Carl Kerby
Carl Kerby is an air traffic controller at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport and a founding board member of Answers in Genesis. He is an ex-military man and is understood to currently be VP ministries of the organisation, a part time position..
He toured the UK in March 2007 under the auspices of Answers in Genesis. Details can be found at http://www.answersingenesis.org/events/SearchResults.aspx?Country=Europe&fp_srch=1. As far as we are aware, this was his first tour of the UK.
Kerby appears to be a lot better known in the USA and there is a report on Panda’s Thumb which details some drivel that he presented to a creationist conference in 2005. The report can be found at http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2005/07/report_on_the_2_5.html.
Kerby’s presentation was described as “brain-dead insanity and jaw-dropping ignorance”.
Another highly critical report on Kerby appears at http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-10-28.html. It suggests that he addresses adult audiences as if they were five-year old children. It also shows that he is functionally illiterate in science.
The following is a short report on one of Carl Kebry's presentations in the UK (on 2nd March 2007). It was written by George Jellis of the Leicester Secular Society.
Well, I went to the two talks at the church.
The gist of the first part 7:30 - 8:15 "The Bottom Strip" was that Genesis, being the word of God, trumps secular knowledge, and he advocates home and church schooling, teaching creation, and the undermining of evolution, which is the "bottom strip" of worldy teachings and leads homosexuality, abortion, etc, etc.
The second part 8:45 - 9:30 On the "Best Evidence" that God Created, consisted of a quite nice series of examples of strange creatures, and the argument from incredulity that they must have been created and couldn't have evolved. But the "Best Evidence" turned out, of course, to be the Bible. Towards the end he even advocated that everyone should visit the Natural History Museum and look at the evidence for evolution -- in order to see for themselves how poor it is (!).
I didn't get to say anything, since there were no question and answer sessions, and I wasn't feeling combative. If I'd had a chance I'd have pointed out during the first session that Genesis is just one creation myth among many, so why base your whole life on it.
During the second lecture I felt like calling out "Isn't Evolution Wonderful!" but left it too late, and it wouldn't have been polite to interrupt the concluding prayer.
The attendance was about 80 for the first part, including quite a number of children, but less for the second part.
I hope the people at the Natural History Museum can set up a really good and convincing exhibition that puts across the evidence and arguments for evolution sufficient to convince all these creationists when they go there!
