Kent Hovind

Ed Brayton (cynic@net-link.net)
Sun, 12 Apr 1998 15:41:56 -0400

Bill Payne wrote:
>
> Ed Brayton wrote:
>
> > I'm sure Kent is a nice guy. I've spoken to him on the phone a few times
> > and he is pleasant enough. But the absolute nonsense that he shovels out
> > in his seminars, videos and writings speaks for itself. He has made all
> > of the following claims in his seminars:

> [...snip]
>
> You completely ignored my question about moving the 20,000 ton stone,
> Ed. Why is it that when you are presented with evidence supporting
> Kent's statement, you ignore the evidence and broaden your attack?
> Here's the paragraph again; this time please speak to the issue
> described below. How did those dim-witted cave men cut 100-ton
> irregular blocks around their entire cicumference to < 1/64-inch
> tolerance, and how did they move a 20,000 ton stone?
>
> > > "In the ancient city of Sacsahuaman, near the city of Cuzco, Peru, there
> > > is a magnificent wall built by the Incas, deliberately using irregularly
> > > shaped blocks of stone. Some of the blocks weigh as much as 100 tonnes
> > > and are so accurately fitted together that still today it is not
> > > possible to insert a piece of paper in the joints between the blocks.
> > > Even more incredible, however, is a larger stone block in the area. The
> > > size of a five-storey house and weighing an estimated 20,000 tonnes, the
> > > builders of Sacsahuaman could, and somehow did, move this block! The
> > > feat of moving such a staggering weight has never been attempted, let
> > > alone duplicated, with modern machinery. Even the largest crane in the
> > > world today is capable of lifting only about 3,000 tonnes." (Rene
> > > Noorbergin, _Secrets of the Lost Races: New Discoveries of Advanced
> > > Technology in Ancient Civilizations_, Norcom Pub. Co., TN, 1977, cited
> > > in Donald Chittick, _The Puzzle of Ancient Man_, Creation Compass,
> > > 1997. Quoted here from "Creation ex nihilo", Vol. 20 no. 2, March-May,
> > > 1998, p 13)
> > >
> > > Bill Payne

There are several problems with this. First, it is not at all evident
why this supports Hovind's claim. Such things are also cited as evidence
for the Van Daniken Alien scenario as well. Second, it does not deal
with the Egyptian pyramids, which was the specific claim made. Third,
this area (often referred to as "pyramidiocy") is rife with
exaggerations and outright fabrications. Fourth, the sources of the
claim are quite suspect. The original source is Rene Noorbergin, who is
something of a joke in archaeology circles and has been known to pass
off laughable claims as well supported. The secondary source, Donald
Chittick, is of about the same stock even in young earth creationist
circles. Chittick STILL uses the Lucy's knee joint story, apparently so
ignorant of the facts that he hasn't even bothered to look at a picture
of the Lucy skeleton - he would notice that the skeleton doesn't even
have knees). So he is hardly adept at checking out the accuracy of a
claim before presenting it. It's going to take an awful lot more than
this little snippet to support the claim that men were smarter and
stronger "before the flood", like showing that the civilizations that
built these astounding structures were killed off by that alleged flood,
for starters. How did that thriving Egyptian civilization that built
those pyramids manage to just go about their merry way with no
interruption in their culture while they were all being killed off in a
global flood? The Egyptian civilization doesn't just suddenly stop in
2400 b.c.. There are continuous cultural records from this civilization
and many others. The cultures that thrived at the time don't just
suddenly stop.

I've got a great idea. Why don't you get your buddy Kent to support some
of the absurd claims that I listed for you *in writing*? We can explore
all of these issues in great detail. Or you can do it yourself if you
think that you can support the claims with evidence. I've got a huge
list of whoppers from Hovind that should be great fun to discuss in
detail. That Egyptian civilization is a good place to start, I reckon.
Hovind even implies that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built by Noah and
Shem. I would LOVE to see him try and support that one.

Ed