# Come one, come all, to Kent Hovind's Creationland! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 1, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036 "2004-05-01T20:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/1 "2004-05-01T20:24:08Z")
The NYTimes recently basically ran a puff piece on Kent Hovind’s Dinosaur Adventure Land, a creationist themed “amusement park” that he’s offering as an alternative to Disneyland’s evil dinosaur propaganda. This is my favorite sounding station: > [@](#): > > Take Jumpasaurus, which involves jumping on a trampoline while trying to throw a ball through a hoop as many times as possible in a minute. The science lesson: “You will use coordination in this game, which means you will be doing more than one thing at once.” The spiritual lesson, according to Mr. Johnson: “You need to learn to be coordinated for Jesus Christ so you can get more things done for him.” Okay, maybe this is my favorite: > [@](#): > > At Dinosaur Adventure Land, visitors can make their own Grand Canyon replica with sand and read a sign deriding textbooks for teaching that the Colorado River formed the canyon over millions of years: “This is clearly not possible. The top of the Grand Canyon is 4,000 feet higher than where the river enters the canyon! Rivers do not flow up hill!” ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/2 "2004-05-01T20:25:21Z")
Er, this was meant to go in the Pit. This is not a good start for a Great Debate, even if anyone really wanted to do another creationism vs. evolution thing. I apologize: I could have sworn it was in the Pit… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/3 "2004-05-01T22:13:05Z")
Does the theme park actually _exist_ or is it just another Holy Fund Raising Scam? ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/4 "2004-05-01T22:56:13Z")
Gold. When I was young, we never had Jumpasaurus! We had to settle for Blackberry devices to please the Lord and we liked it! ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/5 "2004-05-01T23:27:59Z")
Kent Hovind is an absolute frickin’ moron. Batshit stupid. Dumb as a box of extremely dumb rocks that even Wal\*Mart wouldn’t let you return for a refund. There are some Creationists who are actually mildly non-stupid, if still remarkably ignorant. Hovind is not one of these gifted. He will believe absolutely anything if it will promote his cause. I spoke with him for a few minutes after a presentation he gave in a nearby town several years ago. He asked me if I had any proof that evolution occured, and I said yes. I pointed out the growing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. He then said that antibiotic-resistant bacteria existed before the invention of penicillin, and therefore their resistant properties could not have evolved in response to penicillin. I told him that penicillin had been discovered, not invented. He had not been aware of that fact. The next night, he gave the same (well, similar) presentation in my hometown. One of his proofs for a young earth was that at the rate erosion was occuring, if the earth was billions of years old there would be no more mountains. I waited for the question and answer portion, and asked him if, during his claimed 8 or so years as a science teacher, he had ever heard of tectonic plates. He said yes, but looked clueless. I asked him if he was aware that mountains are being continually pushed up in some areas due to the forces created by these plates. He said yes, and still looked like he had no idea what I was talking about. I asked him how it was possible, then, for his proof to be worth anything whatsoever. He immediately flipped his Powerpoint presentation to a picture of the Grand Canyon and went off on how water can’t flow uphill and how that apparantly proves something (other than that he’s an idiot). I pointed out that he hadn’t answered my question, and was ignoring that one of his “proofs” was fatally flawed. I asked if he would admit that the proof was flawed and promise not to use it in the future. He said it was not flawed and started to talk about the Grand Canyon again. I was about to point out that the Grand Canyon was not a mountain and had nothing to do with my point but some people in the audience started yelling for me to move on from that point so I dropped it. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/6 "2004-05-02T00:11:45Z")
Yes, it’s entirely real. But please, someone move this to the Pit before someone rains holy hell down on me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/7 "2004-05-02T04:41:20Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Ha! The Pit! That’s right–that’s where _all_ you scoffers will go, with your evil-utionist ways and your rejection of God’s Inerrant Word and your little theories about monkeys and all your pointy-headed secular humanist intellectualism–down to the PIT!!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/8 "2004-05-02T04:53:19Z")
[Was it the same cat?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254069) ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/9 "2004-05-02T06:01:41Z")
> [@](#): > > At Dinosaur Adventure Land, visitors can make their own Grand Canyon replica with sand and read a sign deriding textbooks for teaching that the Colorado River formed the canyon over millions of years: “This is clearly not possible. The top of the Grand Canyon is 4,000 feet higher than where the river enters the canyon! Rivers do not flow up hill!” My reaction to this is a combination of :eek:, :(, and :mad:. I would elaborate, but I hardly think it necessary. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/10 "2004-05-02T11:51:18Z")
[Obligatory Simpsons’ Reference] “Arrrr! She Blows!” [/Obligatory Simpsons’ Reference] ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/11 "2004-05-02T12:02:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Does the theme park actually exist or is it just another Holy Fund Raising Scam? Why can’t it be both? It said he’s being investigated for operating the place without a license and not paying his taxes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/12 "2004-05-02T19:19:27Z")
[Well Mr. Hicks said…](http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cpeek001/e.mp3) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/13 "2004-05-02T20:08:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Why can’t it be both? It said he’s being investigated for operating the place without a license and not paying his taxes. 😃 I was curious as to whether the place actually exists, or if he’s just asking for contributions while having no actual intention of building it (this has been known to happen in the past with vociferous religious folks) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/14 "2004-05-03T01:27:25Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I was curious as to whether the place actually exists, or if he’s just asking for contributions while having no actual intention of building it (this has been known to happen in the past with vociferous religious folks) Cite? Not that I don’t trust you, just that “Well, **Mangetout** said it, and that’s good enough for me!” does not exactly slay the opposition in casual (or not so casual) conversation;) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/15 "2004-05-03T02:57:45Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Kent Hovind’s Dinosaur Adventure Land, a creationist themed “amusement park” that he’s offering as an alternative to Disneyland’s evil dinosaur propaganda. I thought Disney was already on his side. Consider the evil-ution of _Fantasia_ to _Fantasia 2000_. We lose the segment with Stravinsky’s powerful _Rite of Spring_, which vividly depicts the formation of the Earth, the evolution of life, and the titanic battles of the mighty dinosaurs. And what do we get in return? _Pomp and Circumstance_. Give me a break. Like anyone who has ever sat through any graduation ceremony of any lenght has _any_ desire to hear _that_ piece ever again. And what story is set to the music? Noah’s freakin Ark, staring Donald and Daisy Duck. :mad: I know, the science of the _Rites of Spring_ sequence was showing its age. But it was one of my favorites. And, honestly, Pomp and freakin’ Circumstance? Donald Duck as Noah? Argh! ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/16 "2004-05-03T18:31:48Z")
Well, where is “Creation Land” and how much is a weekend pass? That “coordination” stuff sounds fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/17 "2004-05-03T19:23:53Z")
> [@county](#): > > where is “Creation Land” [Dinosaur Adventure Land • 5800 N. Palafox • Pensacola, Florida](http://www.dinosauradventureland.com/dal2.asp) Sounds like a Creationist tourist trap to me. > [@Mangetout](#): > > Does the theme park actually exist or is it just another Holy Fund Raising Scam? I’d say [both](http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3989075,00.html). > [@](#): > > Saturday April 17, 2004 8:16 PM > PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Internal Revenue Service agents are investigating a man who runs a creationist theme park and museum, saying he owes taxes on proceeds of more than $1 million. > > IRS agents raided the Pensacola homes and businesses of Kent Hovind, 51. Calling himself "Dr. Dino,’’ Hovind argues against evolution and for a Biblical view of creation in travels around the world, on the Internet, videos and in literature. > > Agents on Wednesday confiscated computer and paper records of financial activity since 1997, but no charges have been filed against Hovind. He denied wrongdoing Friday. > > In a sworn statement to obtain a search warrant, IRS agent Scott Schneider said none of Hovind’s enterprises has a business license or tax-exempt status as a nonprofit entity. > > "Since 1997, Hovind has engaged in financial transactions indicating sources of income and has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million per year during some of these years, which would require the filing of federal income taxes,’’ Schneider said. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/18 "2004-05-03T19:40:30Z")
That’s not a theme park; it’s just a playground. Theme parks have roller coasters and log flume rides; they have food courts and musical revues. Hovind’s joint has rope ladders and see-saws, sure to be a crushing disappointment for any eager young Christian who is expecting to visit a Jesusified Disneyland. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/19 "2004-05-03T20:28:03Z")
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Fourteen people were injured in a “freak accident” at the Dinosaur Adventure Land theme park yesterday, according to a park official. Myron Snodgrass, director of public relations for the park, said the 14 guests were attempting to dive into the pool and instead struck the water without sinking “as devout fundamental Christians are prone to do.” “I guess their faith was just too strong,” Snodgrass said. “They hit the water like walruses splatting on pack ice.” Park emergency medical personnel attempted to heal the tourists on-site by laying on hands and chanting in tongues, but were unsuccessful. The 14 individuals were transported by ambulance to local hospitals. Snodgrass said the emergency medical personnel were all fired. “We practice results-based religion here, and obviously their faith wasn’t strong enough to heal these God-loving people,” he said. Snodgrass said the injured showed signs of flattened foreheads and several missing teeth, although privately he acknowledged that many guests look that way already and there was no way to tell if the pool-jumpers were actually injured. Although Snodgrass was quick to absolve the park of any liability in the pool accident, he said the park would reassess its offerings. “We can’t work these people into a fever pitch about our belief in God and then expect them to lead normal lives,” he said. "Once they’ve accepted the fact that dinosaurs lived only 6,000 years ago, there’s no telling what they’ll be able to accomplish. “I shudder to think how difficult a time these 14 people are going to have taking a bath once they get home.” ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036/20 "2004-05-03T21:12:12Z")
**Sauron** , I kneel before you. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-one-come-all-to-kent-hovinds-creationland/243036.md?page=2)