REALLity Check by David Bloomberg Underhanded Creationist Tactics The Peoria Journal Star

                       REALLity Check
                     by David Bloomberg

               Underhanded Creationist Tactics

     The Peoria Journal Star (June 25) had an article about
Kent Hovind, an evangelist who is offering $10,000 to
anybody who can provide empirical evidence of the theory of
evolution.  But the key is "empirical" or based on
experiment.  In other words, he wants somebody to prove
millions of years of natural selection and evolution in a
laboratory, to his satisfaction.
     Bradley University religion professor, Robert Fuller,
is appalled with Hovind's challenge, saying, "No properly
educated, reflective person could possible dispute the fact
of biological evolution.  No credible professor of religion
in the world has difficulty with the concept of evolution."
     But that's not the half of it.
     It seems the Hovind is not being exactly straight with
everybody.  The article states that Hovind is scheduled to
debate "paleontologist Steven (sic) Jay Gould, a Harvard
University professor."  Hovind goes on to state, "I suspect
Gould will back out."
     Hovind apparently has good reason to expect that Gould
won't be there.  Dr. Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of
the National Center for Science Education, wrote to Gould
and asked about Hovind.  In his response, Gould says, "You
really shouldn't believe everything you read ... I have
never heard of the man and therefore cannot have agreed to
anything with him."  Gould went on to comment about "the
obvious phony tactic of claiming that he challenged me to a
debate when he didn't, and then claiming that I backed out
when I didn't appear."
     If Hovind is so sure of himself and his "theory", why
does he need to mislead the public in such a manner?

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Gould, when hearing about this, wrote to Hovind, and Hovind 
made some excuse about how he thought he had been in touch with 
Gould's publicist, or some other similar nonsense.  My bet is 
that he just never expected Gould to hear about a statement he 
made in an interview with a small midwestern newspaper.