Creation Science News

      On Monday, February 1st, Answers in Genesis re-posted their update from last week, where they reported on the court victory for the Ark Encounter.  It seems odd that they would post the exact same article one week after posting it the first time.  Apparently AiG is trying to diffuse what in their mind is the rumor that tax money is being used to fund the Ark construction...the article mentions this several times.  But what is really going on with this re-posting?

Young Earth Tactics

      For those new to the creation battleground, AiG is simply using a tried and true tactic for getting people to accept their claims. It's called repetition.  It's been said if you teach something often enough, it doesn't matter if it's true or not...people will eventually believe it is true.  By repeating the claim that tax money is not being used, they are gradually indoctrinating people to believe that their side of the story is correct.

     AiG and the other young earth ministries have used this repetition technique for many years.   For example, every year young earth ministries run dozens of articles on the Grand Canyon, yet the young earth claims in the articles have already been debunked by science...yet they continue to post the same arguments.  Who is listening to these repetitive claims?  While it is possible that a few random visitors to their website might get hooked by these arguments, they are mostly posted again and again to convince their own followers, through repetition, that the young earth arguments are right.  The same is true of most other science claims made by YEC ministries...astronomy, biology, etc.  They don't care if mainstream science has debunked their claims...they are going to continue to make them anyway.  They know that people who accept science are not going to be convinced by their same old arguments...so their target audience is their followers, who already accept YEC.  They want to ensure their future support, and make sure they don't fall away from young earth creationism.  Most young earth tactics are meant not to evangelize those who know the earth is billions of years old, but to hold on to those who already believe the earth is young.

About That Tax Money...

     Ken Ham and AiG claim that no tax money is being used to construct the Ark. I believe he actually thinks this is correct...but he is walking a fine line.  All of us outside of AiG can only speculate on the full financing arrangements for the construction of the Ark. We know that AiG has raised almost $29 million for the Ark, and then there are the $62 million in junk bonds. From Ham's perspective, it's all about careful use of the proper words.  The ark "construction" is being paid not with tax money, but from these two sources. Once the ark is finished, the bonds will be paid off with tax money...therefore in Ham's mind, it's not the Ark "construction" that is paid with tax money, but the bond repayment.  As the AiG article states, "Contrary to a widely held myth, no taxpayer dollars are being used to construct the Ark." Strictly speaking, this is true...but the tax money is paying off the construction costs AFTER the ark has been constructed.  Therefore, tax money is paying for the ark...it's just not paying for it's construction (at least that's how Ham sees it). To Ham, it's all a matter of symantecs to get people to believe his side of the story.

     Apparently to Ham, these construction tax issues are just like modern science...there's a way to twist it to make it say whatever you want it to say.