Rogues Gallery

This page is dedicated to examining the tactics of specific members of the opposition, like Richard Dawkins & PZ Myers and the lesser minions they’ve inspired. Enjoy!

1. Greater Imps

Richard Dawkins

• The Faith of Richard Dawkins – An Evolutionist’s Faith versus Reason Straw Man examined.
• Blind Man’s Bluff – A Contrast of Darwin and Dawkins on Natural Selection. Notes on the premise of Dawkins’ The Blind Watchmaker.
• Expelled: Richard Dawkins & Little Green Men – Another look at the faith of Richard Dawkins, this time from the movie Expelled! No Intelligence Allowed. Here, Dawkins shows his irrational antiGod bias by stating that if evidence for design were found we could only attribute it to little green men!

PZ Myers

• PZ Invites Insult to Ken Ham. My Response – PZ Myers of Pharyngula fame called Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis a “wackaloon” and then, when he was called to the mat for his lack of professional courtesy, he invited his simpering, equally juvenile fan base to come up with more creative insults. My response.
• The Church of PZ “Wackaloon” Myers & Ideological Child Abuse – An examination of whether teaching children Creationism or Evolutionism would better fit the definition of child abuse.
• PZ Myers on Why Creationists Believe, or A Look at an Evolutionists’s Double Standard – On an episode of Culture Shocks, PZ accuses Biblical Creationists of having “such a strong commitment to certain ideological principles that they cannot tolerate any questioning of even the most trivial details.” He claims this ideological commitment keeps us from accepting evolution and that “It’s pretty easy to dismiss what you don’t understand.” I decided to hold him accountable to his own standards in this article.
• Why Hitch Aint In Heaven – A Biblical response to PZ’s post on why the late Christopher Hitchens isn’t in heaven – and why people really go to hell.
• Ark Wars: No, Kentucky Is Not Taking Money From Public Schools And Giving It To The Ark Encounter – PZ Myers repeats baseless propaganda without bothering to fact check.

The British Humanist Association

• Evolution Is the Only Scientific Theory That Needs Laws To Protect It – A look at the BHA’s fascist efforts to legally mandate the exclusive and uncritical indoctrination of microbes-to-man evolution in UK schools
• There Is No Science But Naturalism and Darwin Is Its Prophet! [Revisited] – Reactions to my article on the BHA’s efforts.
• I Call It Fascism: A Critique of the British Humanist Association’s “Teach Evolution, Not Creationism” Position Statement

2. Lesser Minions

• Evidence of Something – [Re: Response to The Faith of Richard Dawkins] The Difference between Proof and Weight of Evidence.
• Will Power Redux – A response to a question posed by DoubtingThomas426 as to whether God or Satan is stronge since evil and suffering prevail.
• The Cost of Free Will – A continuation of the discussion with DoubtingThomas426. Why God allows suffering and evil. A rather long and heady discussion of foreknowledge, predestination and how free will demands the possibility of evil and suffering.
• Paint It Black – Further discussion with DoubtingThomas426. Specific Biblical examples of God causing suffering defended. A note that such pulp protests or laundry lists typically denote someone looking for reasons to disbelieve and not an open seeker. Painting it black refers to seeing only the evil in Christendom and ignoring the good.
• Atheists & Evolutionists: They Always Appeal To A Higher Power – More on the Unthinking Man’s Atheism. Why I don’t bother reading linked sites in comments if the guy making the comment can’t make his own argument.

 3. Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

a. Brother Joel

• The Year of Taking the Bible Seriously: Biblical Creation versus extraBiblical Creation – Brother Joel Watts took objection to my equating taking the Bible seriously with Young Earth Creationism. This is my response to a post on his site called, Are YE Creationists the Only One Who take take Bible Seriously?
•  Is Christianity Once More on the Down-Grade? Answering a Critic Concerning Ken Ham’s Expulsion from Great Homeschool Conventions – Brother Joel cheerfully took a few potshots at Ken Ham after he was kicked out of all future Great Homeschool Conventions for alleged “unChristian” behaviour. My response.
• Ark Wars: Brother Joel Would Rather Kentucky Open Up a Porn Shop Than the Ark Encounter! – Yeah, he’s that deranged.
• Theological Newspeak: Why Some Folks Call Me, Ken Ham nad Other Biblical Creationists “Radical Liberals” – Brother Joel outdoes himself in calling good “evil” and evil “good.”
• Evolutionary Theology: Where Scientific and Biblical Illiteracy Go Hand In Hand – Brother Joel attempts to defend the misguided Rev. Paul Wallace’s accusation that traditional Biblical Creationism amounts to scientific illiteracy.
• Deflating Dobzhansky’s Grand Assumption Revisited: Is The Assumption Still Necessary? – In which I explain to Brother Joel why the answer to this particular question is a resounding YES!

 b. “Rev” Barry Lynn

• Ark Wars: How False “Reverend” Barry Lynn Distorts the Facts But Proves Answers in Genesis’ Point – Barry Lynn of Americans United made an ill-advised parody of the Ark Encounter and in the process demonstrates why the Ark Encounter is necessary to combat popular misconcention about Noah’s Ark. Includes a full transcript of his YouTube video.
• Just the Facts – Concerning Rob Boston’s Defense of “rev” Barry Lynn’s Ark Snark Video – Rob Boston attempted to counter the bad press Barry got for misrepresenting the Ark Encounter in his Ark Snark video. He also called me out for doubting Barry’s ministerial credentials. Well, facts are stubborn things. Here’s my response to this article, which originally appeared on the Americans United blog site and then was dutifully re-posted on humanist, evolutionist and atheist sites across the blogosphere.
• Humanist “Rev” Barry Lynn Scolds Texas Gov. Perry For Promoting Prayer For America and “Controversial Theology – Barry Lynn has the presumption to chastise Texas Gov. Perry for promoting prayer for the nation under the pretension that he’s a valid minister in the sight of God. Lynn goes on to show his colors, labeling standard evangelical beliefs as “controversial” theology.
• Ark Wars: More Willful Ignorance About Dinosaurs, Noah’s Ark and the Ark Encounter – In which I answer Barry Lynn’s poorly argued rebuttal of my refutal of his poorly-conceived YouTube misinformation video.

c. BioLogos

• BioLogos Finally Realizes That Nobody Likes a Mugwump – BioLogos has styled itself as a theological think tank, but they really want people to re-think the Bible and compromise the clear teaching of Genesis with millions of years of death, mutation, suffering, mass extiction and microbes-to-man evolution. They seem upset that people are resistant to compromising traditional orthodoxy… go figure.
• Were You There, Karl Giberson? How BioLogos Dismisses the Testimony of the Creator – In a sad moment of sour grapes, a prominent member of BioLogos actually tells us that an argument used by God Himself [and Biblical creationists!] is a bad one that could actually cause kids to leave the church!

d. Dr. Jay Wile –

• Are Old Earth & Young Earth Creationism Both Biblical, Orthodox Interpretations? A Response to Dr Jay Wile’s Big Tent Orthodoxy Position & the 21st Century Down-Grade

e. James McGrath

• Was Noah A Millionaire? James McGrath’s Theology Stumbles On Scripture – This is what happens when a man who doubts the historical veracity of the Bible finds something in the Bible that contradicts his loosely Bible-inspired theology
• Ark Wars: No, Kentucky Is Not Taking Money From Public Schools And Giving It To The Ark Encounter – James McGrath repeats baseless propaganda without bothering to fact check.

f. Jonathan Dudley

• Have Biblical Creationists Abandoned Orthodox Christianity? A Response to Jonathan Dudley’s ‘Christian Faith Requires Accepting Evolution’ – Far from requiring an acceptance of microbes-to-man evolution, a commitment to orthodoxy requires adherence to a literal, historical Creation Week and a world-wide Noachian Flood.

g. Tyler J. Francke

• 10 Theological Questions Theistic Evolutionists Think No Young Earth Creationist Can Answer –Tyler J. Francke, the theistic evolutionist who gave us GodofEvolution.com, inspired a 3 part response to a post on his site claiming to give 10 theological questions that no young earth creationist could answer. Upon reading that post, I realized I’d already answered [an irony, I know] much of the post in the comment exchange on this DefGen article. In his new article, he basically trotted out a few oft-refuted chestnuts and gave us a bunch of false dilemmas that were easily dispelled once other Scriptures were taken into account. Still, refuting his post was useful in it shows the sort of skeptical arguments theistic evolutionists and old earther resort to in order to try to score points in the culture wars. For the fuller discussion, consult the following articles:
  • Part 1: Questions 1 thru 3: We answer ‘What was the point of the tree of life?’, ‘If human sin is the reason animals die, why can’t they be saved?’ and ‘If physical death is part of the punishment for sin, why do Christians still die?’
  • Part 2: Questions 4 thru 6: We answer ‘Why was Eve named ‘mother of life’?’,  ‘How did Adam and Eve know what death was?’ and ‘If the punishment for eating from the tree was that Adam and Eve would physically die, why didn’t they physically die?’
  • Part 3: Questions 7 thru 10: We answer ‘Can you name any other piece of literature in which the existence of a talking snake and trees with magical powers would suggest to you that it was meant to be taken literally?’, ‘Why do Genesis 1 and 2 contradict?’, ‘Why is incest wrong?’ and ‘If it is so vitally important that Christians take Genesis literally, why did Jesus never once instruct us to take Genesis literally?’
• Jurassic World gives us food for thought on Man’s Dominion and the Tragedy of Death – Tyler Francke thinks that the Jurassic Park series shows why the young earth creationist view that man and dinosaurs coexisted is probably just dead wrong. I took a moment to correct his miscomprehension of the situation.

 

4. Modern-day Pharisees & Other Special Cray-cray

a. Benny Hinn

•  Why is Televangelist Benny Hinn Promoting the Archko Volume Fraud? Benny Hinn claims to be so close to God that he starts each day by saying, “Good morning, Holy Spirit,” yet he’s promoting the Archko Volume, a proven work of fraud, as an authentic historical document which adds credibility to the Bible. Nobody in Hinn’s organization seems willing to let him know he’s being an idiot.
• Benny Hinn & the Archko Volume: One Fraud Promoting Another – After being stonewalled by Benny Hinn Ministries, I did some further investigation. See how BHM handled my warnings that Mr. Hinn is promoting a known work of fraud as an authentic historical document, what other strange things Mr. Hinn believes, and how he has been disqualified before the Lord as a false prophet.

b. Harold Camping

• Harold Camping’s May 21st Doomsday Extravaganza!Just before his second failed prophecy for the return of Christ, I wrote this post to warn of the foolishness of date-setting. Unrepentant, Camping has set yet another date and continues to make excuses for his mistakes, giving further opportunity for the heathen to blaspheme God.
  • The Harold Camping Countdown: 9 Days Till Doomsday – Harold Camping Predicts Bursting Graves on October 21, 2011 – In which twice-failed false prophet Harold Camping again fails to learn his lesson about date-setting when it comes to the return of Christ
  • The Harold Camping Countdown: 6 Days Till Doomsday – What Happened on May 21st? – In which Harold Camping tries to explain why he was wrong about May 21st, but sort of right, but definitely right about October 21st instead…

c. Christopher J. E. Johnson

• Thank God for Christian Rock. Chris Johnson is the founder of the ultra-legalist no-funDUHmentalIST site [I often say I’m trying to put the fun back into fundamentalist because the duh and the mental are covered], Creation Liberty Evangelism. His site has very little to do with Young Earth Creationism. In fact, the fact his views on creationism are simply a sub-set of his ultra-Pharisaical King James Only belief system. In Johnson’s world, churches organized as non-profits are sleeping with the enemy, the moon landing probably never took place, and the devil took all the good music. He’s not a fan of rock music, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, the Jesus fish [ichthys], the Strong’s concordance,  or fantasy novels… and that was just a short list. His article What’s Wrong With Christian Rock? contained so much Scriptorture and the kind of gross logical fallacies that I usually associate with evolutionist trolls that I felt compelled to answer this modern-day Pharisee lest he spoil the flock with false doctrine. Despite the fact that his article has been thoroughly refuted, he has posted an expanded 4-part version of it on YouTube. Anyone who asks him about my article is termed a “Breedenite” and summarily dismissed [pearls and swine, anyone?]. In fact, he once boasted that he’d stumped me based on the fact that I wasn’t answering him… because he’d blocked me on Facebook and could neither see nor respond to his posts!

—Sirius Knott