Dr. Hovind (E): Evolution is a religion, not part of science.

E. Evolution does not postulate a creator. It offers no guide to moral living. It has neither a temple of worship nor a priesthood. It contains no sacred dogma. Dr. Hovind, how in the world do you turn it into a religion?

"Scientific creationism" has been proven in a court of law to be nothing more than a thinly veiled religion. U.S. District Court Judge William R. Overton in 1982 ruled unconstitutional an Arkansas law which tried to sneak Genesis into the schools under the guise of science. Let me quote Ronald Ecker to sum up a few of Judge Overton's points.

In finding for the plaintiffs, Overton, drawing heavily from the experts' courtroom testimony, gave no quarter to the creationist defense. "Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology," he wrote, and any student deprived of instruction "as to the prevailing scientific thought" on such topics as the age of the earth, geology, and relationships among living things "will be deprived of a significant part of science education." Science, Overton said, is defined as that which is "accepted by the scientific community"; science is "what scientists do," and "creation science" as defined in Act 590 "is simply not science." ... The creationists' two-model approach is "a contrived dualism which has no scientific factual basis or legitimate educational purpose." (Ecker, 1990, pp.137-138)

Evolution meets all the criteria of a good science; scientific creationism fails as science. In the U. S. Supreme Court case of Edwards v. Aguillard a remarkable friend-of-court brief was submitted by 71 Nobel laureates, seventeen state academies of science, and seven other scientific organizations which exposed "scientific creationism" as a fraud. I know of no other document of belief supported by so many Nobel prizewinners!

Let's compare real science to "scientific" creationism.

1. Real scientists, as did Darwin, usually spend some time pointing out the possible weaknesses they see in their theories. Creationists usually minimize or ignore the weaknesses in their theories unless the cat is out of the bag.

2. Real scientists publish scientific literature, which can be very unorthodox, in refereed journals. Creationists, apparently having nothing much to say to the scientific community, write for the layman. They have found it necessary to publish their ideas in special "creationist journals" because none of the hundreds of legitimate scientific journals find their work acceptable.

3. Real scientists are quick to criticize their colleagues if they suspect an error. (Remember the cold fusion flap?) Creationists have a fortress mentality, and they are quick to circle their wagons. To admit error is considered bad form among creationists, and most of them must literally be smoked out before admitting any errors whatsoever.

4. Real scientists are quick to test promising ideas (however unorthodox) and those which don't pan out quickly disappear from the literature. Creationist arguments having serious errors, including arguments based solely on obsolete data, circulate indefinitely in the creationist literature.

5. Real scientists are often involved in meaningful laboratory and field work. Creationists spend most of their time combing through books and technical journals for quotes with which to snipe at evolution. When they're not doing that they can usually be found out on the stump drumming up support among the uneducated public.

6. Real scientists base their theories on the available evidence. Creationists take their science straight from the Bible. Many creationist leaders have publically stated, often in print, that any evidence at variance with the Bible should be rejected out of hand.

7. No self-respecting scientist would ever think of signing an oath of allegiance to Darwinism as a condition for employment. Many creationist societies actually require a "loyalty oath" which is tantamount to an admission that their minds are closed!

8. Real scientists gather facts for the purpose of testing their ideas. Creationists gather facts to prop up their preconceived ideas.

9. All good scientists admit that they might be wrong, at least in principle, that absolute certainty is not part of science. Except for trivial details, creationists cannot conceive of the possibility that they are in error as that would take down their concept of biblical inerrancy.

10. Not one of the great universities, where real science is done and advanced, takes creationism seriously. Those few "universities" where creationism is featured have either failed to get full accreditation or have done so only through the pulling of political strings. What discoveries have they made? Name their Nobel laureates!

11. Scientists build upon numerous findings accumulated over the years, and only then are great revolutionary breakthroughs achieved. Creationists fancy that they are in the process of overthrowing biology, geology, astronomy, anthropology, linguistics, paleontology, archaeology, oceanography, cosmology, physics, and numerous other branches of science. Some creationists (the flat-earth societies) would add the "grease-ball" theory of round-earth geography to that list.