The following is an article from the March '94 (Vol. 2, #3) issue of The
REALL News. It may be reprinted by other skeptics organizations as long
as proper credit is given. REALL also requests that you please send a copy
of any publication that reprints one of our articles for our files. This
article may also be cross-posted onto other appropriate conferences.
This article represents the opinions of its author, and does not
necessarily represent the opinions of REALL or its officers.
On Sept. 11, 1993, Kent Hovind, a "creation-scientist-evangelist"
from Pensacola, Florida, and Farrell Till, English professor and editor of
_The Skeptical Review_, met in public debate at Faith Baptist Church in Pekin,
IL. Although the topic of the debate was "The Genesis story of the
flood is scientifically accurate in all details," Hovind distributed
to the audience a handout ("Debate #7") that was a generalized
attack on evolution. The paper warned the audience to watch for
"desperate measures" and "illogical ideas" that the
evolutionist could be expected to use during the debate. Among other things,
the paper listed ad hominem arguments, ridicule and scorn, citation of
majority opinion, and various appeals to scholarship. Additionally, the
paper stated that the evolutionist would "change the subject to avoid
answering the opponent's questions and comments."
The debate was supposed to be comprised of a 30-minute opening statement
each, 20 minutes of rebuttal each, and a question-and-answer period
(questions sent in by the audience).
Hovind's opening statement was nothing but his well-traveled slide show.
He opened by stating that all evolutionists believe that anyone who is a
Bible-believing Christian is ignorant.
Some other highlights: An 11-foot skeleton has been found in a coal mine in
West Virginia_proof positive that pre-flood humans were bigger (so where is
this skeleton now, Kent?); the geologic column doesn't exist anywhere in the
world; Noah's ark contained only babies, and only single "kinds."
There was a relatively new (for me, at least) twist_the 23.5 degree tilt of
the earth happened during the flood. A giant "ice meteor" which,
because of its low temperature was magnetic, banged into the North Pole,
dropped mammoths in their tracks, the vapor canopy collapsed, and the earth
was flooded to a depth of 12,000 ft.
As Dave Barry says, "I am not making this up." The presentation
was rapid-fire, leaving no time for the audience to digest a topic before
the next slide was flashed. Indeed, for someone who told the _Peoria Journal
Star_ that he does the show 700 times a year, the presentation was unpolished,
and the slides were of poor quality.
Farrell Till accurately defined science as being outside the realm of the
supernatural. He spoke of the polystrate Specimen Ridge trees in Yellowstone
Park as evidence of multiple volcanic burials and attacked the seaworthiness
of the ark.
The audience was asked to consider how probable it was for a lone man or
small group to build a huge ark without modern tools. All-wooden ships have
a maximum length far below the purported length of the ark (indeed, this was
one reason that the shipbuilding industry turned to steel), and the audience
was encouraged to search the references Till provided concerning shipbuilding.
Till asked if such a ship did manage to stay afloat, how did the cargo
survive the rough seas described by other creationists? How did the crew
handle the 40 tons of manure produced by an elephant in a year? Finally, if,
as Hovind asserted, only a few "kinds" were present on the Ark,
then Hovind must also admit that all forms of bovids, from bison to cattle
to deer, evolved rapidly after the flood_something no
"evolutionist" would ever state.
Hovind's rebuttal was to place God in the same bracket as electrons and
gravity_ natural particles/forces which cannot be seen, either! (Never mind
that the effects of electrons and gravity are easily observed). He stated,
without evidence, that humans "back then" were not only bigger and
longer-lived, but had higher IQ's. Thus they could build the pyramids, a
feat we humans of today could never accomplish. (Two points here.
Apparently not very many skeletons/mummies have been found associated with
the great pyramids_grave robbery took its toll on archaeological evidence.
However, those that have been recovered are normal-to-small-sized humans.
Second, no archaeologist has ever referred to water damage either inside or
on the outside of the pyramids).
Hovind stated that the Specimen Ridge trees have no roots (flatly false_roots
are clearly visible in photos of the trees). God brought the animals to
Noah and took care of all the little incidentals (like tons of manure).
Hovind encouraged the audience to be polite to Till because after all,
"He is not the enemy, he just works for him." Hovind admitted he
couldn't prove most of his assertions, but that Till could not, either.
Admitting that, one is forced to wonder why he agreed to debate the
affirmative in the first place!
Till pressed the issue that since there were seven pairs of each type of
clean animal on the ark, that meant 14 giraffes slopping about the ark on
stormy seas, like it or not. How did they survive? He pointed out that
the largest pyramids are in the Americas, not Egypt, and even according
to Hovind's chronology must, therefore, be "post-flood." He
closed by pointing that Hovind's assumptions_a vapor canopy, a level
antediluvian earth, smarter people, were not supported by evidence.
The audience was asked to submit written questions for the final session.
Concerning a question on missing links, Hovind stated that "Lucy"
was not a missing link at all but a chimp that was assembled from bones
found at sites miles apart. He said, "I wish I could have seen the
train that hit that chimp." Of course, it is well known that Lucy was
recovered over about 50 square meters of ground.
Hovind was asked what the anteaters ate the day the ark landed. He replied
that they were vegetarians_pre-flood and immediately post flood_and that
special diets were not necessary then or now. Even now "Pandas don't
eat just bamboo. They love meat. Ask any zookeeper." Perhaps that
is why pandas are doing so well in the wild right now! Till replied that
you can't have generalist animals on the one hand, and then, on the other
hand, argue that the yucca plant and pronuba moth were obviously created for
each other.
Till pointed out that it was an anachronism that the ark would have been
sealed with pitch, because this is obviously a coal (post-flood) by-product.
Hovind stated the word "pitch" could have meant any oil_corn oil,
for instance. I will have to pass this new use for corn oil on to the
Illinois Department of Agriculture_let's grease up those boat bottoms.
Till stood by the translation of the Hebrew word; it had to be a petroleum
product.
Hovind was taken aback by my question on the tremendous amount of heat that
would have been released by 40 days and 40 nights of rain (Soroka and
Nelson's J. Geol. Ed. article). He talked instead about craters being
evidence for an "ice meteor" and said this was all on faith.
He changed the subject! Till, who had the article in hand expanded on the
problem and made the reference available to the audience.
As I reread Hovind's handout, it became clear to me that Hovind is his own
best example of "illogical ideas" and "improper tactics."
He certainly resorted to an ad hominem argument and "ridicule and
scorn" when he implied that Till worked for the devil, or the blanket
statement that evolutionists considered "Bible-believing Christians"
to be ignorant. He changed the subject frequently when backed into a corner,
and had to resort to "It's all on faith"_essentially falling back
on the "majority opinion" in the church at the time.
And although his academic credentials remain somewhat of a mystery (He
claims B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in education but has never said from
where), it was clear that with his breathless presentation, his intention
was to wow the audience with largely unsubstantiated "facts" so
that they would see him as the authority, and "see his diploma."
Was anyone swayed? Unlikely. The bulk of the audience was clearly unable
to understand how science differs from the supernatural. They became
defensive and irritated whenever Till mentioned, "...but it's just not
science." They were for the most part quiet, although a few choruses
of "Amens" resounded when they felt Hovind had made a point.
The moderator/minister is to be complemented. He was polite to both parties
and clearly kept a lid on what could have been a volatile situation.
[Dr. Bartelt is an assistant professor of chemistry at Eureka (Illinois)
College. Reprinted from _The Skeptical Review_ (Winter, 1993-94), with
revisions by the author in February 1994.]
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
The views and opinions stated within this web page are those of the
author or authors which wrote them and may not reflect the views and
opinions of the ISP or account user which hosts the web page.