Why I Like Kent Hovind

I have been following the travails of Young Earth Creationists Kent Hovind since 2012.  It was a legitmate tax story and I continue to follow it mainly because I find it interesting, but also because of reader encouragement.  I have been critical enough of Kent's innocence narrative to have some of his supporters think that I must be a government agent of sorts.

I can't say I know Kent Hovind.  I have only had brief email exchanges with him and spoke to him once.

I've dealt more with his main counsellor Ernie Land

During and after his trial last year Kent made the rounds of the right wing conspiracy bubble giving interviews in which he laid out his story of having been convicted of taking his own money out of his bank account to pay bills.  To be charitable it is an incomplete narrative, but I've discussed that enough elsewhere.  I think my interview was the only one where Kent's narrative was challenged.

Since his release Kent has been going great guns on youtube.com. His presentations are mainly answering questions that have been sent to him.  Kent seems perfect for youtube almost as if their correspondence is evidence of intelligent design.  He has almost 50,000 subscribers and his often twice daily, depending on his travel schedule, thirty minute or so podcasts generally get between five and ten thousand views.  I've been trying to figure out if that is enough to get some serious money from ads, but I'm not sure.  Ironically, the last video I watched about a controversy surrounding a scietnific article about the human hand that mention the Creator led with a tax compliance ad when I watched it. (You might see a different ad)

Kent frequently says things I find offensive, but he really goes over the top in that video, as he mocks the way people in Central Massachuesetts and civlized and enlightened people throughout the world, pronounce Worcester, enocouraging us to be more phonetical.  That is an aside though.


The focus on youtube by Kent and his supporters is a bit of a trial for me, as you have to invest more lifespan to find anything new than when you are dealing with people who mainly write.  Much of Kent's stuff is repetitive and some of it a little cringe worthy.  I could happily live the rest of my life without hearing about the Vaseline jar again (If you haven't, don't ask. Trust me.)

There is a benefit to the repitition though and that is that it has gotten me to take more of a liking to Kent Hovind.

One of his virtues is a very strong work ethic.  I don't know how he keeps up his pace of appearances and the podcasts along with orgainizing his new Dinosaur Adventureland. I find it inspirational.

Another virture is some degree of modesty.  He is willing to say "I don't know".  He could just as easily only select questions that he has an answer for, but he works through them and will sometimes answer particularly knotty theological questions with "I don't know". You might get that in every fourth video or so.

One of my favorite Kent Hovind sayings is "Chew (or maybe it is swallow) the meat and spit out the bones", which is what he says when he mentions a book or video by someone else that has material he thinks is good, but also has errors.  It is a really good piece of advice. ( Of course when I explain it to my covivant, who runs a vegetarian household here, it loses somehting in translation.)  It is a very important point.  I think you learn a lot more by listening to people who don't support your belief systems.  If somebody has view radically different from yours, possibly the most worthwhile thing you can do with them is see what you might learn from them.  Spending a lot of time on how wrong they are is mostly time wasted.

The main meat that I have taken from Kent Hovind is in a story that you will probably pick up in maybe every tenth video or so.  And that is his argument for living a purpose driven life.

The biggest event in Kent's life was when he was "saved" as a teenager.  Since that time his most fulfilling activity has been saving others.  You will hear him scorn for example sports, particularly golf (Trying to hit a ball into a hole in the ground).  He encourages his listeners to do the same thing to dedicate themselves to a purpose that is larger than the tivial things we obsess about.

When I explain basic Christian doctrine to my covivant, it is like her head is ready to explode. God is infinitely just and infinitely merciful, which created a dilemma when people screwed up causing them and their descendents to deserve infinite punishment.  The solution was to take the punishment on himself in the form of his son.

Now this can all be viewed as very metaphorical, When I asked my sister, a nun, about Original Sin, her response was "Something went wrong".  The Pope has no problem with evolution or a very old earth and universe.

Kent, of course, does not think it is metaphorical and that if your don't believe that the Bible, for English speakers that would be the King James transalation, is true in all its details, you will miss the salvation message and lose out for eternity.  That is the source of his passion for denouncing the "lie of evolution".

I don't doubt Kent's sincerity and think the evidence is pretty good that he in reality lives the absteminious life that he claims.  Given that his passion for his message is admirable.  You can find Kent at his most inspirational starting around 6:00 in the video below

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Peter J Reilly CPA hopes to be the first tax blogger to give up his day job.  Doesn't look like Kent Hovind has done the trick for him.