempts to say that the fossil record doesn't show gradual change. But of course, it does! Over time, in the fossil record we see a gradual process of change from simple to more complex organisms. If Hovind's Flood fantasy were true, we would expect to see animals of all different sorts buried together; we find nothing like it. When we find massive numbers of fossils, they are all of similar organisms; triceratops with hadrosaurs, for instance. What we don't find is a mass grave of Flood victims ranging from humans to dinosaurs to rabbits and horses. Again, Kent is plain wrong. He ends with a call to accept divine creation (an "either-or" fallacy, for it does not follow that even if he could disprove evolution, creationism would automatically be correct), which was his hook all the time.
I would think that the person who needs salvation is not the one who accepts evolution, but Dr. Hovind himself. He has repeatedly misrepresented himself, not only on his tax forms but also about his education. While he calls himself "Dr. Dino", his advanced degrees, as well as his undergraduate work, is in Christian education. He is not a paleontologist, as the moniker would imply, not even a scientist.
It was never about the evidence, after all, and never even about the science. It would be a mistake to think that he actually cared that.
You are a fraud sir, in the greatest sense of the word. You are disingenuous, and dismiss a plethera of information. Shame on you and your kink in misinformation.
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope you are referring to Mr. Hovind and not myself, sir (or madam). I try to rely on the best information available from science at the moment. It is the creationists who deal in lies and distortions, not me.
ReplyDeleteBrady Clemens
Anonymous #1
ReplyDeletehttp://cdn2.mixrmedia.com/wp-uploads/girlybubble/blog/2011/07/troll-face.png
Also, you are not Anon you pretender.
I think we could all benefit from a p/f course in logic IOT graduate high school. Even the most strident evidence-denier couldn't argue against the merits of being trained to see through a fallacious argument. Keep up the good work, B-rizzle.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great article! I'm a Christian (there are more of us with brains than "Dr. Dino" would have you think) and was disgusted when someone in my Bible study gave me a stack of Kent Hovind dvds. For what it's worth, there are a good number of Christians out there meshing science and Christian theology every day.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, thank you. Always good to hear from someone like yourself; I wish that I heard from more of them.
ReplyDeleteBuddy, you are pathetic..... & so are all the rest trying to "mesh" Christian theology with science as this world sees it (at least in the Darwinian sense that is)! Kent Hovind was jailed for something quite other than tax evasion..... he was jailed because he stood up to the rest of the world & the powers that be & told it like he seen it (nothing more, nothing less). One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out..... but you go on ahead & keep following your "scientific views" of this world for it is as the bible told long ago "for the wicked shall not understand" & we also clearly see who is in control of this world Ephesians 6:11. Nothing more needs to be said..... the bible has said it all (thousands of years ago) & it will come to pass just like it has been foretold..... & when it does, something tells me that you & all of the other cronies just like you will be eating crow BIG TIME!
ReplyDeleteHovind told the pure truth..evolution is fake and he is wright
ReplyDelete