Father Kent Hovind SJ Not So Much

Kent Hovind developments keep verging on Forbes worthy, but have not quite gotten there.  For those new to this blog,  Kent Hovind is an Independent Baptist minister dedicated to Young Earth Creationism,  He has a lot of trouble with the IRS and is currently on supervised release after a long prison sentence. He is in Lenox, Alabama creating a bigger better Dinosaur Adventureland, travelling to preach and maintaining a strong youtube presence. 

I have been covering his tax travails since 2012.  I stopped covering him on forbes.com last year, but continue to keep up with him on this site.

An Innocent Man

The latest drama from Kent's camp, is his innocence video which was put together by Brady Byrum.  The idea was that you spend $50 to buy the eight disc set.  The last disc of the eight instructs you to do some sort of filing which will result in Kent getting a huge judgment and Judge Margaret Casey Rodgers getting impeached - or something like that, if enough people do it.

Nobody, I know in the Hovindology community was willing to spring the fifty bucks and invest the lifespan in watching the videos.  Ernie Land sent me some of the slides.  The thing that I noted was that the case law that Brady cited on the structuring issue predated the statute under which Hovind was convicted. That is a classic tax protester error in constructing arguments.

Of course, I have not studied the whole thing so maybe it does work, somehow.  I really wish these people would communicate in writing which is much more effective for laying out legal arguments.

Field Temporarily Abandoned To The Opposition

As it happens now if you want to find out about the video you are stuck with Robert Baty's site - the one Hovindicators love to hate.  Creation Science Evangelism is no longer supporting the video.  You can read Baty's theories on the subject if you want, but I think I have the straight dope from Ernie Land who wrote me.

Brady Byrum interviewed Dr. Kent Hovind intensively for weeks as an investigative reporter. After getting all the facts relating to Dr. Hovind’s case Brady Byrum has prepared a very well researched DVD series proving with case law Dr. Hovind’s innocence. The timing could not be more perfect as it seems this election has proven American’s have awaken to the excessive abuse in Politics,  Government and in our Judicial system as well. Many of us felt the Judge was very biased and even overreached in an effort to discriminate against Christians. The DVD series Kent Hovind Innocent revels all those abuses with case law and the real reason codes were made in Congress to prove Dr. Hovind’s innocence. The Ministry and Creation Science Evangelism appreciates Brady exposing these truths. With that said we however do not wish to put Dr. Hovind in jeopardy and have made a decision to have Brady market any production third party to us.

Another development that may or may not be related is that freekenthovind.com is down.  Ernie did not have any information on that.  He told me that he knows somebody who knows somebody who runs the site, but that is it.

Kent Hovind SJ

The final thing is what the title is based on.  Bryan Delinger of King James Video Ministries has launched quite a vitriolic attack on Kent Hovind.  "Kent Hovind's Vow Of Poverty And Ecumenical Agenda"

At nearly an hour and a half it is a major lifespan investment.  A couple of key points are at 47:29 where they cite a letter that introduces this report from Jesuits Midwest finding special significance in this paragraph:

The word companions carries a special meaning for Jesuits. When founding our Order, Saint Ignatius wanted his group to be known as the Company of Jesus (synonymous with Society of Jesus). The root of company refers to people who share bread—an ancient symbol of life—mission,and community. And so our company extends beyond Jesuits and the leaders of Jesuit works to include students and alumni, parishioners and retreatants, those who are fed by Ignatian spirituality and who help heal a world in need. Together, let us look to the past with gratitude for all we have accomplished in building the Kingdom of God! 

At 55:27 Catherine (or it could be Katherine) starts discussing a very interesting document that "the Lord gave her". If you pay attention, I'll show you the mysterious way in which the Lord worked this time.  The document is Form 990, the disclosure form that not for profits file, of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester Mass - Choo, choo rah, rah

She probably spends a bit more time on it than she needs to.  The point is to show that the Jesuits who work at Holy Cross don't get paid individually.

Which brings us to 1:05:00 where they discuss an article on forbes.com - Minister's Vow of Poverty Does Not Beat Income Tax - And Kent Hovind Update by Peter J. Reilly who has "openly admitted to being a Jesuit"

The source for the admission is a comment I made on a previous video they did on Kent Hovind in which I said that by their standards I might be a Jesuit, since they consider anybody who has ever attended a Jesuit school to be a Jesuit alongside the people, like Kent Hovind, whose subtle Jesuiticalness needs to be teased out.

Socrates Must Die

The latter is the point of the video which essentially boils down to Kent Hovind took a vow of poverty.  Jesuits take vows of poverty.  Therefore Kent Hovind is a Jesuit. Anybody who knows that Socrates had to die, can recognize the fallacy of the undistributed middle there. Of course, there is more to it. Kent also uses the term ecumenical in referring to his ministry - another sure sign he is a Jesuit.

 In the process of laying out the argument, they provide a lot of interesting information on how Catholic clergy are compensated and the difference between clergy who are members of orders and those who are not.  You are probably  not going to find many people who know a good bit about Catholic clergy compensation and Kent Hovind, so it is not surprising they cite me as an authority.  They may be people who believe preposterous things but they believe them in a very thorough manner, so I do feel a bit flattered.

And any time somebody gives that much attention to one of my posts, I've got to show some appreciation.  I should note that my post includes a link to the Holy Cross 990, which I think makes it likely that I was the instrument the Lord used to show the document to Catherine.  Just saying.

Still I really enjoyed the video and really like Bryan and Catherine Denliger. On their website, they lay out their beliefs and values and they seem to follow through.  A couple of high points.

King James Is It

 The KJV was translated by a superior technique that guaranteed accuracy. There were 47 of Europe’s most brilliant scholars to work on the translation, and each book of the Bible had to pass through 7 different tests before it would be accepted as scripture. Many of the new versions of the twentieth century were written by only one or two men! The KJV was also translated at a time of much higher moral purity. Unlike the new versions of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Our belief in the perfect authority of the KING JAMES VERSION enables us to speak God’s truth to ANYONE at any time without being dishonest. (Matthew 7:28-29) It is a sad fact that MANY pastors and Christians call their bible “God’s word” and yet in their heart they do not believe that it is without error. ( 1 John 5:10-13) This leads to what Jesus referred to as a “hypocrite”. (Read Matthew 23) If you do not have a perfect Bible, then you do not have a perfect God and Saviour!!

Male Authority in the Church and Home

 We do NOT believe in Female pastors because of the clear teaching against it in the bible. 1 Timothy 3:1-2a says, “This is a true saying, If a MAN desire the office of a bishop, HE desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the HUSBAND of one wife....” 1 Timothy 3:4 also says “his” twice and verse 5 says “man”, “his”, and “he”. The bible also says in 1 Timothy 2:11-12, “Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 plainly states, “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”
            We believe that God has ordained the man to be the head of the home, and NOT the woman. (1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:33, & 1 Peter 3:1-7)
Modest apparel for women
        We believe that women should dress in a way that they do not draw attention to themselves. As Christians, both men and women should seek to bring glory to God with our lives. The bible tells women how they ought to dress. (1 Peter 3:3-4 & 1 Timothy 2:9-10) Dressing “modestly” is not only pleasing in God’s sight, but is also a way to gain more respect from men in the world. When women dress provocatively it says something about their character. It has been well said, “If you are not in business, then don’t advertize!” We believe that men should dress and act like men, and women should dress and act like women. There should be a clear distinction between the two.

I have to say as youtube performers they model this very well.  Catherine is dressed very modestly,  Bryan does most of the talking with her standing there and nodding.  When she does speak, she appears quite chagrined when he corrects her.  From other videos, I think they have been married a year or two.  It will be interesting to watch this evolve.

YEC Of Course

We reject the theory of Evolution as an unscientific system of religious belief. (Romans 1:20-25) We believe that God “created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9) We believe in the literal account of Genesis 1. We also reject the “Gap theory” as well as the “Day-age theory”. The bible teaching of creation lines up perfectly with the known laws of science, (things were good in the beginning, and get worse with age) whereas the theory of evolution goes against this established FACT of science by teaching that everything gets BETTER with time. This is not true of the natural world, and it is not true of the spiritual world either! (1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:1-7, & 4:3-4)

The firm belief in young earth creationism makes it really hard for Bryan to call out Kent Hovind.


 Tax Consistency

On the donate page, you get this.

If you wish to make a donation to King James Video Ministries, you must realize that your donation is a "gift" and is NOT tax deductible. This ministry is NOT a 501c3 organization.

I really admire that approach to the state/church problems that are raised for churches, by our current system.

Kent Hovind As A Jesuit

Accusations that Kent Hovind is a a Jesuit are, of course, beyond preposterous.  Nonetheless I reached out to a couple of my favorite Hovindicators for comment.  Ernie Land wrote me

OK. I guess because you interviewed Kent you got him to join the organization. I find this one laughable. I guess a “vow of poverty” is for Catholicism only and as such a term none other can use.

Rudy Davis who is singled out in the video as being particularly wicked wrote me.

Yes, part of me wants to apologize on behalf of Christians everywhere... although I am not really sure if they are indeed Christians but unfortunately I do suspect that they are Christians.... anyway I refer to their stupidity at about 30 mins into the video below at the bottom.

I am sure that many people think I go overboard in my conspiracy views, I do try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt before labeling them part of some greater conspiracy.

I really thinking Rudy was a little out of line when he says "his wife looks like an Amish cult member".  Rudy takes exception to me referring to his youtube work as "a performance", but I use that term in a neutral sense to characterize the way he comes across, which I really appreciate.


In some ways I think Bryan Denlinger is the New England version of Rudy Davis

Me As A Jesuit 

I think it got started because when I heard Rudy Davis bad mouthing the Jesuits.  Because of that, when I interviewed Ernie Land

I told him that I thought highly of Jesuits and that I had eight years of Jesuit education (Xavier High School in Manhattan Class of 1970 and College of the Holy Cross in Worcester Mass Class of 1974).  In a subsequent interview on God's Property Radio, Ernie translated this into my having been a Jesuit for eight years. So I found it amusing when Bryan Denlinger started in on Kent and Ernie's Jesuit connections.

But really I am not a Jesuit. I wrote to Bryan Denlinger but have not heard back from him  I suggested three possibilities.  One is that, in his view, the mind control techniques of the Jesuits are so powerful that there are thousands of people like me, who are Jesuits without being aware of it.  The second is that Bryan thinks I am a liar.  The third is that he is mistaken about me being a Jesuit.

The funny thing is that I have been doing a series about my high school days.  High school had much more direct Jesuit influence than college did. I have seen comments from my classmates to the effect that they learned tolerance, open mindedness and compassion from the Jesuits, but I think I may have come to them, to the extent I have,  from other influences like my parents, the Boy Scouts and a saint like curate in our parish, Father Charles McTague, who went on to be moderately famous.  Ironically Father McTague flunked out of Xavier.  Go figure.  But I do think those values were reinforced by the school.

Oddly enough, my memories of the military side of the school are much more vivid.  I would say that you might make a better case that Xavier made me a soldier rather than a Jesuit, but of course there is no case for the soldier either.

So it would be nice to hear if Bryan thinks I am flat out lying when I say I am not a Jesuit.  I'll still like him regardless.  I'd love to have a get together at my house some time with Rudy Davis and Bryan Denlinger and Ernie Land and the wives.  I don't think my covivant would go for it though.

So the bottom line is that I'm not a Jesuit and neither is Kent Hovind.  And I think Rudy should really apologize for that Amish crack about Mrs. Denlinger.

_______________________________________________________________________
Peter J Reilly CPA is not now nor has he ever been a Jesuit.

Kent Hovind Accused Of Jesuit Vatican And CIA Infuence

Kent Hovind, being a Young Earth Creationist, is a believer in conspiracy theories.  YEC and conspiracy theories fit well together, because acceptance of YEC requires acceptance of a pretty far-reaching conspiracy implicating not just the life scientists who accept evolution, but also geologists and astronomers.

Jesuits To The Left Of Them, Jesuits To The Right Of Them

Sometimes Kent's supporters will think that I am part of the conspiracy.  When I interviewed Ernie Land, I gave him a hard time about the comments that were made by Hovindicators concerning Jesuits.  Growing up in the metro New York area, the brightest boy in every parochial grammar school would likely end up in one of the five Jesuit high schools in the region - the really bright ones ending up at Regis which was free.  I went to Xavier High School and followed on with the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester Mass, making me rather fond of Jesuits.

Anyway, my defense of the Society of Jesus, somehow translated into my having been a Jesuit for eight years, which would be like me claiming to be a Vietnam veteran, because our Junior ROTC program at Xavier had active duty soldiers just back from Vietnam on the faculty.

So I got a good laugh when Bryan Denlinger of King James Video Ministries accused Kent Hovind and Ernie Land of somehow being tied up with the Jesuits. Bryan's conspiracy meanderings are rather difficult to follow and unravel.  He talks about Ernie mentioning a company, which translates into Company and bingo the CIA is involved.

Doctor Dino Loses A Fan

Bryan seems like a nice enough guy and he is pained to have to reject Dr. Hovind, whose teachings he has valued,  And the reason he is doing that is because of Ernie, who has been involved in multi-level marketing.

The other reason I find this video irresistible is that it uses this very blog as a resource early in citing my post - Ernie Land, Kent Hovind's BFF, Comments On The Trial  .  All that they use it for are to establish that Ernie and Kent are buds, which is hardly a great revelation.  As an investigative reporter, I make a pretty good tax return preparer. I thought it was touching that Mrs. Denlinger had to explain to her husband what BFF stood for. (Best Friend Forever, for the texting challenged)

You can see comments from Ernie Land (Docfogg) , Rudy Davis (Lonestar1776) and George Lujack in the comments section, making it something of a Hovindication reunion site.

The Word From Ernie

Anyway, I thought this would be a good occasion to catch up with Ernie.  I interviewed him about a year ago in the midst of the run-up to Kent's last trial.  One of the things that Ernie and I had discussed was whether Kent might become what I have taken to calling "conventionally tax compliant".  I came up with that term to allow for the fact that there are people out there who believe that they are not breaking any laws, because they believe that the tax laws do not really apply to them or hardly anybody for that matter.

Well a year later, having beaten additional charges by a combination of conventional legal work and a bit of jury nullification, it seems like Kent may be headed in that direction.  Donations, not tax deductible, and other revenue from Kent's ministry is going to a Nevada corporation Creation Science Evangelism, Inc. which is owned by Ernie Land.  CSE is paying Kent and will be sending him a 1099.  Here is how Ernie describes the arrangement

Today, Kent Hovind is retired. He still travels and speaks on Creation, the flood, and now, ends times. He is a paid consultant, and speaker for Creation Science Evangelism, Inc.(CSE), a company, I formed, and have ownership of. CSE has royalty agreements on materials Kent Hovind has created, and continues to create. We are a for profit Corporation, and have hopes to for a not for profit to develop an education series on creation, the flood, and end times, as well as a park,  or campus, built around the science of these things, very futuristic. I am advising Kent to focus on these 3 areas in his speaking. He has the Constitutional right to speak out on any subject he wishes. He does speak on his utube official site about many of the atrocities America has fallen into, and yes, many are political, but again that is his freedom of speech being exercised.  Additionally, I have advised Kent to follow the C.P.A.’s advice on any tax filing, if it is even necessary due to his vow of poverty, and retirement. Most speaking engagements are in Churches, where people who give love offerings give to the Church who then makes payment to CSE, which covers his travel expenses and allows him to consult on projects CSE will develop in the future. Kent lives in a Pastoral home, owned by another Ministry, in his original location in Pensacola. Kent has produced dozens of seminars and books, which is where the royalty comes from that covers his day to day needs.  He educates people on Bible Creation and advances the cause of Christ with his dedicated works.

That other ministry is Creation Today, which is run by Kent's son Eric.  I get the sense that Kent's team is doing its best to keep him focused on creation and "end times".  In other catching up, Ernie tells me that Rudy Davis is back to his day job, which accounts, I would think, for his lower youtube productivity of late.

CSE is using a Top 25 regional CPA firm, which is probably the right fit if the enterprise is going to scale up.  There are some complicated issues to consider, like multi-state and the wise thing to do would be to be meticulous in compliance, which requires a good size firm.  On the other hand they probably would have a hard time with a large national.

Ernie does have an answer to Bryan's criticism of him.

I have no connections to the C.I.A., the Illuminati, the Jesuit’s, the Vatican, and never joined the Masons. I am a Bible believing, confessing Christian, raised as a Southern Baptist. Big Pharma doesn’t have any affection for me, because my Pharmacy (not insurance, but discount only) discount cards, actually reduce the cost of most medications at participating Pharmacies, and I freely give them away to anyone who has a need. I had to word that last sentence properly for legal reasons. It was MLM, and I do believe that business model is the best business model in free enterprise. I love that business because I have many testimonies where our senior citizens had to choose between needed medications and food prior to using my free card. The Bioperformance/Lowell Mims scam story being shared is a half lie. Yes, Bioperformance was attacked by the Texas AG, now Texas Governor, as a scam. The product proved to be a viable product in the Houston E.P.A. certified Lab under F.T.P., as lowering harmful emissions, and H.F.E.T., as increasing fuel economy, in these E.P.A. testing protocols. This  lead to a settlement by Texas, after which I started and owned, BPI Worldwide, a MLM company, marketing that very product. We had moderate success, but the negative public opinion stopped any real momentum. Lowell Mims, a Texas Evangelist, never recovered his reputation due to the public never being informed of the facts on this case. Lowell, like Kent is a very good, and Godly man.

Can't We All Just Get Along

You might think that people who believe that pretty much all the answers to life's questions can be found in one book - in the case of Kent and his more in sorrow than anger critic Bryan Denlinger that would be the King James version of the Bible, which they consider to be God's revelation to the English-speaking peoples -would be able to sort things out, but apparently it is not the case.

Kent has also been getting a lot of heat from believers in flat earth and geocentrism.

I think the problem is the tendency to think that people who don't agree with you must be either evil or deluded.  The Hovindicators tend to think that Robert Baty is getting substantial government support.  I mean the guy has a facebook page.  Really.  It is pretty thorough, but don't you think someone with unlimited money from the federal reserve could do a little better?

Anyway, it was nice to chat with Ernie again and I am glad that Kent is likely going to be conventional in his approach to taxes.  I'm thinking that I might go up to Maine to visit with Denlingers some time, but, you know, it's tax season, so I have to spend a lot of time at the day job.  The Jesuits seem to be focusing on getting Donald Trump elected.  Trump went to Fordham for two years.

I guess that's why they haven't been sending me any money.


Peter  J Reilly CPA writes on taxes for fobes.com, which leaves him little time to devote to Your Tax Matters Partner.  When reading the bible, he tends to favor the King James Version because it sounds so, you know, biblical.  He attributes his career in public accounting to poor guidance at Xavier High School, which taught him many valuable lessons and exposed him to many inspiring men, who for the most part knew jack shit about business.