Eden Prairie, one of the Minneapolis suburbs, is getting a visit from that piglet-lovin’ fella, Ken Ham on 29-30 April, at Grace Church. My calendar is actually free that weekend, so far. I’m tempted to crash the event and witness the lies firsthand, unless something more entertaining comes up, like a prostate exam or a tax audit.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Are churches so eager to hear lies that they can’t get Ham with his lies (don’t play the “he’s sincere” card to excuse it, he has no reason to be sincere about something so egregiously wrong unless he’s simply dedicated to untruth, which he seems to be) for another six months or so?
I’m suspecting that the answer is “Yes.”
Glen Davidson
Was clicking around on that conference page, and came across THIS remark by a female speaker (Dr. Georgia Purdom (http://www.answersingenesis.org/outreach/answers-for-women/):
“As a scientist, I have experienced firsthand the reliability of the Bible”
Naturally, that made me wonder what kind of scientist she is. Couldn’t find it, but she has a blog. Latest entry was about horrible sexism (something about a Klondike commercial).
To remedy sexism she points to the Bible: “But the Bible is the great equalizer when it comes to men and women.”.
She even went so far as to point to Paul! *cough cough*
“Paul gave specific instructions to husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church”.
What church did Christ love? The one that Paul later founded?
It’s SO pathetic that these people, speakers at conferences, clearly never have READ the Bible (quoting, of all people, PAUL, when addressing sexism?), nor have a clue what it’s all about (Jesus loved his CHURCH?)!
You have plenty of time to get these things taken care of before the Hamster comes to town. And be sure and get those bottles back to the store, and all the tags cut off your mattresses. You don’t want any other demands on your time.
I would want to go. But I feel like what would start out as humor over his primitive comprehension of the world would quickly turn into anger and frustration as I saw people believing the shit spewing from his mouth. The more I think about it, I’d rather step on a Lego.
Also I just noticed there is an add for a Christian college on FTB. That just made.
1. Glen Davidson
Ken Ham is not overbooked. Mode of transport is ark.
I think it would be absolutely wonderful for the Hamster to have a surprise audience. The only problem is that PZ tends to get kicked out of movie theaters. I can’t imagine that a church would be more receptive.
When you do go (pretty please), find some way to take us along. Your phone has a camera, surely.
Every Ken Ham audience needs at least one squad of rational people who will burst into ill-controlled giggles at each lie and absurdity, and another that will snort, mutter “False!” “Lie!” “Wrong again!” and glare.
Please go.
And bring him a blow-up piglet. That might help save a few poor porkers from him. At least until it wears out.
“As a scientist I have experienced first-hand the reality of the bible” can only mean that some more enlightened scientist, in a moment of utter frustration, threw one at her once.
I can dream, can’t I? With an imagination like that I should qualify instantly as an interpreter of deep biblical meanings.
I’ve “heckled” the Hamster before.
He’s the kind of speaker who will shout an assertion that you’re wrong just as soon as you mumble something under your breath in the third row.
So if you’re going to show dissent, you better make it loud and concise. Be ready for him to come back with an instantaneous “Is not!”-style denial and then try to continue as if he had proved you wrong. Even if all you get in is an “Is too!” response, at least it would be a speed bump for him.
And bring him a blow-up piglet.
hmm, not a bad idea, but I would have a different use for the inflatable piglet:
right as Ken is reaching the crescendo of stupidity in his sermon (I wouldn’t dare call it a lecture), I would hold aloft ye olde inflated piglet, and promptly stick it with a large pin.
Huh. I already have tickets to see Brain Greene the week before this, in Hopkins MN. And the week before that I’m going to see the Joss Whedon-penned horror movie “The Cabin in the Woods.” I can’t figure out how every weekend in April is already filled up, and I can’t find anything to do NEXT weekend.
I do plan on going to see Ham. I have a question for him. Just one: “Were you there?!”
There might be some follow-ups, but I’ve wanted to rudely blurt that out to him sometime just as he teaches those poor benighted children to do in school classrooms. He definitely has that coming.
All I can think is that they filmed Mallrats at Eden Prairie Mall. Somebody needs to deliver Ken Ham a stink palm.
I have to say- a prostate exam can be enjoyable with the right doctor. I say this not from experience, mind you.
Also, to echo what has been touched upon earlier by rdmiller3;
These people are loud. I have come into contact with some before. And they are the very definition of obnoxious. What they lack in evidence, they make up for in volume. They really know how to break the norm.
It looks like he already visited my hometown of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada this past weekend in Streetsville to give an outreach session. It’s down the street from where I live. So it’s safe to say that’s not a good thing right? lol.
http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2011/09/19/hungry-canadians-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KenHam+%28Around+the+World+with+Ken+Ham%29
http://www.answersingenesis.org/outreach/event/7042/
Funny thing, Ken Ham, along with Gary Parker are coming to my city (Jacksonville FL) this weekend for a couple of days and I was considering visiting. The last time I went to an ICR “conference” though, I emerged with a deep desire to vomit followed by moving out of the country… AiG probably will probably be only worse. Worth going anyways? Maybe I can ask them to define a “kind”.
Ken Ham or a root canal? Root canal: much less painful.
Please make an anouncement if you decide to go. I grew up in Edina and know many families who attend that church. I would really like to go, but would feel weird being the only vehement non-theist in attendence.
“The [piglet] fucker, he comin’. He comin’ to your town.”
Sorry for having nothing on-topic to contribute aside from the “Oh… shit!” quote from The Thick of It; on behalf of Aussies everywhere I’m sorry you guys have got to put up with him. Best of luck to showing him some civil, but pointed disrespect.
I live a few blocks from Grace church and it is freakin huge, it cost something like $50 million and seats 4k people. The population of Eden Prairie is only 60k, yet judging by the hellish traffic around here on Sundays they fill most of those seats both services every week. I think I heard or read that 90% of their members commute from other cities.
Strange that they are having Ham here, I always assumed Grace was a fairly progressive methodist church. This is a very casually christian community and I can’t see the stricly literal interpretation of the bible attracting alot of people around here.
That link should have come with a mental health warning. There is a link on the site to Answers for Women. When you click on it it is password protected so clearly it is all “secret women’s business”.
The text you can access suggests that every answer will be serve and obey your husband and stay in the kitchen etc.
This site seems to be hosted by a pseudo-scientist called Georgia Purdom, (more like Purdah) Her blog recounts a couple she knows wh went on a natural history date to the Smithsonian. Here the husband managed to calculate that Diplodocus and T-rex could fit on the Ark. No doubt their calculations were more precise than the radiometric ages given in the displays which she found as fuzzy as their photos.
Really disturbing though was this comment: “The human origins exhibit was much more depressing, but it’s good to know what “the other side” is saying. They are, however, advocating that race is strictly a cultural issue and that all humans are a single species.
Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle/cousin.
Sadly, I also live within spitting distance of that church, and am kinda surprised, too.
Perhaps the MN Atheists and MN Skeptics will cooperate to peacefully hand out flyers with *facts* on them before Ken’s talk. Perhaps a few of us should plan to attend, too.
@Rob
I was surprised myself to hear that such a popular church was bringing in such a blatantly idiotic fundamentalist know-nothing. I ended up calling my mother, who is very involved in one of the more liberal churches in the area, and she said that Grace is well known to take a fairly literal stance in interpreting the bible and was not surprised that they would bring in the Hamburgler to teach stultifying nonsense to their children.
Meh. I had an encounter with John Sarfati from CMI, AIG’s original aussie parent company last October. Just click on my name and you can see just how much fun I had. (kind of).
I figured I didn’t do as well dealing with him in person as I liked, so I posted this. Turns out he read the reply that I had sent…
I find it a little funny that the ad on this page is for “Christianmingle”, a dating website to find “God’s match for you”…