So the answers to the earlier questions are that both Jammal and LeRue are liars. Morris i

From: lippard@skyblu.ccit.arizona.edu (James J. Lippard)

> So the answers to the earlier questions are that both Jammal
> and LeRue are liars.  Morris is just naive enough to have
> believed Jammal, because Jammal has been at it for so long
> (after all, keeping a hoax going from 1986 to 1993 is a lot
> for a person to do, since Jammal has not previously retracted
> his 1986 story).  This is all predicated on the posted
> information being correct.

I have spoken with LaRue about this, and expect to talk to Jammal
today or tomorrow.  I don't believe that LaRue has lied, though
Jammal has definitely done so.  Jammal first decided to hoax his
visit to Noah's Ark some time after seeing Sun Pictures' film
from the mid-1970's on Noah's Ark, and wrote a letter to the
Institute for Creation Research making his claim.  This led to
the 1986 interview with John Morris of the ICR, but apparently
nothing more came of it until Sun began planning the recent TV
show.  Morris gave Sun Jammal's name, and he was asked to be on
the show.  By this time, Jammal had met LaRue, and they had been
acquainted for several years.  Jammal contacted LaRue for assistance
in preparing for his interview with Sun.  LaRue didn't instigate
Jammal's hoax, but he did help him prepare for Sun's TV show.

LaRue was instrumental in the exposure of the hoax, but Jammal was
careful to avoid saying anything on the record to reveal it, and has
continued to tell the creationists that he had nothing to do with the
exposure--which is not true.  I have no idea why he has done this.

LaRue and Jammal taped a show last Saturday for Los Angeles public
access cable, for a show produced by the organization Atheists
United.  It is my understanding that Jammal came clean in that
interview and will also do so at the FFRF convention.

Sun Pictures has released a six-page response to the _Time_ magazine
story which defends Jammal as an authentic Ark discoverer.  John
Morris' ICR response draws heavily from that response.  Their
defense is based on only the following:  (a) that LaRue is affiliated
with humanist and anti-Christian [sic] causes, (b) that Jammal has
told them he has not recanted, and (c) a Christian psychologist who
has reviewed tapes of Jammal thinks that he's telling the truth.
They did essentially nothing to verify any of Jammal's claims.

Jim Lippard              Lippard@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU
Dept. of Philosophy      Lippard@ARIZVMS.BITNET
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721