In the dawn of Donald Trump's America,
immediate and controversial executive decisions have sparked
a wealth of conversations regarding a whole host of hot topic issues
not only in the US but also across the entire world.
The recent so-called "Muslim ban" is a prime example,
and whether or not you believe
that the Muslim ban was justified or whether it had anything to do with race at all,
what you can't deny is that it has once again reignited,
as if it needed reigniting, the discussion and debate
about the prevalence of racial prejudice within our governments
and amongst the people over whom they preside.
And while time spent talking about the issue and bringing light to racism
is never time wasted, it seems that now
is a particularly good time to be doing so
Enter Answers in Genesis, a fundamentalist
Christian apologetics organization with its very
own disreputable president, Mr. Ken Ham.
Amid the myriad of tweets which have dominated my Twitter timeline since
Donald Trump's inauguration, I happened to stumble across one from
Ken's account linking to an article on the Answers in Genesis website
which was titled, "Prejudice Can Stop."
And while this article mentions nothing specifically
about Donald Trump or his recent antics,
It's difficult to imagine that Ken choosing to share this
article at this particular time could be put down to mere coincidence.
Not that coincidences are all that extraordinary, again, see the description
So if this article doesn't specifically mention recent American politics,
then where does Answers in Genesis place the
blame for the pestilential racism that we so often hear about
infecting our modern culture?
Well, here's an excerpt:
As a society, we reap the consequences of the unquestioned acceptance of the
belief in evolution everyday
It breeds prejudice, feeds racism, and perpetuates hate.
This needs to stop. Starting with us,
starting with our children. Find hope. Find truth.
Find answers today
Yeah, no, you--- You heard that right you just heard
an attempt to blame society's acceptance of
the fundamental scientific fact of evolution
for racism.
You thought Trump's reasoning was dodgy.
But okay, let's at least give the article a chance. Let's take a look at the example
that they give to substantiate their claim.
One of the most fascinating stories about the effects of evolutionary beliefs on human relations
is the story of Ota Benga, a short African man,
from a group of people described as pygmies,
who was put on display in a zoo as an example
of an evolutionarily inferior race.
The incident clearly reveals the racism of evolutionary
ideology and the extent to which the
evolutionary ideas have gripped the hearts and minds of most scientists
Right... where do I start?
Okay, to me there's two immediately pressing problems with this,
the first of which I don't want anyone to misinterpret,
but I do think is an interesting point which is that
Even if this was true (which its not by the way) but even if it was true,
that evolution could somehow prove that, say,
let's change it from race let's say that evolution could somehow prove
that blonde people were inferior to dark haired people.
If that were the case, then as horrible as that would be,
it would be a scientific fact, and that wouldn't mean that the fact wasn't
true just because you didn't like it. But luckily it's not true,
and evolution can't determine whether a person is any more superior
or inferior to another because
evolution is not a straight line of worst to best, evolution is a
tree of expanding branches
with no individual branch being objectively any more
superior or inferior to another
What I'm trying to say
is that even if it were true, which it's not, don't get me wrong,
I'm not trying to justify this in any way
But even if it were true, that would just be tough.
It would be a fact of nature, and you couldn't discredit a fact because
you didn't like the reality
But this leads on to my second point, which is precisely that it's not true.
Okay, by arguing that evolution can be used
to justify racism and prejudice, you're playing a dangerous game.
Because let's not forget that evolution is widely
regarded as scientific fact by many people across the world,
and so by telling them that it can be used to justify racism,
that's a dangerous move, Ken.
Allow me to illustrate my point by going back to my earlier example
of somebody trying to claim that blonde people were
evolutionarily inferior to dark-haired people
Okay, imagine that I tried to enslave a blonde person or a group of blonde people
I tried to put them in a cage and put them on display in a zoo
People would be rightfully angry, but when they came to me
with their anger, I could just say, "Well, it's because
these blonde people are evolutionarily inferior to us."
And what would people's response be?
They'd probably say, "Well A) that's not true at all, and
B) even if it was true, it would be no justification for keeping these people in cages
Okay, the problem doesn't lie with evolution,
the problem would lie with my misunderstanding
of evolution, and my misunderstanding of
the implications of its reality.
To blame evolution for our (tebangous?) situation is to blame evolution for
my enslavement of blonde people. It-- it just doesn't make
any sense. But look, you know, this could almost
be a respectable article if
Answers in Genesis were just trying to use creationist arguments to combat
racism, I would, although not agreeing with some of the
premises of it's arguments, I'd definitely agree with the cause,
but that's not what they're trying to here. What they're trying to do
is they're trying to discredit evolution using racism.
And given how emotionally attached people
are at the moment to racism and how important it is to
many people across America and across the world,
it just goes to show how disreputable, distasteful, and disgracefully
disingenuous Answers in Genesis as an organization is.
Let's look at the conclusion
There simply is no reason for anyone to assume that they are
more valuable than the next person.
We are all created in God's image.
Isn't it time that we realize that we're all the same?
The Bible teaches us: "From one man he made every nation of men,
that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he determined the time set for them, and the exact places where they should live."
What a great conclusion.
We are all the same, and this idea of human ownership is horrific
And we're so lucky that we live in a time when people like Ota Benga don't exist,
when people aren't putting cages in America because of their race
And even luckier,
There's no ideology which is popularly subscribed to
in our modern era which justifies the enslavement
and ownership of other human beings-- oh wait of course yes
there is it's time to crack open the Bible.
Right, kids, turn to Exodus 21:20
"When a man strikes his slave, male or female,"
Man, Christianity promoting gender equality
since the 6th century BCE
"with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.
But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not
to be avenged for the slave is his money.
Now you talk about evolution but I'm pretty sure that that is justification
for the ownership of human beings if I ever heard it
Okay, chapter 21 verse 2 I believe
"When you buy a Hebrew slave,
he shall serve for 6 years, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
If he comes in single, he shall go out single.
If he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children
shall be her master's and he shall go out alone"
What this is saying is that if a slave has a child, then that child
is born into slavery and will forever
be a slave to their master
Now, of course, male slaves get released after 6 years,
but not the women, God no, not the women.
But if the man decides that he actually quite loves his wife and children and wants to continue seeing them,
then he must submit to the will of his master
forever.
Okay, but this is the kind of horrendous stuff that we've come to expect
from the Old Testament there's nothing in the, in the New testament condoning
the enslavement of human beings. Is-- is there?
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 5:
"Bond servants" --oh footnote: "or slaves"--
"Obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a
sincere heart, as you would Christ"
Look, here is a book, which you on your website, Answers in Genesis
claim is the fundamental basis of
everything you do, the foundation of your organization,
which blatantly defends the very thing that you're claiming to be acting against
This is overt hypocrisy, and look,
If-- if you're going to claim
If you're going to have the temerity to suggest
that evolution, a scientific fact, is to blame
for racism, a sociological phenomena,
then at least don't wrap it up in all this anti-prejudice nonsense.
That's not what you're trying to do.
And in fact, all you are doing is insulting the people who are actually out there,
actively campaigning for racial equality
for genuinely respectable reasons, and it's disgusting.
But anyway, there is plenty more where that came from,
so if you'd like to check out the Answers in Genesis website for yourself,
I'll leave a link to the original article in the description down below,
along with the link to my video going through Ken Ham's Twitter,
and offering some of my commentary
so if that's something you'd be interested in be sure to go and check it out.
But also, just let me know in the comments, is this just me?
Is it just me who thinks that this is one of the most ridiculous things
that Answers in Genesis have ever put out and that is a bold claim
I just can't believe I haven't seen it covered
by more people, I don't know, maybe I'm just missing it
Let me know in the comments down below
But in the meantime, I have been Alex O'Connor or Cosmic Skeptic, you can find me on social media here
Don't forget to subscribe, thank you for watching, and I will see you
in the next one.