Ken Ham's Blog, page 386

Same-sex Marriage Is Not a “Civil Rights” Issue!

More and more, we are seeing the widespread acceptance of homosexual behavior and same-sex marriage in our Western cultures. Even some in the church are advocating in favor of so-called “gay rights.” And as pro-homosexual advocates have pushed the “gay” agenda in America, they have attempted to frame the cause as a civil rights issue.

But can we really say that the homosexual cause is the same as the civil rights movement? Dr. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a friend of Answers in Genesis, answers that question in an article in the next Answers magazine. Now, we’ve decided to post this excellent article on our website in advance of the issue’s release because I believe it’s incredibly important you be able to respond to the claims of those advocating for gay rights. I urge you to read it—the introductory paragraphs and a link to the full article are below:

Gay Marriage as a Civil Right—Are Wrongs Right?

We should have seen it coming. Back in 1989 two young activists pushing for the normalization of homosexuality coauthored a book intended to serve as a political strategy manual and public relations guide for their movement. In After the Ball: How America Will Conquer its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90s, authors Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen argued that efforts to normalize homosexuality and homosexual relationships would fail unless their movement shifted its argument to a demand for civil rights, rather than for moral acceptance. Kirk and Madsen argued that homosexual activists and their allies should avoid talking about sex and sexuality. Instead, “the imagery of sex per se should be downplayed, and the issue of gay rights reduced, as far as possible, to an abstract social question.”

Beyond Kirk and Madsen and their public relations strategy, an even more effective legal strategy was developed along the same lines. Legal theorists and litigators began to argue that homosexuals were a class of citizens denied basic civil liberties, and that the courts should declare them to be a protected class, using civil rights precedents to force a moral and legal revolution.

That revolution has happened, and it has been stunningly successful. The advocates for the normalization of homosexuality and the legalization of same-sex marriage have used legal arguments developed from the civil rights era to their advantage. Arguments used to end the scourge of racial segregation were deployed to normalize homosexuality and homosexual relationships. Over the years, these arguments have led to such major developments as the decriminalization of homosexual behaviors, the inclusion of homosexuals within the United States military, and the legalization of same-sex marriage in some states.

Read the full article by Dr. Mohler here: Gay Marriage as a Civil Right—Are Wrongs Right?

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Helping Equip and Rescue Kids in Florida

A total of around 8,000 people (including hundreds and hundreds of kids) attended the various sessions at First Baptist Church in Naples, Florida this past weekend at the AiG conference. The crowds were overflowing in every Sunday service, which is a great reminder of the need for the Answers in Genesis ministry. Christians today are hungry to be equipped with the resources to fight the battle before us in this increasingly secular culture, where God’s Word is being attacked on nearly every front.

I love teaching children. Once again, as we’ve seen across the country at similar conferences, we were able to reach hundreds of children and young people who attended the special school assembly programs in Florida.

I want to remind you that our theme at AiG for the next two years is “Standing Our Ground, Rescuing Our Kids” as we focus on rescuing them from this present evil age.

Recently, I coauthored an article for the AiG website about Arizona State University Professor Lawrence Krauss. He has now posted videos accusing Christians who teach their children about creation of committing “child abuse.” He even accuses those who teach their children about hell of committing “child abuse.”

Lawrence Krauss is an atheist, and he is an atheist on a mission right now to capture your kids for the anti-God religion of atheism. Think about it—he wants you to hand your kids over to him so he can try to brainwash children into believing they are just animals and that they are not made in the image of God. He wants them to be taught when you die, you rot—and that’s it! In essence, he wants your kids to be captured for the devil.

You know, I often think about why people such as Krauss are so aggressive in preaching their anti-God message of meaninglessness, purposelessness, and hopelessness. We we know that in Romans 1 we are told such people know that God is real, so they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” And it’s even more than that. They want the focus on them—it is a self-centeredness. They want you to think they are a god! They have succumbed to the devil’s temptation in Genesis 3:5—they want to be like God—they want to be a god!

Such God-haters like Lawrence Krauss and others usually go ballistic when they hear of AiG teaching kids about Genesis. And they just hate me teaching children the truth about science, origins, and how to think correctly about such matters.

This past Monday in Florida, I taught young children for an hour and a half, covering topics like dinosaurs, fossils, the Flood, creation, evolution, the gospel and much more. I showed them how the history recorded in the Bible explains dinosaurs and that observational science confirms the Bible’s history. Secularists hate me teaching children to think correctly about origins as I help them understand what God taught Job in Job 38:4. God asked Job if he was there when God made the earth. But of course, he wasn’t—and that’s the point. When it comes to origins, no human was there to see the earth come into existence! But God has always been there. Evolutionists were not there to see the supposed millions of years of evolution. So I love to teach the kids to ask the question, “Were you there?” when someone talks about millions of years. The kids get it! The atheists don’t want to get it because they don’t want to give up the starting point for their worldview—i.e., that fallible man determines truth.

I taught the high school students how to understand science in relation to the origins issue by showing them the difference between beliefs about the past and knowledge gained by observation, which enables us to build technology.

Recently, Dr. Krauss made the false statement that evolution is the basis of biology and the basis of technology. Absurd nonsense! I made sure I taught the students how to think correctly about such issues. Then I gave them answers to many of the questions skeptics will use to try to make them doubt God’s Word—questions like these: Who made God? How did Noah fit the animals on the Ark? Isn’t natural selection evolution? What about Carbon dating?

It is so thrilling to hear the testimonies of the children and young people after these events. Here are samples of the many responses I received in Florida:

Great sessions these last three days! Thanks for coming to Naples. I’m charged up and planning to be more ready to defend my beliefs!

Thank you for reminding us that God’s Word stands. Also thank you for reminding me why I love science. In studying our world, we can not help but see our Creator God.

My husband and I attended the second service on Sunday morning. It was a blessing. We have a 1 year old son, and God is using your ministry to help us prepare for raising him.

Here are some photos taken this past Monday in Florida, which remind me how precious these kids are—and how I praise the Lord for raising up AiG to help teachers and parents equip their kids in the truth and rescue them from this present evil age.

This is a photograph of the auditorium taken during one of the Sunday services:

The response at this conference to the AiG resources was astounding! Thousands of resources are now in the hands of children, young people, and adults. Praise the Lord. Such resources help decontaminate their thinking and assist them to develop a consistent Christian worldview—and to be able to answer the skeptical questions of the age. We sold out of a lot of resources and took many back orders!

I do want to thank Pastor Hayes Wicker of First Baptist Church Naples for inviting AiG to his church to conduct this conference! Sometimes when I see the compromise that is so rife in Christian colleges and with so many Christian leaders, seeing pastors like Pastor Hayes Wicker reminds me that God has many godly Christian leaders that do stand for the truth of His Word. Here is a photo of me with Pastor Wicker taken this past Sunday.

“Answers for Women” Early-bird Deadline Approaching

Ladies, it’s not too late to take advantage of the “Answers for Women” early-bird discount for this conference on May 3–4 here at the Creation Museum! Register before the end of the day on Thursday, February 28, and receive 25 percent off the conference registration. You can save 10 percent more when a group of five or more registers. So don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear solid biblical teaching specifically designed for women, featuring Mary Mohler, Dr. Joy Fagan, and our own Dr. Georgia Purdom. I urge you to take advantage of this special offer and visit AnswersforWomen.org to register today for the discount.

I am writing this blog as I am flying home—and then I will be preparing for our next program (in Tennessee) to do battle for the Lord in this increasing secularized culture!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

A Great Gospel Partnership with Dr. Johnny Hunt

Over the years, AiG has been able to partner with many well-known Christian leaders and Christian organizations as we work together to proclaim the truth of God’s Word and the gospel to the culture.

I am thrilled with the great gospel-proclaiming partnership AiG has established with my good friend Dr. Johnny Hunt. Dr. Hunt is the pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock in northwest Atlanta, where I have spoken a few times. He is also the past president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Dr. Hunt spoke at our 2012 Answers for Pastors conference, which was very well received by the attendees. While he was at AiG, he also recorded an endorsement for our evangelistic Ark Encounter project (and endorsements for a few other resources, such as the Answers Bible Curriculum). You can watch his Ark Encounter endorsement at this link.

This year, Dr. Hunt and his wife will be part of five Timothy Barnabas conferences across the U.S., encouraging pastors and their wives. We at Answers in Genesis are thrilled to be a part of all five Timothy Barnabas conferences this year and would recommend the conferences to any pastor or church leader of any denomination.

Timothy Barnabas is a ministry of instruction and encouragement to pastors all across the country. It grew out of so many pastors coming to meet with Johnny, so he decided to start this 20 years ago. Around 150–250 pastors attend each week—the theme this year is discipleship in your leadership.

Check out timothybarnabas.org for more information.

Pastors, I urge you to take advantage of this unique opportunity!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Book Needed: “S is for Sin”

Parents, we have to rescue our kids from a culture that has abandoned the authority of God’s Word. The secularists and those who aggressively promote a secular worldview are after our children—and it doesn’t seem to matter how young they are.

Last year, a new children’s “board book” was released, titled A is for Activist. Now, board books are often geared toward toddlers (ages 1–3) and contain rhymes and simple stories. A is for Activist has all those elements, but it teaches children a secular worldview!

The author, Innosanto Nagara, has not shared his religious views to my knowledge, but he wrote the book as a way to teach his two-year-old son these secular values. One review of A is for Activist points out that it is just another form of indoctrination:

Is your three-year-old preschooler chanting ‘union power’ these days? She might, if author Innosanto Nagara has his way. Nagara wrote “A is for Activist,” a book supposedly geared for the children of the “99 percent.” In other words, a new vehicle has been developed for leftists to begin indoctrinating children. “It’s pretty awesome to hear a three-year-old saying ‘union power,’” Nagara said . . . But union power and student activism aren’t the only goals. Consider these other letters and how they are applied in the book:

B is for banner, as in a protest banner hanging off a construction crane

L is for LGBTQ, as in Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Queer

T is for Trans, as in transgendered

Z is for Zapatistas, as in Mexican revolutionary leftists

You see, the agenda of this children’s book is to win the hearts of our kids for secular humanism. As I’ve written before, those who want to promote a secular worldview realize that it only takes one generation to win over the culture—so if they can win over our children, the culture is theirs. This children’s book uses rhymes, brightly colored illustrations, and bad logic to convince readers that the secular worldview on social issues is the best one. For example, see the pictures below for letters L and T.

Young children are being taught in this book that homosexual behavior is acceptable based on “love” and “devotion.” This is the same kind of poor reasoning we hear all the time from the world on same-sex marriage. Regardless of whether “love” has anything to do with a same-sex relationship, it still violates the Word of God! What’s more, children are being taught they are a “he she they.”

You know, American culture especially is rapidly pushing away gender norms and distinctions as laid down by the Word of God. Those who promote the secular worldview know that if they can teach children at a young age that transgender or transsexual lifestyles are normal, they will have won the battle for the widespread acceptance of these lifestyles in the coming generation.

Sin is certainly rampant in our culture!  I think we now need a book “S is for Sin.”

Many of the other themes in Nagara’s book are no better. Whenever I see materials like this, I think of the Answers in Genesis’ theme verse for the next two years: “Who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4, NASB).

Our theme is “Standing Our Ground, Rescuing Our Kids.” And just as Christ came to rescue us from this “present evil age,” so we too as parents must share the truth of the gospel with our children and rescue them from a godless culture.

I urge you to get AiG books like A is for Adam or D is for Dinosaur and teach them the truths from God’s Word.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Creation Scientist

Secularists try to make out that creationists can’t be real scientists! Not only does AiG employ a number of highly qualified scientists with PhD degrees in many fields, but works with many other scientists outside of AiG. Here is just one of many such examples.

Our long-time ministry friend Dr. Stewart Turner—he has a PhD in aeronautical engineering from the University of Arizona—comes by from time to time to visit us and walk through the Creation Museum. As a museum member, Dr. Turner is always interested to see what’s new at the museum. On a recent visit, he dropped off a set of 36 video talks that he had just produced on a wide variety of creation/evolution topics. Now, we haven’t watched all the videos, but we know that Dr. Turner is in line with us regarding Genesis and we appreciate the fact that this highly professional man is on our side.

To find out more about this academic and fine Christian gentleman, who has a passion to reach young people and adults with the creation/gospel message, go to his newly updated website of www.CreationLectures.com. You can find out something about his new video set when you go to that link. Dr. Turner has also recently added 10 downloadable PDF files about each DVD that can be printed out, with an outline of each DVD lecture, a “Questions and Answers” section for each lecture, and a bibliography. You can watch some sample videos at http://www.creationlectures.com/sample-video/.

 We find it so encouraging that there are hundreds of Christians who are now giving live creation lectures around the country—many of them having earned doctorates—who accept Genesis and reject evolution. Dr. Turner—who also knows his Bible very well—has gone even further by producing an ambitious video set of his live talks.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

How Functional Is Your Appendix?

It amazes me that we still see secular scientists and others using the false idea that the appendix is a left-over (or vestige) of evolution.  The supposed functionless appendix is used as evidence for Darwinian evolution.  This false idea came up in some recent articles, such as in the popular UK newspaper/website The Daily Mail this month.

Basically, Darwin said the appendix was a functionless evolutionary vestige. Because of that, scientists throughout most of the 20th century made light of evidence that the appendix really had a function.  Actually this is just one example of how a belief in a wrong idea (evolution) was detrimental to medical science. But, secularists just can’t give up using the appendix as evidence for evolution.  In the past few decades the  evidence the appendix has important functions has become incontrovertible. So what do the evolutionists do with that?  Now researchers (including a surgeon who has done genuine research helping to explain  one of its functions) have decided the appendix not only has a function, but it is so helpful that it evolved independently over 30 times in a variety of mammals. Fancy that!! We’re so glad evolutionists finally gave the appendix their blessing!  But of course, they find another way to use it to propagate their false evolutionary ideas.

I urge you to read the more detailed item about the appendix in today’s News to Note by Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell at this link.

Beware—Freedom Of Religion Is Becoming Freedom From Christianity!

Another item in this week’s News to Note concerns positions the U.S. Attorney General’s office has taken in its arguments trying to deport the Romeike family back to Germany. They previously were granted asylum here. Now the U.S. government is claiming they weren’t persecuted for religion because not all Christians claim they need to homeschool and weren’t persecuted for being part of a persecuted group. Why? Well, the US government’s argument is because if the family had just changed their minds they wouldn’t have been persecuted anymore! Another position the U.S. government is arguing is that if a country prohibits something to everybody, then nobody’s rights are being violated because everybody is being treated the same. There are frightening implications here not only for homeschoolers here and abroad but for Americans in general, particularly in regard to religious freedom.

I urge you to read this item at this link.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

The Latest Creationist Research—at a Special Conference

The International Conference on Creationism (ICC) meets this year, and our staff at Answers in Genesis is looking forward to it! Now, the ICC is held every four or five years and is a ministry of the Creation Science Fellowship of Pittsburgh. I encourage you to read the history of how the ICC came about on its website. The conference is meeting from August 4–8 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this year.

Many of our researchers on staff attend the ICC, and some of them, such as Dr. Andrew Snelling and Dr. Georgia Purdom, present peer-reviewed research papers. You see, all the papers that are presented at the ICC are peer-reviewed—despite the claims of secularists who say that creation research isn’t reviewed or edited. According to the ICC website, the conference is dedicated to providing (1) “a technical forum for the latest creation research” and (2) “a coherent platform for the pedagogical, professional, and legal issues involved in the teaching of creation science at the secondary and tertiary levels.”

The conference is very well attended and usually draws in people from overseas.

I am attending, along with a number of others from the Answers in Genesis staff. I will be the opening speaker on Sunday, August 4, at 7:00 PM, giving a talk titled Genesis, Biblical Authority & the Age of the Earth. My talk is free and open to the public.

Dr. Snelling, a geologist and the Director of Research at Answers in Genesis, emphasizes the necessity of the ICC: “The International Conference on Creationism is the peak gathering of creation scientists and those informed lay people who want to hear about or present the latest creationist research. The conference provides the opportunity for rubbing shoulders and having discussions with other creationists as well as networking for ongoing research. This is a not-to-be-missed conference.” See creationicc.org for more details.

Dr. Snelling also oversees the Answers Research Journal, a peer-reviewed technical journal available for free online.

We’re looking forward to being able to share more of the latest creation research with you.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

The Evolution of the Family

We’re witnessing dramatic changes in our American culture—and they aren’t for the better. Recently, a Florida court ruled that a child could have three parents named on his or her birth certificate. (Read the .) Secularists are continuing to advance their agenda of redefining the family.

Now, the case involves a same-sex couple (two lesbian women), one of whom had a child by artificial insemination. The father, who had initially agreed to donate and then depart, decided after the fact that he wanted to be a part of the child’s life—and a two-year legal battle began. You see, this entire situation is a mess, not only because the judge ruled that all three of these people be listed as “parents” on the child’s birth certificate, but also because the precedent the court is setting only serves to reaffirm homosexual behavior and to redefine the family.

But you know, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen secularists advocating for three or more parents to be named for a child. Just last year, the California legislature sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would have allowed courts to appoint any number of adults as legal “parents” of minor children. Governor Brown vetoed the bill, but his reasons didn’t really demonstrate opposition to the bill. He simply said, “I am returning Senate Bill 1476 without my signature . . . I would like to take more time to consider all of the implications of this change.”

In a Washington Times article, Senator Mark Leno, who introduced the California multiple-parent bill, is quoted as saying, “The definition of family is evolving. . . . All this bill does is give authority to a court [to use] when it’s required to protect the best interest of the child.” But the definition of family is not “evolving.” We’re told in Genesis 2:24 what a marriage is: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” The first marriage was made up of two people, a married man and woman, and no other. And Adam and Eve were the only parents of their children—so did their children have an inferior family life because they only had two parents rather than three or more? Of course not.

You see, God’s design for marriage and the family is incredibly clear in Scripture, from the very first chapters of Genesis. But this is twice now that I know of that the issue of redefining the term parent has come to the forefront in our legal system. And really, this is how change happens in a culture. One state will redefine the meaning of family or parent, another state will follow, then all across the nation, and soon it becomes the norm. We’re witnessing that same process now with same-sex marriage. One state after another is legalizing it. Where will these changes stop?

For more information on the California controversy, read my blog post about the California bill and Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell’s more in-depth examination of the bill.

These secularists will be held to account by the God of the universe for their actions. Please pray that our culture will turn back to the authority of God’s Word in every area.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Note: I thank Steve Golden for his assistance in composing this blog.

“Darwin, Dinosaurs and the Devil” (Part 2)

Here is the second part of my critique of an anti-AiG article that has appeared on many websites in my homeland of Australia and elsewhere. The article originally appeared on a secular website in the U.S., and versions of it have shown up all over the internet on atheist sites and some news sites.

The version of the article I am critiquing today is found at this link.

If you have not read part 1 of my response posted yesterday, then I encourage you to do that now.

Excerpt from the anti-AiG article:

Science is a myth simply because it cannot be allowed to contradict the Bible. That’s Ham’s starting and ending point, his premise and his conclusion. Such unquestioning trust and circular logic pervades the pages of the book, presented with smug satisfaction.

Response:

Once again, there is a problem with the way he uses the word science—and the author also misleads his readers about how we view science! We don’t say that science is a “myth.” Creationists love science. In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned that we employ staff with earned doctorates in fields like astronomy, geology, molecular genetics, the history of science, and biology, plus two MDs. But we point out that you have to distinguish between science (the root meaning of science is “knowledge”) that deals with the past (beliefs about origins) compared to science that deals with the present—operational science, which is what both atheists and Christians use to build our technology, develop our medicine, etc.

Excerpt:

Ham’s bugaboos (“abortion, pornography, gay marriage, lawlessness”) are, to his mind, rooted in belief in evolution.  Developments like legalised pornography are mere symptoms of acceptance of science; in order to purge them, we must destroy belief in evolution altogether.

Response:

The author continues his propaganda! Again, he is falsely misusing the word science and again is totally distorting what we say about evolution and morality. I have answered this charge many times before—there is no need to go over this point in detail, which the author falsely repeats time and time again, but as an example of what I have written about the connection between evolution and social ills, see my booklet “Evolution, Creation, and the Culture Wars” (though it’s getting a little dated). I guess if you want someone to believe something that is false, you just say it enough times and maybe people will start to believe it. Yes, such efforts are part of a propaganda campaign to mislead people into believing untruths.

Excerpt:

Inevitably, Ham also turns to the shameless claims that acceptance of evolution is directly responsible for a parade of horrors: the Holocaust, racism . . . Racism “increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory . . . ”

Response:

The statement that racism “increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory” is actually a quote from the late famed evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould! But the author of this article conveniently doesn’t tell you that. He is desperately trying to say we blame evolution for racism—but we don’t. Sin is the cause of racism. But just as Gould did, we see a connection: the more people believe Darwin’s ideas of lower and higher races in humans, the more this has fueled racism, as evolutionist Gould acknowledged. I explain how sin is at the root of racism in one of the chapters of my co-authored book One Race, One Blood.

Excerpt:

But there’s trouble in Ham’s creationist paradise. In 2012, the Creation Museum reported a 10 per cent decline in attendance from the previous year, and its parent group, Answers in Genesis, posted a 5 per cent drop in revenue. That continues a four-year slump and a new low for the museum at 280,000 total visitors last year.

Response:

Of course, I know the secularists really want to see museum attendance collapse—but it isn’t! Museum attendance continues to average over 300,000 each year since the opening year—still 50,000 a year ahead of what we forecast before the museum opened (as a part of our business model for operations). This past year, all tickets were changed to two-day tickets to allow people more time to spend at the Creation Museum. This winter (since January), attendance numbers on most days are equal to or ahead of last year. This past Saturday (Presidents’ Day weekend), around 1,500 people visited the Creation Museum—ahead of the same day last year.

Excerpt:

Even more ominously, fundraising for the Ark Encounter has slowed to a crawl. Its future is further imperiled by the decline of the Creation Museum, whose visitors were expected to be a huge source of funding for the ark park.

Response:

Actually, fundraising for the Ark has been very strong. Read this blog post about the $3 million collected at the end of last year for the needed Ark permits. Also, the construction contracts were just signed. We still have more fundraising to do—but even if we had all the funds right now, we couldn’t do much more than what we are currently doing. It will take about eight months to complete all the permit applications. In the meantime, workers are clearing trees and doing other site work in accord with what the permits will allow us to do.

Excerpt:

If Ham’s decaying empire is any indication, Americans are rejecting his false choice between blind faith and wretched immorality. But on Darwin Day, it’s worth remembering that Ham and his acolytes are dedicated to undermining science. Every day in a small museum in Kentucky, a few hundred adults and children stare at a diorama of Adam sitting next to a placid dinosaur. If Ham had his way, schoolchildren across the country would see this image every day, and they’d never be taught the true diversity, complexity and drama of the evolution of life. That’s a future that celebrants of Darwin Day are fighting. It’s not a losing battle by any means. But it hasn’t been won yet, either.

Response:

I just have to smile at such wishful thinking by secularists. Putting aside the silly word “empire,” I point out that the AiG ministry continues to grow. The Creation Museum is expanding. This summer we will be opening a new high-tech bug exhibit—it will be a startling world-class bug collection! We also have another (surprise) exhibit that we are working on. The Ark Encounter continues to move ahead. And AiG’s new Bible curriculum is so popular that we have a hard time keeping up with demand—the same is true of many of our books, DVDs, and curricula!

Well, if you want to read the rest of the article you can do that at this link. There is so much else I could say about the article—but we’ve really said it all before.

I wondered why this article has received so much attention. I think it’s because the secularists and the media want to believe that AiG and the Creation Museum are collapsing! So, instead of doing real research, they jump at rehashing each other’s absurd propaganda, in the hope of convincing people of the demise of the AiG ministry, Creation Museum, and me.

And here’s a promise: the Ark Encounter is coming. Get ready for it! Meanwhile, don’t believe the father of lies.

In Acts 5:12–42, we read the account of the apostles who were thrown into prison by the high priest. In that passage, an angel of the Lord came and took them out of prison. When the high priest found out they were out of prison (even though the doors were locked and the guards were still outside the doors), he had them brought to him—but he did not even ask how they got out of prison. He just reminded them that they were not to preach in “this name”—the name of Jesus. Personally, I believe it was because he didn’t want to hear about the miracle—he didn’t want to find out about the evidence that substantiated what the apostles had taught concerning the truth of the risen Christ.

This reminds me of today’s secularists. They don’t want to hear the evidence that confirms God’s words! They just ignore it. They are like the high priest: they just want to stop God’s people from preaching the truth. And they don’t want others to hear the evidence, either, so they try to malign people like us—all in their attempt to prevent people listening to the truths from God’s Word that we teach.

I love how the Apostle Peter responded: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Exactly! We stand on God’s Word regardless of what fallible, rebellious man says in opposition to the infallible Word.

I also love what Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, said: “If this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God” (Acts 5:38–39).

These secularists are not fighting against us. In reality, they are battling God. And if this AiG ministry is of God (which it is), then the secularists cannot overthrow it regardless of the lies they tell.

At the end of Acts 5 we read, “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:41–42).

Those who oppose God’s Word can say all they want—but for us, we will not cease “teaching and preaching” God’s Word!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

“Darwin, Dinosaurs and the Devil” (Part 1)

That’s the title of an article that has shown up on some websites in my home country of Australia. Actually, this article originated from an atheist site in the U.S., and versions of it have shown up all over the internet on secularists’ sites and some news sites (sometimes with different headlines). Here is a link to one of them, which I will comment on below.

At first I wasn’t even going to respond to yet another attack that is designed to malign AiG (and me personally), but because it has shown up on some websites in Australia, I thought I would make a few comments on the article and expose the several inaccuracies found in it.

First, I have to admit that the headline “Darwin, Dinosaurs and the Devil” is very apt for the article. You see, God’s Word describes the Devil and those who do his work this way:

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

The anti-AiG piece certainly contains many untruths and distortions. It’s basically the same garbage the atheists keep flinging at us. Actually, this article reminds me of another verse:

And there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Apparently, secularists can’t come up with any new arguments to use against AiG, so they just keep regurgitating many of the same old things. We’ve answered them all before. Here are a few reminders of how we respond to some of their outlandishly false accusations; here are some excerpts, followed by my comments and critiques.

Excerpt from the article:

Few have profited more from Darwin calumny and science denial than Ken Ham, an Australian-born, young-Earth creationist behind some of the most ambitious monuments to creationism in the United States. Ham rose to fame after successfully raising $US27 million to build the Creation Museum in Kentucky, which tells the story of God’s creation of the Earth through … Pro-evolution scientists (ie, all actual scientists), however, have obfuscated these undeniable truths with sinful lies and slander.

Our response:

The secularists continually make the charge that we at AiG (and me personally) “profit” from the Creation Museum. They almost always try to bring in the money angle. They just don’t understand (or just don’t want to understand) the burden we have as Christians to see secularists like them be saved from eternal separation from God. The real benefit we want is to see hearts and minds won for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we haven’t spent $27 million on the Creation Museum—we’ve now spent over $35 million with all the additions to the museum in the past five years! But the Creation Museum and all that goes with it would probably cost five times as much to replace today, for so much sacrifice in labor (and many other ways) has built this place in order to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, I don’t see these same atheists complaining about the millions of dollars in profit that places like Disneyland take in just from entertainment!

In addition, these secularists never give up on their false accusation of our ministry’s supposed “science denial.” That’s because the secularists play around with definitions; they use the word “science” for both historical science (beliefs about the past) and operational science (based on observation that builds our technology). Actually, it is the secularists who teach a false understanding of the word science (and how it works) in their attempt to brainwash students and the public in their anti-Christian religion of evolution and millions of years. For more on the differences between historical and operational science, read Troy Lacey’s article Deceitful or Distinguishable Terms—Historical and Observational Science.

Also, the author accuses us of “sinful lies”? Now, think about it: who decides what is “sinful” and what is a “lie”? If there is no absolute authority, then how can the author even accuse someone of being “sinful” or telling a “lie”? In fact, his article is full of lies (which we will point out in a moment), but because secularists have no basis for absolute truth, they can ultimately tell whatever lie they want, for in their belief system, there is no such thing as a lie in an absolute sense! But they turn around and call Christians “sinful.” I find that amazing! (To learn more about the atheist worldview, read Dr. Jason Lisle’s article, Atheism: An Irrational Worldview.)

Excerpt:

He and his fellow creationists have proposed a creationist theme park called Ark Encounter, centered around a “full-size” replica of Noah’s Ark. At Ham’s request, the governor of Kentucky has proposed a $US43 million tax break for the park, as well as an $US11 million road improvement project for the highway leading to it. (Apparently creationists read the Bible literally but not the First Amendment.)

Response:

This is the same tired lie the secularists keep pounding away at in deliberately misleading the public. The “tax break” is instead a tax-incentive rebate program for any company that can bring tourism to the state of Kentucky. It has been used by secular organizations and the rebate was approved for the Ark Encounter LLC because the project fulfilled all the requirements.

Let us be clear once again: no state monies will be used to construct the Ark complex. Taxpayers will not see their money used to build or operate the Ark Encounter; no money will be taken out of the state’s budget to fund the Ark, contrary to the writer’s false assertion.

Now, if the Ark meets attendance goals and sees tourism dollars flow into the state, the Ark Encounter will receive partial rebates on sales taxes paid by the Ark visitors. At the end of an operating year, any money that might go back to the attraction will have come from those people who chose to visit; no unwilling taxpayer will subsidize the Ark (and thus there is also no establishment of religion). Nobody is being forced to visit and hear about the Bible’s history, including its account of the Ark.

So, it is actually a rebate on the sales tax generated within the facility (once the facility is open and operating). The state offers this rebate because of all the income such a project would bring to the region and also the tax revenue the Ark Encounter bring to the state government. The finished Ark will add tourism dollars to the state coffers, and it’s a net gain for Kentucky if the Ark is built here (and not in another state).

Excerpt:

The best way to understand the radical strangeness of Ham’s views is to closely examine how he attempts to undercut belief in sound science – that is, to read his books. Ham’s books fall into two categories: colourful picture books designed to indoctrinate children, and pseudoscientific tracts aimed at persuading adults.

Response:

Actually, a few corrections here. I have written a number of children’s books, ranging from preschool through middle school level. I have also written books for high school age and adults. I have also authored or coauthored many books, including the bestseller The Lie and major works like One Race, One Blood; How Could a Loving God?; Why Won’t They Listen?; Already Gone; and others, as well as being the general editor of the bestselling The New Answers Book 1, 2, and 3.

The word “tracts” implies small leaflets (i.e., something not substantial). These are actually booklets that are thousands of words long. This slap is just another attempt to malign us. And of course the use of the term “pseudoscientific” is again an effort to indoctrinate people in the false idea we don’t teach science. The secularists don’t want people to know we employ many staff with earned doctorates (e.g., in astronomy, geology, molecular genetics, the history of science, biology, and two MDs) and that we have a peer-reviewed science journal (Answers Research Journal). They also ignore the fact I was trained and licensed as a science teacher by secular universities in Australia for the public schools “down under.” (I’ve written about some of accusations thrown at us on my blog in a post titled Origins and “Child Abuse”.)

Excerpt (the author is referring to a children’s book I authored on dinosaurs):

But its ultimate message is that belief in young-Earth creationism is necessary to avoid an eternity of damnation.

Response:

This is the worst lie in the article. We hear this false accusation over and over again. AiG has never tied believing in a young-earth to salvation—never! Salvation is conditioned upon faith in Christ, not the age of the earth. I’ve written on this so many times, but the secularists don’t want you to know the truth. They make up things for their purposes of attacking. They have to know it is a lie, as any quick search on our website would reveal many articles and blog posts that deal with this subject. And they can’t find anything I’ve written that even implies that a person must believe in a young earth to be saved. One of my blog articles dispels this claim; I urge you to read it.

Excerpt:

Ham’s masterpiece for the adult reader, The Lie, was recently reprinted in a revised and expanded 25th-anniversary edition.

Response:

According to what this author wrote earlier in the article, I supposedly have produced only “tracts” for adults! At least the author is acknowledging one of my books now!

Excerpt (regarding my book The Lie):

It contains the same outlandish pseudoscience and strict moralising as Dinosaurs of Eden – with none of the whimsy. The Lie distils Ham’s theological convictions: Christianity is under attack, society is rotting away, and acceptance of evolution is the root of its disintegration.

Response:

This is another typical distortion we have answered time and time again. Evolution is not the “root” of society’s “disintegration.” Sin is the cause—man’s inherent sin nature and man’s rebellion against God. But the more people are taught that evolution shows the Bible is supposedly not true, the more people will then reject God’s Word as the basis for their thinking, and then more people will become consistent with this way of thinking and determine morality for themselves. (For further explanation, read my blog article, Sin Is to Blame—Not Evolution!)

This trend is really summed up by an application of this verse of Scripture: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

In other words, when people don’t believe there is an absolute authority, then morality is subjective—it’s whatever people want to decide for themselves, if they can get away with it in the culture.

Part two of our critique of this web article will be posted here tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken