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| An uneasy Ken Ham. Maybe he's wondering if he's got it right after all! He has a lot at stake. |
In a post dated 12th March a somewhat concerned AiG theme park supremo, Ken Ham, writes this:
Over the past four decades of ministry, I’ve been disappointed by the low number of Christian academics, theologians, pastors, and leaders who will take a firm stand on Genesis publicly. Most won’t take a firm stand, allowing for compromise positions involving millions of years or even other evolutionary beliefs, and many of the ones who do believe in the straightforward teaching of Genesis aren’t willing to teach it to their congregations or others because it’s “too controversial.”
I've always regarded this kind of admission by Ken as good news; it's an indication that in spite of the literalist excesses we hear so loudly from North America most Christian academics are loathe to endorse Ken's views. But I suppose Ken's emphatic fundamentalist perspective is understandable: He's given his whole life to building up his religious business empire which depends on selling a ministry marketing a perverse understanding of science and the Bible, so he's not going to change his views in a hurry and will be jealously defensive of them. But in spite of Ken's marketing efforts, it looks as though things aren't going so well for him among thoughtful Christians. See also:
Quantum Non-Linearity: Good News from Ken Ham. (quantumnonlinearity.blogspot.com)
Views, News and Pews: More Good News From Ken Ham. (viewsnewsandpews.blogspot.com)
Ken goes on to explain his big beef:
Why is this so disheartening to me?
Well, because this is an authority issue!
Ultimately, the battle over Genesis isn’t about the age of the earth or God’s
method of creation. The issue is “Who is your ultimate authority?” Is it God
and his Word,or is it man and his (fallible!) word? You see, millions of years
and evolution don’t come from the biblical text—you won’t find even a hint of
long ages or slow and gradual processes in Genesis! The reason so many
Christians have accepted these ideas has nothing to do with Scripture and
everything to do with taking man’s ideas about the past and adding them into
Genesis.
Here Ken is engaged in his usual activity of impugning the conscience of those thoughtful Christians who disagree with him and accusing them of all but blasphemy: He just can't accept that other Christians may have good reason to reject his literalist interpretations and do so with a clear conscience and with no sense they are rejecting Biblical authority. The "ultimate authority" they are rejecting is in fact Ken's assertions based on flawed reasoning, behind which lie deep business interests. He of course genuinely believes that the arguments presented by AiG cannot be faulted: He therefore believes his antagonists don't have good reason to reject the claimed authority of AiG pronouncements and must have bad consciences. In Ken's mind this justifies his use of spiritually intimidating language threatening divine displeasure should AiG be contradicted.
As for those millions of years and evolution not being in the Bible...... Likewise, I'm unaware that the Bible teaches us that the Sun is a star.... but of course, it doesn't teach such a thing: The Bible is written from the perspective of the ancients who naturally enough would be unable to put the Sun in the same category as a star; they'd need to know a lot more about cosmic distances, atomic physics and gravity to do that! It's no surprise then that at least one Biblical literalist should end up arguing that the Sun is not a Star: See here:
Quantum Non-Linearity: The Sun Isn't a Star!!?? Light Relief Time (quantumnonlinearity.blogspot.com)
Further, it is very debatable whether the Bible has any clarity about the Earth being a sphere; so much so in fact that some Christian literalists (not Ken I'm glad to say) have been arguing the case for a flat Earth. See this link:
My conclusion is that as a meaningful cross-cultural account of creation the Genesis story is necessarily highly symbolic rather than literal. Ken is ripping Genesis 1 right out of its original cultural context just as do the "The Sun is not a star" literalists. Let's recall that meaning = text + context. This important "equation" is clearly something Ken is missing and needs to understand.
Ken has invested a lifetime's work in his literalist theme park and has a lot to lose. Therefore, his spiritually bullying tone comes very naturally out of his very committed business interests. It is also not surprising that he implicitly supports what is looking increasingly like an emerging Christian dominionist culture among Christian Trumpites. He also appears to implicitly support fellow fantasist Trey Smith who used the Ark Park to host a QAnon video.
ADDENDUM 27/04/24
Ken's ignorance of science shows itself when he continues to promote the flawed "Two kinds of science" philosophy: That is, "Observational science" vs "Historical science". See here for example:
Creation Basics: Two Kinds of Science | Answers in Genesis
Why this is a very fundamental error is explained here:
This false philosophy is, of course, promoted by AiG with the full force of its presumed authority and backed up by Ken's propensity to apply religious duress to those who disagree with him. Anyone joining this fundamentalist organization, and that includes those with science training, would very likely be expected to take onboard Ken's take on science.
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Interesting Links
1. Real Geology: As a break from those bizarre literalist views below is a link to an interesting post by Christian Geologist Micheal Roberts:
2000 years of Genesis and Geology | Peddling and Scaling God and Darwin (wordpress.com
I found the following diagram which he published of particular interest (Click on picture to enlarge):
On Monday Congresswoman Greene did just that, falsely telling far-right host Steve Bannon Russia is “protecting” Christianity while the “Ukrainian government is attacking Christians, the Ukrainian government is executing priests. Russia is not doing that.”
Numerous credible reports detail Russia’s torture and killing of Ukrainian clergy.
Greene has supported Russia over Ukraine for years."
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| Taylor-Greene: She clowns around but she's beyond a joke |
The Trump team may understand that Taylor-Green's clowning is too much of a liability:
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