Be wary of newspaper reports

One of the lessons we have learned over the years is to be very wary of any newspaper report, as many reporters have the habit of not only giving misinformation but injecting their own agenda into their stories. Take this quote from a newpaper report from Northern Ireland about the creation/evolution issue in the U.S.:

“In America, Christian fundamentalists succeeded in banning the teaching of evolution from US public schools in the 1960s. However, following high-profile court cases, it was ruled that intelligent design was not science and contravened the constitutional restriction on teaching religion in public school science classes.”

The above paragraph is conflating many different events and issues ... I don’t know of any states that passed laws in the 1960s “banning the teaching of evolution.” Mostly likely there were unenforced laws on the books of some states at the time. Such as:

In 1968 the Supreme Court overturned Arkansas’ anti-evolution law (adopted in 1928) in Epperson v. Arkansas.

Most of the legal battles had their origin in the 1970s but were not brought to the courts until the 1980s. The following trials were over allowing alternative views (i.e., creation) to be taught:

1. Segraves v. the California State Board of Education, 1981
2. McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, 1982
3. Edwards v. Aquillard, 1987 (I believe Louisiana’s law was signed on the day McLean v. Arkansas was struck down!)

There were other lawsuits, especially in the early 90s, but nothing about banning evolution. Think about how the media claimed evolution was being banned in Kansas, Ohio, and Dover, Pennsylvania, when there was NO such ban. Sadly we see the same poor reporting of facts in the Belfast paper article! You can read the entire article at:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/article2999003.ece

NOW I KNOW GOD IS REAL

It was thrilling yesterday when a student told me how his family and another family and a teenage guest visited the Creation Museum recently. Two 13-year-old boys were in this group—both brought up in the church. After going through the museum and then watching the powerful Last Adam program (a three screen video presentation that presents the gospel), one of the boys said, “For the first time I understand what it means that Jesus is the lamb of God.” The other boy told him, “Now I know that God is real.”

Praise the Lord for such testimonies. By the way, the Creation Museum attendance is now over 207,000.

AiG CEMENTED MY FAITH

Here is part of a testimony we received from a college professor this week:

“Your materials and listening to Ken Ham in the early days of the Answers in Genesis not only cemented my faith in the Genesis-literal-6-day creation account, but also showed me the importance of building everything else on that foundation. Answers in Genesis also gave me the launching pad that I needed for many materials in my teaching ministry. When I was a college student, how I wish I could have had access to your wonderful library! The only apology I could give evolutionistic professors was my belief in God’s word. Obviously that is enough for me, but how I wish I could have made a better defense for my faith and truth! Every day as a college science professor, I lean on the Lord to do just this for my student! I want my students to be well-versed and educated and able to give clear science-backed answers for their faith.”

We had a great time at Grace College this week. I sincerely thank Dr. Don DeYoung (a professor at Grace) and his creation group at the college for getting me invited to be the chapel speaker for two days and for the two public meetings. There are very few creationist Christian colleges in the world—and I just praise the Lord for the fact that this school is one of them. Yesterday I spent time speaking with some of the profs from the seminary at Grace—they all take a literal, six-day, young-earth position. I would encourage you to consider Grace College for your students when you are looking for a college. Grace College is one of the few Christian colleges we allow to advertise in Answers magazine.

Not only did I speak to the college students at Grace College, but a large number of students from local Christian schools and homeschools also attended the chapels. Both public meetings were extremely well attended (see the photographs in my previous blog).

Mally and I drive to Indianapolis today. Before we leave, we are going to visit the Billy Sunday Museum. Billy Sunday was a famous evangelist. We are staying in a bed and breakfast just a “stone’s throw” from the tabernacle where Billy Sunday used to preach. Apparently he was a very colorful character.

Please pray for the meeting in Indianapolis tonight at Indianapolis Baptist Temple.

On Sunday, I travel to Dallas, Texas, to speak to hundreds of pastors at the National Nouthetic Counselors Conference (NANC).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying.

Ken