Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 16:19, 3 January 2006

Kent E. Hovind (born 15 January 1953), the self-styled Dr Dino, is an American Young Earth Creationist (YEC) evangelist who is currently offering US$250,000 to anyone who can prove evolution "is the only possible way," that the Universe and life arose, although some of his critics consider the challenge to be spurious. He is the founder of Creation Science Evangelism, his non-profit ministry.

Biography

On 9 February 1969, Hovind has said that he "accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior". He graduated from East Peoria High School in 1971. In 1974 he graduated from Midwestern Baptist College with a bachelor's degree in religious education. Hovind is married and has three children and 4 grandchildren.

Between 1975 and 1988 Hovind was a pastor and a high school science teacher. In 1989, Hovind started his Creation Science Evangelism.

After the Internet came into common household use, Hovind created his "Dr. Dino" web site and began producing articles and information as well as selling his products — video tapes, books, fossil replicas, etc. — to a mass market. None of his material is copyrighted, and he encourages people to copy his material and distribute it to others. His efficient use of the web site led to increased fame and numerous public speaking engagements. He speaks at hundreds of churches, schools and other venues each year. His audiences often number in the hundreds or even the thousands (for debates). His son, Eric, has lately engaged in similar speaking engagements, although attendance may be much lower for his events.

Education

Hovind was awarded a masters's degree and doctorate in "Christian Education" from the unaccredited college (correspondence school) Patriot University (now Patriot Bible University) in 1988 and 1991 respectively.

Critics of Hovind have charged that Patriot Bible University is a diploma mill as it has unreasonably low graduation requirements, lack of sufficient faculty or educational standards, and a suspicious tuition scheme, among other issues. The college itself has claimed that it simply does not "choose" to be accredited by standard associations . Patriot Bible University is authorized to operate as a Bible College and to legally issue religious degrees by the State of Colorado Higher Education Commission.

Kent Hovind frequently mentions his Ph.D however he always drops the Christian part of Christian Education. Under Florida State law Hovind can only claim his title if he "clearly identifies the religious character of the educational program". He has rarely done so.

Another oddity about Kent Hovind's use of his educationial background is that he claims to have been a science teacher for 15 years but is loath to say where he taught.

Tax evasion

In 1996 Hovind unsuccessfully filed for bankruptcy to avoid paying federal income taxes. Hovind was found to have lied about his possessions and income. He claimed that as a minister of God everything he owns belonged to God and he is not subject to paying taxes to the United States on the money he received for doing God's work (citing US tax code §508(c)(1)(a)). The court ordered him to pay the money and supported the IRS view that Hovind's claim "was filed in bad faith for the sole purpose of avoiding payment of federal income taxes." In the ruling, the judge called Hovind's arguments "patently absurd." The judge also noted that "the IRS has no record of the debtor ever having filed a federal income tax return," although this was not the court's reason for denying the bankruptcy claim.

On May 13, 1998, Hovind and his wife attempted to evade all responsibility for any previous promises, debts, or legal agreements made prior to April 15, 1998, by filing a document called "Power of Attorney and Revocation of Signature" with the Escambia County Clerk of Courts. The document reads, in part: "I/we do hereby revoke and make void... all signatures on any instruments...". The Hovinds claimed they had signed government documents "due to the use of various elements of fraud and misrepresentations, duress, coercion, under perjury, mistake, 'bankruptcy'."

In the document, the Hovinds argue that Social Security is essentially a "Ponzi scheme" (many conservative and libertarian economists agree, e.g. Thomas Sowell). The Hovinds referred to the United States Government as "the 'bankrupt' corporate government" and said they were revoking their United States citizenship, saying they were each "a natural citizen of 'America' and a natural sojourner." They referred to their home state of Florida as "the State of Florida Body-Politic Corporation." Judges and the IRS did not appear to honor this as a legally relevant document in future decisions.

In 2001 Hovind started Dinosaur Adventure Land, a YEC-theme park in Pensacola, Florida.

In 2002 Hovind was again in trouble for not paying his taxes, and unsuccessfully sued the United States Internal Revenue Service for harassment. In 2004, IRS agents raided Hovind's home and business to confiscate financial records. IRS agent Scott Schneider said none of Hovind's businesses had a business license, nor tax-emempt status. The Associated Press quoted Schneider as saying "Since 1997, Hovind has engaged in financial transactions indicating sources of income and has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million per year during some of these years, which would require the filing of federal income taxes." On June 3 2004, the IRS issued tax liens of $504,957.24 against Hovind and his son and their businesses. A separate lien was filed for each, due to previous legal maneuverings on the part of the elder Hovind to evade taxation by moving property between himself, his son, and other legal entities.

Theology

Hovind considers the King James Version of the Bible the inerrant word of God and must be taken literally to its word in context. Because of this, he believes all findings of science will eventually be found to agree with Scripture — which he claims is a priori known to be truth. He claims that evolutionists also have a priori assumptions, namely that God does not exist (or at least not one that performed special Creation) thereby distorting their own application of science.

Hovind is also a staunch advocate of the King-James-Only Movement, which means he believes in using only the King James Version of the Bible, claiming that it is the only reliable translation of the word of God for the English-speaking peoples. According to him, many of the numerous other English translations of the Bible are in some way corrupt, not being based on the Textus Receptus. For Example in Gen 1:5 some may say "one day." instead of "the first day". He has also mentioned that in the NIV bible, over 200 verses have been removed.

Hovind and other creationists

Hovind has come into conflict with other young earth creationists, who believe that many of his arguments are invalid and therefore they undermine their cause. One in particular, Answers in Genesis has publicly criticised him , after he had criticised AiG's article Arguments creationists should NOT use. AiG have also criticised other Hovind-like creationists such as Carl Baugh. (The mainstream scientific community considers most of AiG's arguments against evolution to be unsound as well.)

Hovind and mainstream critics

Critics charge that Kent Hovind's creation/evolution presentations are a mix of pseudoscience, Christian Fundamentalism and conspiracy theories.

Hovind is mostly known for his debates with evolutionary biology scientists. The best-known contemporary evolutionary biology scientists, Richard Dawkins and the late Stephen Jay Gould, have in the past refused to debate Hovind by claiming that debate is not how science works and gives charlatans more of an advantage than systematic inquiry (see: scientific method). Hovind disagrees, and feels that they avoid debate simply because the audience will perceive that evolution is not as factual as evolutionists claim it is.

In Hovind's debates, he traditionally focuses on trying to discredit evolutionary theory, cosmology, and geology rather than providing evidence for creationism. However, he does occasionally present what he says is evidence for a Biblical flood, among other creationist theories such as the canopy theory. He is regarded, even among many other Young Earth Creationists as being crude in his argumentation. The vast majority of scientists do not take Hovind's work seriously or agree with his interpretation of the facts.

Another criticism of Hovind comes as a result of his selling of books such as Fourth Reich of the Rich, and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an established hoax, widely used as a justification for anti-semitism.

Hovind's $250,000 offer

Hovind offers USD 250,000 to anyone who can meet the statement,

I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.* My $250,000 offer demonstrates that the hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than a religious belief.

Critics view this to be spurious however, not least because of the conditions which Hovind imposes. The winner would have to convince Hovind of the reality of evolution and would be required to scientifically prove God doesn't exist. The asterisk denotes the terms which he claims show significant gaps in the gradual progression predicted by the theory of evolution:

*NOTE: When I use the word evolution, I am not referring to the minor variations found in all of the various life forms (microevolution). I am referring to the general theory of evolution which believes these five major events took place without God:

1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves.

2. Planets and stars formed from space dust.

3. Matter created life by itself.

4. Early life-forms learned to reproduce themselves.

5. Major changes occurred between these diverse life forms (i.e., fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles, and reptiles changed to birds or mammals).

Critics argue that this is merely a publicity stunt, that it is deliberately designed to be impossible to win, and that it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of both science and the scientific method. Critics say that his description of evolution does not match with the scientific definition and that he conflates evolution with other unrelated issues in the description of his challenge (see Hovind's list of "five major events" above).

Some creationists also do not approve of Hovind's offer. Answers in Genesis said they "would prefer that creationists refrained from gimmicks like this."

Hovind has said a panel of judges would decide if a claim had met his criteria, but he has refused to say who would be (or is) on that panel. He has even refused to say what their qualifications might be. Challengers who have submitted claims to Hovind have found that he does not actually use a panel of judges, in spite of his promise to do so.

On December 19, 2005 Hovind announced while on Truth Radio, that he is increasing the offer to $1,000,000 for the christmas holiday week. And that he is doing it with confidence that no one will ever be able to prove evolution.

The Ali G interview

Kent Hovind was interviewed by Ali G in the U.S. HBO season 1 episode entitled Science. Joseph Coates was also present and represented the side of evolution.

Ali G asked both men, "Where did men come from?" Coates replied, "Men evolved out of lower species, in the way that all the species evolved out of lower species." Hovind said, "This is ridiculous, this is ludicrous. If he wants to believe this happened, he's welcome to believe his grandpa was Lucy and came down from a tree or something, but that is pure religion. We offer a quarter of a million dollars for anybody with any real, empirical, testable scientific evidence for evolution."

Ali G inquired, "So are you saying we ain't come down from monkeys?" Hovind replied, "No, monkeys are still having babies, why don't they have another human today?" In response, Ali G asked his guest, "But has you ever eaten a banana?" Kent Hovind confirmed, "Yea, yea. I eat all kinds of foods." Therefore, Ali G concluded, "Well that proves it don't it?".

Hovind's Debating Style

Critics contend that Hovind uses a popular speaking style and humor in order to cover up flawed arguments and make his case appear stronger. One notable example occurred during a public debate with atheist Farrell Till. During an exchange regarding the evidence for human evolution (and "missing links"), Hovind said, "He found the leg bones of Lucy a mile and a half away from the head bones. The leg bones were 200 feet deeper in a deeper layer of strata. I would like to know how fast the train was going that hit that chimpanzee." By appearing personable and down to earth Hovind has gained a great deal of popularity, despite the fact that many critics (both evolutionists and creationists) are frequently disturbed by how gullible his audiences are. Because Hovind's style of presenting more closely resembles a driveby shooting then a reasoned debate.

His citation of the 'Lucy' find has proven particularly contentious. Mainstream creationist critics and evolutionists have both complained his argument has been proven to be incorrect (see this Talk Origins Archive article), yet Hovind has yet to issue a retraction of his claim.

External links

Hovind's websites

• Dr Dino - Kent Hovind's website
• Dinosaur Adventure Land - Hovind's YEC-theme park website

Pro-Hovind

• About Dr. Kent Hovind, by Chick Publications
• Kent Hovind

Media

Audio debates

• Kent Hovind vs. Massimo Pigliucci, Part 1
• Kent Hovind vs. Massimo Pigliucci, Part 2
• Kent Hovind vs. Farrell Till, Part 1
• Kent Hovind vs. Farrell Till, Part 2
• Kent Hovind vs. Alex White

Videos

• Hovind vs. Rainbow - creation vs. evolution debate
• Download 7 creation videos by Hovind - free downloads

Creationist but critical of Hovind

• Rebuttals to the works of Kent Hovind on the Answers In Creation website
• Point-by-Point Rebuttal of Dr. Dino's Critique of the "Gap Theory" of Genesis Creationism at Christian Geology website
• Maintaining Creationist Integrity: A response to Kent Hovind, by AiG.
• Ross–Hovind Debate, John Ankerberg Show, October 2000; Analysis by Jonathan Sarfati also by AiG.

Critical of creationism and Hovind

• Talk.origins on Hovind
• Analysis of Kent Hovind
• The Kent Hovind Page
• Doubting Dr. Dino: Kent Hovind's $250,000 Challenge Met by Adam William Kisby
• Know Your Creationists: Kent Hovind
• When Giants Roamed

Court records

• Hovind bankruptcy decision, 1996
• Hovind v. Schneider, 2002
• Escambia County (Pensacola, Florida) Clerk of Courts

• Christian writers
• Christian ministers
• 1953 births
• Young Earth creationism
• Creationists
• King-James-Only Movement