Recently I was made aware of the sad news that Dr. Kent Hovind was arrested and imprisoned over income taxes. Reading the threads and posts here I thought that there should besome clarification as to what exactly Dr.Hovind has advanced in his seminars:

1). That Science did not 'disprove' the Biblical Genesis account of Creation or Noah's Flood; geological sciences did not disproiove it nor did biological or astronomical sciences either.
2). In viewing the whole seminar (several hours) I did not once ever hear Dr. Hovind claim that God and the Bible could be "proven" by science. On the contrary he stated (quite accurately) that true science (an examination of the empirical evidences and demonstrable models) that neither Creationism nor Darwinist Evolution could be "proven" one way or another (perhaps those who unwisely took him on in debates should have given this fact more consideration).
3). Dr. Hovind revealed the many holes in Darwinist "thought" and pointed out the many inaccuracies and outright lies (ie. the gill slits --admitted by other biologists as bogus) and demonstrated that in FACT Darwinist Evolution was as much a RELIGION when the same standards of definition were applied to it as often are to Creationism.

What Dr. Hovind proceeded to do was to demonstrate by examination of empirical evidences (a variety running the complete spectrum) and by reasonable demonstrable models (ie. hydrologic sorting of soils and other sediments) that the Genesis account COULD have happened exactly as stated in the Bible, and as such there was simply no valid reason to doubt the Biblical account. He also advanced what he called "The Hovind THEORY" (emphasis added), his OWN thoughts as to what MIGHT have happened during the castrophe known as Noah's Flood or the Great Deluge. NOTHING Dr. Hovind advanced in his theory is unsound scientifically. It is all possible and quite reasonable as demonstrated by other calamities (ie. the Mount St. Helens eruption). Yet NOWHERE did Dr. Hovind claim that his theory "was" what happened. He simply left it for what it was HIS THEORY (and a good one at that).

Now I've seen this site thatdedicates itself to smearing the character credibility of Dr. Hovind (www.kent-hovind.com) and whereas I am well aware of the people at Answers In Genesis warning against some of the things Hovind was advancing (WHY I do not know, but be that as it may) and some of the other stuff I wonder about. I do know that this site has taken one of Dr. Hovind's parodies completely out of context.

I am referring to the Chromosome Parody. Dr. Hovind put out this parody to demonstrate the utter fallicy (scientifically speaking) of suggesting that because "humans and some great apes are different by only two or three chromosomes this is proof of their close kinship". Dr. Hovind points out that chromosomes are so complex that their numbering in no way tells us anything about the complexity of the plant or animal or its relations to any other (for example if chromosomes were themselves indicative of advanced life forms, then we humans can only look forward to the day when we evolve enough to be ferns!) Chromosomes are no proof of complexity and yet the smear mogul running this site STEALS Dr. Hovind's own argument to try and advance a case against him (it would probably work except on those of us who have actually seen the seminars!)

As to the school where he got his PhD being a "diploma mill"? Well I've encountered enough Harvard and Yale graduates to impress me that these ivy league institutions are nothing but diploma mills themselves. Possibly one man's meat versus another man's poison kind of thing.

The simple fact is that Darwinist Evolution REQUIRES some (great) degree of blind belief (ie. FAITH) in its 'accuracies', as most of it is not provable. It is not science but a religion ITSELF. You can believe in Darwin and his crowd. You can believe the earth is flat too.

Absolom_Absolom

Amen!!!
He has been a great influence on my faith!!!

I think most people try to discredit him, so that schools can go on as usual.
(I mean 'higher learning' schools)
Where God is somewhat 'not allowed'.

Most of the arguments against him are about his taxes.
But, if his ministry uses innovative learning methods coupled with amusement, the I.R.S. decides seperation of church and state is null???

I still respect him ALOT!!! I hope this "We're all just animals, and if you don't believe it you should go to jail", 'higher learning' tyranny will stop!!!!

Personally I'm not convinced of Dr. Hovind's theories, but I do have to admit that it seems his critics have done a poor job of trying to refute him. Attack the theories, not the person, people.

Originally posted by mentalempire
Personally I'm not convinced of Dr. Hovind's theories, but I do have to admit that it seems his critics have done a poor job of trying to refute him. Attack the theories, not the person, people.

Its good to keep a critical view of statements by even Dr. Hovind. Another person I would recommend is Ken Ham to further anyone elses interest and research to a broader scope then just videos from one man.

I'll also add that it does not make much difference to me whether Kent Hovind is correct or not because, as far as I'm concerned, the creation account was never intended to be interpreted literally.

I am fully convinced that as he started to talk out more against the government and more people started to follow his teachings, he became a threat...

I mean come on...this charge sounds so bogus..."tax evasion" who the hell goes after a church for tax evasion.

I do not know the entire details of the case, but i really think this is a lot more then just more then his "tax evasion" and about creation theories again evolution, he became a threat starting to show the government for what it really is and he had a big following....

They had to shut him down!


Oh yea and seriously if all you can find on him is this "diploma mill" crap then wow... every heard of private education?

this maybe off the subject a little bit but... don't you think that the government would want to shut these places down, and "expose" them as frauds causing these people that graduated from them to be discredited?

and i really love what he says, if you dont like that he has a doctor...then forget about it and more on...

[edit on 6-1-2009 by white_raven]

While it's a great talking point for me to point out Hovind is currently serving 10 years in prison, that's more an icing on the cake.

Some of my favorite arguments from him

1. "A giant ice meteor hit the poles causing the ice sheets." Nevermind that an "Ice meteor" wouldn't hit and spread ice no matter the size. An object the size of New York City slamming into the earth would have been large enough to destroy all life on Earth.

2. "Java man, lucy, Piltdown man, Nebraska man are all hoaxes propagated by a scientific minority." First, Piltdown man was a fraud sure. But who figured out it was a fraud? Scientists, and not the "Creation" type. Nebraska Man was never accepted as a human ancestor, and he completly misrepresents Javaman and Lucy.

3. "One drop of water can cover the world if you spread it real thin" No. Each drop of water have X amount of molecules in it. To get one microlayer, or one layer of water molecules to cover the Earth, your "Drop" needs to be about your average lake.

Lot's of others, but you can check my other posts in the forum if you so choose.

Originally posted by white_raven
I am fully convinced that as he started to talk out more against the government and more people started to follow his teachings, he became a threat...

I mean come on...this charge sounds so bogus..."tax evasion" who the hell goes after a church for tax evasion.

I do not know the entire details of the case, but i really think this is a lot more then just more then his "tax evasion" and about creation theories again evolution, he became a threat starting to show the government for what it really is and he had a big following....

They had to shut him down!


Oh yea and seriously if all you can find on him is this "diploma mill" crap then wow... every heard of private education?

this maybe off the subject a little bit but... don't you think that the government would want to shut these places down, and "expose" them as frauds causing these people that graduated from them to be discredited?

and i really love what he says, if you dont like that he has a doctor...then forget about it and more on...

[edit on 6-1-2009 by white_raven]

The tax evasion charges came because he was a paid public speaker. He tried to get around that by doing things such as having "Mandatory" donations to his church and other loopholes, but they all went to his personal income in the end. He didn't file any of it, and when considering Hovind at his height was making between 1-2 million dollars a year in speaking fees and not reporting any of it, the IRS is going to come after you.

As for "Diploma Mill" charges, they are completely legit. It's a school that isn't recognized by any major body, his "Thesis" isn't publicly available, and nevermind his doctorate and masters are in "Christian Education."