Saturday, March 5, 2016

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.









20 comments:

  1. I can like Kent the person, but I dislike Kent the guy who speaks about things which are demonstrably wrong. It was Kent who caused me to solidify my feeling about fundamentalist Protestant thought regarding creationism: "If you're going to tell me something that is demonstrably wrong about the physical universe (and creationists do this so much), then why should I believe you when you tell me you know the way to salvation. That's right. I shouldn't." But then again, my problem is that I refuse to take a book that was written by fallible humans and translated by fallible humans as the ultimate judge for life, the universe and everything. This is what Kent does, what Ken Ham does, and most Young Earth Creationists do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kent is speaking English without a translator in a Russian Baptist church in Pennsylvania today. Perhaps they have better assimilated.

    His performances are streaming live.

    I just caught the last 5 minutes or so of this morning's performance which ended with him letting the locals there in on what he has yet to reveal to his YouTube audience (as far as I have heard).

    That is, he is now claiming that if he can get 10,000 people to write a certain letter to a certain person/organization/location, then he can get his 2006 convictions overturned, buy guns again, and buy those guns with just a small part of the millions in damages he will be awarded for false imprisonment.

    Kent tells those folks to keep an eye on FreeKentHovind.com for details later this month.

    So we wait!

    Here's the link if you want to catch Kent's later performances today:

    http://www.christianworldmedia.com/livechannel/radvest

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter Reilly needs to find better friends. You should denounce Robert Baty immediately and help us report him to facebook and the FBI for his atrocious behavior.

      Robert Baty is constantly harassing children/teenagers and adults on the internet and has been reported to facebook many times for his stalking and harassment.

      It is assumed his criminal behavior can be found in 18 U.S. Code § 2261A - Stalking

      Robert Baty's intent is to cause psychological damage by means of harassment and intimidation via the internet. This is not good Robert.

      Delete
    2. And so it continues that one of the anonymous Kent's Kowards makes another appearance to provide some cover for Kent's own Kowardice in refusing to face me and deal with his false legal narrative while occasionally taking public pot shots at me.

      Thanks for the continuing demonstration and that one of Kent's apparent goals in life is to quash my free speech rights and personally or through surrogates make false and/or misleading claims about me instead of accepting his personal responsibility for his criminal activities and the sending of his wife to prison.

      Kent, come out, or send your Champion.
      We have things to talk about.

      See:

      https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=768547809946557&id=339508739517135
      (Currently 43 propositions to work with!)

      Delete
    3. Free Speech?

      You don't have the freedom to stalk, harass and intimidate children and teenagers on the internet.

      Delete
    4. Heck, you don't have the freedom to stalk or harass anyone according to 18 U.S. Code § 2261A - Stalking which looks like you are in hardcore violation of.

      Again, not good Robert... Peter Reilly of Forbes.com is associated with an internet stalker and harasser - that's not good at all.

      Delete
    5. Kent's Kowards are so Kute as they pop in, pop off, and then run off; refusing to allow me to face my accuser(s) and rebut the claims, as if Kent and his Kowards had anything to support their Klaims.

      Maybe we can add those charges to the propositions and work down to those issues in due time, as there is interest, and as the negotiations are completed.

      Kent, come out, come clean, or send me your Champion.
      We have things to discuss.

      Delete
    6. Don't worry baty boy. I've submitted all the info to the right people who I hope will put up all the evidence showing you are in violation of 18 U.S. Code § 2261A

      Hold on to your seat.

      Peter Reilly may want to put out an article denouncing you before he gets tied into the bad publicity that's about to hit the fan.

      Delete
    7. OK, here's Proposition #44 in the Kent Hovind Challenge, courtesy of Kent's Koward above.

      https://www.facebook.com/339508739517135/photos/a.426330797501595.1073741828.339508739517135/785468391587832/?type=3&theater

      Proposition #44

      Peter J, Reilly, Forbes contributor is
      associated with Internet stalker and
      harasser Robert Baty.

      Kent Hovind: Affirm
      Robert Baty: Deny

      -------------------------------------------------

      Delete
    8. Well, if Kent and I agree to take up that proposition I will be looking forward to his first affirmative and, just maybe, how he makes the case against me using 18 USC 2261A.

      Bwahahahahahaha!

      Alternatively, I'll settle for Kent's Koward's promised publicity and attempted demonstration (if there be anything more than ipse dixits) from other sources.

      Delete
    9. In addition to Kent's Kowards, there are also those known as Hovind Hypocrites, of which Kent is Chief.

      Using their definition of what constitutes harassment, we can see Kent and his people dedicating their lives to harassing any critic or government official involved in his cases.

      Today's prime example is how they take into Loretta Lynch at:

      http://freekenthovind.com/2016/03/05/loretta-lynch-proof-she-is-a-terrorists-best-friend-and-hates-america/

      Delete
    10. Again,
      You harass children and teenagers on the internet. You stalk children and teenagers and try to intimidate them.

      Babble all you want like the goat you are.

      The fact of the matter is that you are an internet stalker that looks to be in violation of 18 U.S. Code § 2261A

      That's it.

      Babble all you want.

      You stalk children on the internet.

      Delete
    11. Kent's Koward can keep repeating false and/or misleading claims about me, and it is one of those things that validates their label of also being Hovind Hypocrites for Kent and his Kind often times claim that some people think that the more times a lie is told the more likely it is to be believed.

      Kent lies.
      Kent's Kowards lie.

      I am long-suffering and my challenge remains for Kent or his Champion to accept, come out, and begin the negotiations for the production of a proper exchange of ideas regarding Kent's legal narrative which I propose is false.

      See:

      https://www.facebook.com/Kent-Hovind-and-Jo-Hovind-v-USA-IRS-339508739517135/

      Delete
  3. It's OK with me, Peter.

    Feel free to save yourself from the wrath promised by Kent's Koward that is to come.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Erin, or Anonymous as you call yourself today, will you be handing all your evidence over to Hansen so he can hold his Denny's Common Law Court of Record against Robert? I need to know as soon as possible, as the IRS has payed me a fine retainer to represent him at. Sould Hansen get a conviction, we'll be immediatly filing with the Waffle House Common Law Court of Apeals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was hoping that someone else might bring up such things.

      Kent and his Kind (i.e., Hansen and his Common Law Court prosecutors) know they have no legal basis for trying to prosecute any charges against me under 18 USC 2261A.

      Except they first condemn themselves!

      Bwahahahahaha!

      18 USC 2261A (excerpt)

      - Whoever is present within the special maritime
      - and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,
      - or enters or leaves Indian country...

      Bwahahahahahaha!

      Of course, if they want to admit their sovcit theology is false and try to prosecute their charges against me legitimately, I say bring it on.

      Proposition

      Peter J, Reilly, Forbes contributor is
      associated with Internet stalker and
      harasser, as defined by 18 U.S.C. 2261A,
      Robert Baty.

      Kent Hovind: Affirm
      Robert Baty: Deny

      Bwahahahahahaha!

      Delete
  5. Erin, you are so stupid about the law thst is is not even funny! Go take your pink pop gun, your goofy husband with your truck that says death to the new world order so the other Texans can laugh at you guys!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Talk about being an Internet stalker Erin! You are the one who posted on the internet calling me a troll after I simply attended a Kent Komedy hour in Dallas! Look in a mirror to see someone that abuses the Internet!

    ReplyDelete
  7. If it is Erinymous posting then I hope she is not too worried by her husband's threatening harassing of the judge and lawyers in Kent's trials. The Feds seem to be starting to take a rather dim view of such behaviour. They might even get round to thinking of confiscating Erin's lipstick-coordinated arms cache because of the threateningly vicious and seditious comments she and her husband have made about the President.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Threaty impotence and ignorance...the very portrait of our anonymous hypocritical friend. I'm not so sure about the emotional balance and questionable grip on reality either. I'm sure you just scare the bejeezus out of Robert. You betcha!

    If I were a head doctor, which I'm not, I'd think a regular healthy dose of happy pills were in order for poor Erin. Also some remedial Bible learning. See she thinks Gawd needs her help to bring her idea of justice to the world. Yeah, that kind of overblown ego seems to be indicated.

    ReplyDelete