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Kent Hovind

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. Despite having no science credentials, he is the founder of Creation Science Evangelism 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 desipte having no academic background in science.

Hovind was charged on September 13, 2002, for failure to observe county zoning regulations, which is currently without resolution.

In 2002, he was charged with one count of felony assault, one count misdemeanor battery, and one count assault and burglary (Case Number 2002 CF 004020 A ). In December 2002, the charges were dropped by the victim, Hovind's secretary. Email correspodence between the victim and Hovind is widely available along with the victims reasons for dropping the charges due to the "physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially draining" situation.(See "Assault and Battery?")

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.

Hovind speaks at hundreds of churches, schools, and other venues each year and he has been a featured speaker at many of the Steeling the Mind Bible Conferences. His audiences often number in the hundreds or even the thousands. His son, Eric, has lately engaged in similar speaking engagements, although attendance may be much lower for his events.

Education

Barbara Forrest claims that Hovind´s lack of scientific training makes it impossible to engage him on a professional level . 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 . The school's current policies allow students to attain bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and even "Doctor of Ministry" degrees in months, rather than years, for less than $40 per month (the university offers a monthly fee, unlike most universities, which only charge per-credit fees) While Hovind finished in 1991, as of 2004 Patriot Bible University is allowed to issue religious degrees, by the State of Colorado Higher Education Commission.

Patriot Bible University will not send copies of Hovind's doctoral dissertation to anyone for review. This is highly unusual because doctoral dissertations are normally published by the associated university and made available to the public through either hard-copy publication or electronic distribution. This is so that other students conducting research in similar areas may use the information provided by the dissertation as a reference. However, some have seen it and critics have varying opinions of it. One copy is on file at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) in Berkeley, CA. They will not send it either, due to copyright and distribution restrictions, but people may view it at their facility.

People who read his dissertation say it is "incomplete," not of academic standard, poorly writen, and contains grammatical errors of a high school level student. The lack of quality was described, in part, by the fact that "the pages are not numbered; there is no title; of sixteen or so chapters in the index only the first four are finished; misspellings are rampant ("Immerged" for emerged and "epic" for epoch just as a couple of examples); and the single illustration was apparently cut out of a science book with scissors and fastened to the thesis with glue or tape."

Kent Hovind has been criticized for using the title Ph.D without mentioning it is in Christian Education. Under Florida state law, Hovind can only use his title if he "clearly identifies the religious character of the educational program". However, since his offical website is www.drdino.com, some believe he has not done so. Furthermore, unlike most doctors, Hovind is listed in the phone book as "Dr."

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. The park depicts humans and dinosaurs co-existing in the last 6-4,000 years with the more recent dinosaurs being the Loch Ness monster. The park does not explore "the Jurassic and Cretaceous eras," but rather "depicts dinosaurs as coexisting with human beings." In 2004 CSICOP, a scientific group that investigates the paranormal, visited Hovind's dinosaur theme park and reported the "park" was full of "deception" that purposely misleads visitors.

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. He has no formal training in any other language, but claims other English translations of the Bible are corrupt for not being based on the Textus Receptus. He has also believes the NIV bible excludes over 200 verses.

Grand Canyon

Hovind believes the Grand Canyon was not created over millions of years as geologists explain. Rather Hovind claims the Grand Canyon was created by the Great Flood (the story of Noah's Ark) in the Old Testament.

UFOs

Hovind believes "UFOs are apparitions of Satan" and that the US government possess UFOs of alien origin.

Dinosaurs, the loch ness monster, and brain surgery in the 1500s

As a young earth creationist, Hovind believes the earth has created by God 6-4,000 years ago. The scientific established extinction date which places dinosaur extinction at 65,000,000 B.C.E. is, according to Hovind, “totally bogus and certainly contrary to scripture.” Consequently, Hovind believes dinosaurs are not extinct reptiles from millions of years past. Rather Hovind claims that not only human and dinosaur co-existed 6-4,000 years ago, but that the Loch Ness monster exists, is a dinosaur, and is proof that dinosaurs and humans have and can coexist. Furthermore, Hovind believes dinosaurs were hunted to extinction, which is why only a few (the Loch Ness monster) are still around.

Hovind ignores fossil evidence, as he continually claims, "no fossils can count as evidence for evolution" because "all we know about that animal is that it died", we do not know that it "had any kids".

In 2005 Hovind claimed, "Spanish conquistadors" in 1571 found drawings of dinosaurs on stones, and "on them you will see people doing brain and heart surgery as well as every known dinosaur clearly depicted. Several hundred of them show humans and dinosaurs together."

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. Hovind's supporters say that he simply uses certain arguments a little longer than most of mainstream science will, so he can verify the new information that has supposedly made them obsolete.

Hovind and mainstream critics

Critics charge that Kent Hovind's creation/evolution presentations are a mix of 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 points that he claims serve to discredit evolutionary theory, cosmology, and geology. He also presents what he claims is evidence for a Biblical flood, a young earth, and the canopy theory. However, conventional scientists working in the appropriate fields, as well as some young Earth creationists, do not agree with Hovind's assertions.

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 that has been 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). Furthermore, it would be impossible to prove gravity under the same conditions as Hovind requires.

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.

In August of 2005 in protest of schools to teaching creationism, Bobby Henderson, set up a website for the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Henderson claims that a supernatural Creator entity that resembles spaghetti and meatballs should be taught in science classrooms. The website Boing Boing announced a $250,000 challenge, later raised to $1,000,000 by other bloggers, payable to any individual who could produce empirical evidence proving that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The challenge is modeled after Hovind's offer.

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 vast majority of scientists do not take Hovind's work very seriously or agree with his interpretation of the facts.(One example is National Center for Science Education's article )

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

Hovind uses a popular speaking style and humor in his debates. 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 (Donald Johanson) 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."

His citation of the 'Lucy' find has proven particularly contentious. Mainstream creationist critics, conventional scientists, and lay supporters of evolutionary science have complained that he continued to use an argument that has been established as false (ref., this Talk Origins Archive article).

External links

Hovind's websites

Dr Dino - Kent Hovind's website
Dinosaur Adventure Land - Hovind's YEC-theme park website
Truth Radio - Hovind's Daily Radio Program 4:30pm-6:00pm Central time.

Pro-Hovind