Kent Hovind

[Tweefo]

In my work I often meet people with luni ideas. The other day at a private Christian school I was told that Kent Hovind had a Doctorate in Theology and therefore knows about stuff. My argument was that even if he had one, it does not qualify him to speak for geologists, biologists and other fields. I believe that he was a high school teacher and that the other qualifications was bought at some “university”. Is this correct? They tried to give me some DVDs of him - to try and covert me or something, I suppose. Ive seen the DVDs before so I know the rubbish they contain.

[Mefiante]

About Kent Hovind’s education:

@<a

He holds three degrees in Christian education (1974, 1988, 1991) from unaccredited institutions.

…

In 1988 and 1991 respectively, Hovind was awarded a master’s degree and doctorate in Christian Education through correspondence from the non-accredited Patriot University in Colorado Springs, Colorado (now Patriot Bible University in Del Norte, Colorado which no longer offers this program).

Having a website called “Dr. Dino,” has provoked some academics to closely look at how Hovind presents his education and credentials.[12] Chemistry professor Karen Bartelt has said that it is “ very unusual for a person with a Ph.D., even a real one,” [emphasis in original] to list oneself in the phonebook as “Dr Hovind”, as Hovind has done. Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy, expert on the history of creationism and activist in the Creation-evolution controversy, wrote that Hovind’s lack of academic training makes it impossible to engage him on a professional level. Other critics of Hovind have charged that Patriot Bible University is a diploma mill, as it has unreasonably low graduation requirements, lack of sufficient faculty or educational standards, and a suspicious tuition scheme. The school’s current policies allow students to attain bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and even “Doctor of Ministry” degrees in months, rather than years, for as little as $25 per month. Currently Patriot offers a monthly fee, unlike most universities, which only charge per-credit fees.

Bartelt has stated Hovind’s doctoral dissertation is evidence of the poor requirements at Patriot and that Hovind lacks knowledge of basic science. Bartelt noted that Hovind’s dissertation is incomplete (contains four chapters totalling 101 pages, but Hovind’s introduction claims the work is 250 pages with 16 chapters), of low academic quality, poor writing, poor spelling, poor grammatical style, pages are repeated, references are absent, and it is not original work with original ideas. …

Patriot will not send copies of Hovind’s doctoral dissertation except with his permission. As a general rule, doctoral dissertations are published by the associated university and made available to the public, so that other students conducting research in similar areas may use the information in the dissertation as a reference. Although one copy of the dissertation is on file at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) the organization is not able to provide it on request because of copyright and distribution restrictions.

In short, the credibility of the entirety of Hovind’s education is deeply suspicious – an observation that is hardly diminished by Hovind’s prominent activities in Young Earth Creationism.

'Luthon64

[wandapec]

@Tweefo post:1

it does not qualify him to speak for geologists, biologists and other fields.

I don’t have a problem with people speaking about topics they are interested in without having any official qualification. There are many people that have developed skills and knowledge in certain topics and areas of interest without going through the “normal” channels. With the advent of the Internet it is becoming easier to education oneself without having to go to college or university. Among others, James Randi comes to mind. I think he only got a high school eduction but you could probably get some really good advice from him on a number of issues from scientific method to how to write and publish a book.

@Tweefo post:1

Kent Hovind had a Doctorate in Theology and therefore knows about stuff.

I am in agreement with your questioning of whether having a Doctorate in Theology gives a person any sort of credibility. The qualification has been called into question, here are some examples - The Emptiness of Theology and Is There Any God to Study in Christianity? I would feel the same about the credibility of the knowledge and experience gained by someone who attaining a degree in Fairyology or Tokoloshology, as I do for someone who has a degree in theology.

[Tweefo]

I don't have a problem with people speaking about topics they are interested in without having any official qualification.

You can talk about fields that you are not an expert in, no problem. However, when you have strange ideas about those fields, I as a skeptic do not trust you, even if you have some letters behind your name. Even if you are a geologist, and you are speaking about geology, but other geologists do not agree with you, I will not trust you.

[wandapec]

Agreed.

Cheers
Wandapec (I.CAN.BE.TRUST.ED)

[maydont]

Hovind is one of those despicable people that prays on the Scientific illiteracy of America. If you listen to his interviews (there are many, but probably the best is on the “Infidel Guy” podcast it’s an evolution debate with Hovind and Maximo Pigliucci), he often criticizes the US school-system…saying that they are using his “tax dollars” to teach “nonsense”. Hovind is currently serving time after being put away for something like 45 accounts of tax evasion. How ironic.

He is the winner too of the First Annual Golden Crockoduck Award (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC10H2sFigU).