Yes, it looks like Kent Hovind was released from jail and he's back at it, trying to recapture some of his limelight as a . . . well I'm not exactly sure how you would describe him. In case the name doesn't ring a bell let me tell you a little about him.
'Dr.' Kent first came to my attention a few years back. I was looking up some information on 'diploma mills' and the name 'Patriot University' came up, an uncredited correspondence school. From a Wikipedia page about it, which is currently called 'Patriot Bible University' I read a little about their most illustrious graduate, 'Dr' Kent Hovind, AKA Dr. Dino. As I read it, I really couldn't believe it. Here's the part that cracked me up [I underlined the funniest bits]:
"Critics have described Hovind's dissertation as incomplete, of low academic quality, poorly written, poor in spelling, and of ungrammatical style. The lack of quality was ascribed, in part, to the fact that "the pages are not numbered; there is no title; of sixteen or so chapters in the index only the first four are finished; misspellings are rampant ("Immerged" for "emerged", "epic" for "epoch", and "tentable" for "testable" are three examples); and the single illustration was apparently cut out of a science book with scissors and fastened to the thesis with glue or tape." Hovind's dissertation was approved by one person, Wayne Knight, who was and remains president of Patriot. "
This is the dissertation that Kent uses to defend his right to be called 'Dr'. Now you also know why I always use quotes when calling Kent a 'Dr.'
So Kent is a very public figure as a Creationist and with a diploma from a very questionable source. Before his legal trouble he won renowned for being one of the few Creationists even Kennie Ham and Answers in Genesis repudiated regularly. I was originally expecting to like Dr. Dino, I mean anyone that can annoy Kennie Ham has to have some things on his side. But as I learned more, I did not become a fan.
Now the reason his credentials got a close look was because he self-described himself as 'Dr Dino' in a website where he spouted off pretty typical creationist stuff, including a bunch of out-dated and discredited argument, which was what did in any relationship with Ham and his Answers in Genesis. I mean they [Ham and Co.] prefer modern and up-to-date Creationist nonsense, not the old, outdated stuff Kent seemed to like. But for some reason, when you self-identify yourself as a "Dr', the real people with actual doctorate level educational degrees tend to get annoyed. You know, now that I think of it, I wonder if Kent signed the Discovery Institute's "A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism", you know the petition where they misrepresented the qualifications of the people who signed (
Since the "700" keeps coming up . . .)? 'Dr' Kent would have been a perfect fit. To bad I don't have a copy of the original 700 who signed it. The current list was modified after complaints about the education and affiliation inflation. Oh well, that would have been hilarious!
Anyway, Kent found himself in legal trouble, lots of legal trouble and ran afoul of the IRS, among other government agencies. He tried all sorts of tactics to avoid things like paying his taxes, obtaining building permits, and even tried to renounce his citizenship. My favorite tactic of his was trying to claim that everything he owned belonged to God and therefore wasn't taxable. Ken reminded me of an old joke:
Three ministers were
talking over lunch and before long found themselves discussing how much
of the weekly donations was appropriate to keep and how much to give to
the Lord. The first minister says, “I just draw a line on the floor,
put one foot on both sides, and throw the money into the air... whatever
lands on the right side of the line is God’s and whatever lands on the
left is mine.” The second minister notes that he uses a similar method,
but “I use a small coffee table when I throw the money in the air and
whatever lands on the table goes to the Lord and whatever lands on the
floor is mine.” They both contemplate each other’s answer and finally
turn to the third minister who is sitting there without saying anything.
“Well, how do you do it?” asks the first to the third. “Well, I do as
you both do and throw the money into the air, but I figure whatever the
Lord wants, he’ll grab, and I keep whatever hits the floor.”
In any event, nothing worked and he went to jail. Of course he didn't go quietly and his wife and son were even implicated, she also did a year in jail. I think if Ken was born about 150 years ago, I can easily picture his with wagon going town to town preaching and selling one of those 'cure-all' tonics.
Well in any event, he's out of jail and apparently using the modern day equivalent of the traveling wagon,
You Tube. He's busy posting videos, spouting the same old silliness that got him called "an embarrassment to Young Earth Creationists." There is the link if you need a good laugh. Each one of his new ones runs over a half hour, so you might do one of them in small doses. I personally was torn between laughter and vomiting at some of the more ridiculous things he said.
I will say this, I doubt anyone from the science side will bother trying to refute his claims. Here is someone Ken Ham can debate and it might actually do some good. Think he'll try it? There's a match-up "Dr. Dino vs little kennie ham", think that might sell a few tickets? At least they would be well matched.
Posts
