The adventures of Kent and Jo Hovind in Tax Court have piqued my interest in Young Earth Creationism. Apparently if you study the Book of Genesis really closely and carefully and add up all the begats, you will conclude that the Earth is about 6,000 years old. According to something called radiometric dating it is 4.54 billion years old (give or take 50 million or so). I like the first method, because, if I had the patience I could check it myself with a copy of the Bible and an excel spreadsheet. That other method requires expensive equipment and fancier math.
That’s probably not the way to settle the issue. A friend of mine once told me how he tried to settle it. My friend, Bob, was an Air Force physician. He is a devout Catholic (Catholics allow for much of the language in Genesis being metaphorical.) Somehow or other he ended up visiting a science museum with another officer, a pilot and devout Evangelical. There was a display on evolution, which the Evangelical went into something of a tirade on. Bob’s response was that his friend trusted science when he took his plane up into the sky and when he was treated for diseases, so why not when it comes to evolution.
When you really get down to it, most of us don’t have the time or capacity to really look into questions like the age of the earth or evolution. We pick sides based on who we find most credible. “Science” gets credit for all the technological stuff that works and makes life more livable than it was in the Middle Ages, when most people were hungry almost all the time. On the other hand, someone whose life was a total mess who starts living by “Biblical” principles and finds everything works better might find that much more persuasive. If what the bulk of scientists say about something contradicts Scripture, they must be wrong. Hence the great interest in “Creation Science”.
How To Settle The Question ?
Dr. Joseph Mastropaolo has thrown out a challenge. He wants to have a trial and let a judge make a ruling. The Creations Science Hall of Fame puts it this way:
Dear Theistic Evolutionists, “Allegoricalists”, Atheists and all you “Long Agers”,
This is your chance to shine. Are you willing to participate in a contest to prove your point that the Bible is wrong and that we evolved? You could go home with $20,000 if you win!
They are not putting up $20,000. They are putting up $10,000 and expect you to put up the other $10,000, so calling it a chance to go home with $20,000 is a bit disingenuous. Here are the rest of the details:
- The non-literal Genesis advocate puts $10,000 in escrow with the judge.
- The literal Genesis advocate and contributing writer for the Creation Science Hall of Fame, Joseph Mastropaolo, puts $10,000 in escrow with the judge.
- If the non-literal Genesis advocate proves that science contradicts the literal reading of Genesis, then the non-literal Genesis advocate is awarded the $20,000.
- If the literal Genesis advocate proves that science indicates the literal reading of Genesis, then the literal Genesis advocate is awarded the $20,000.
- Evidence must be scientific, that is, objective, valid, reliable and calibrated.
- The preponderance of evidence prevails.
- At the end of the trial, the judge hands the prevailing party both checks.
- The judge is a superior court judge.
- The venue is a courthouse.
- Court costs will be paid by the prevailing party.
So Who’s The Judge ?
That remains to be determined. I do have to say that 10 grand does seem a little chintzy. I mean I could afford that. I’m feeling a little strapped right now, so I won’t try to recruit a bright graduate student that I could stake for the challenge. Nonetheless, I really think if they are going to do this, the obvious choice is Judge Judy. She knows about science.
When I first thought of this idea, I thought maybe Judge Judy would have to recuse herself, since she might be called as a witness, but when I checked it turns out that she is about my age give or take about a decade (Give actually).
You can follow me on twitter @peterreillycpa.
Afternote
Since I was on the Creation Science Hall of Fame website anyway, I took a look at their page on Dr. Dino (Kent Hovind). They previously had a discussion of his unfortunate tax problems, which require him to be in federal housing. Nick Lally had indicated that he believed he was there out of principle. That discussion has been dropped and there is just something about what a stand-up guy Kent Hovind is.
Originally published on Forbes.com Mar 28th, 2013