Revelation TV & Dr Grady McMurtry

Dr Grady McMurtry is a big favourite of Revelation TV. He features regularly in their schedules and barely a week goes by without him making several appearances, either recorded or live. In particular, he is a regular guest (via Skype) on The Q&A Show along with Revelation TV founder and host, Howard Conder. In December 2014 Revelation TV embarked on The Q&A Roadshow which involved Conder and McMurtry visiting eight venues in various parts of the UK.

Who is Dr Grady McMurtry? He is the head of Creation Worldview Ministries based in Orlando, Florida, USA. According to his website, the organisation consists of himself and one associate. He's not a big player on the creationist scene. Creation Worldview Ministries is more Conference North than Premier League, Stockport County rather than Chelsea FC.

Ray Comfort & The Talking Snake

Ray Comfort posted this on his Facebook page:

"This isn't a Jungle Book. Snakes don't talk.” Nick Murray

Do animals have a language? Do they communicate (talk) to each other? My dog shows me that he understands English when he obeys me, when I speak English. He also tells me (in his own language) when he wants something to eat or drink. Every night, at around 6:00 PM, he goes into the back yard and speaks with another dog a couple of doors down (in the language of dogese). The dog he speaks to him always answers. Do elephants or dolphins have a language in which they speak to each other? How about whales? Of course they do. Parrots manage to talk without vocal cords.
How ironic, that people who believe that they are animals mock the thought that any animal could talk.

The post is referring to the story in Genesis 3.1 which describes the events in the Garden of Eden which led to the Fall of Man. For Christians, especially fundamentalists who believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, the story is of special significance. It justifies their belief in Original Sin and the need for atonement.

We have come across Ray Comfort before. He espouses a particularly aggressive form of creationism and constantly rails against atheism and evolution which he sees as responsible for all the evils in the world. Inevitably he takes up ridiculous positions as evidenced by his statement above.

• Do animals have language?  - No they don't.
• Do they communicate (talk) to each other? - Some communicate with each other but they do not talk.
• My dog shows me that he understands English when he obeys me, when I speak English. - No he doesn't. He recognises the sound of your voice.
• Do elephants or dolphins have a language in which they speak to each other? - No, they can't speak but they can communicate.
• Parrots manage to talk without vocal cords. - Parrots are mimics. They can't talk.

Is Ray Comfort ignorant or is he stupid? Animal communication is a complex area of study. Ray Comfort claims expertise in a scientific field because he has read the bible. Not for the first time - or the last.

Ray Comfort & Revelation TV

Let’s start with some background information about Revelation TV.

Revelation TV is a Christian channel broadcasting in the UK on the Sky platform which has an interesting history of Ofcom involvement. On a number of occasions the channel was in breach of Ofcom rules with regard to their views on homosexuality, Islam and abortion. In order to escape Ofcom’s ‘censorship’ Revelation TV is now has a Spanish broadcasting licence which seemingly allows it to disseminate its prejudices without the hindrance of being fair and even-handed. Most of Revelation TV’s output is centred around creationism, end times prophecies and readings from the bible and the Daily Mail.

Howard Conder is one of the founders of the station and one of the main presenters. He hosts one of the channels flagship programmes, the Q & A show, most nights of the week. This usually features an interview with a guest on a topic dear to the heart of the presenter, end times, biblical prophecy, and quite frequently, creationism. On the 18th July 2013 the guest was Ray Comfort.
Ray Comfort (aka Bananaman) was there to promote the release of his latest DVD, Evolution Vs God, a film which, according to its Facebook page promises to shake Darwinism’s foundational beliefs.

At this point it’s worth pointing out that Howard Conder’s interviewing style is mostly about feeding lines to his guests. They are generally given an easy ride. On matters of science, Howard Conder is a self-confessed ignoramus. Some years ago, he interviewed Richard Dawkins. The YouTube video is here. It is 58 minutes long but it is worth watching because Conder is so excruciatingly inept. Unfortunately, Conder learned nothing from the encounter.

The ‘interview’ with Ray Comfort followed its predictable course, with Comfort being given free rein to give an extended sales pitch for his DVD.

Ray Comfort started off by saying that he had interviewed four evolutionary scientists who ‘could not back up evolution with any scientific evidence’. He then went on to say that ‘evolution is responsible for so many of the vices we see’ and that the movie ‘debunks evolution in sixteen minutes’. We then see an excerpt from the movie, with Comfort interviewing students and challenging them to give him evidence that evolution has taken place. Most of them give the impression of being totally overwhelmed by the experience but some make a reasonable attempt to answer the question. Darwin’s Finches feature in their replies but when that is mentioned Comfort plays his trump card. Birds are still birds, evolution is about changes in kinds! Speciation doesn’t count as evolution. One of the rules of the game is that Ray Comfort gets to decide what the rules of the game are.

Creationists often talk about ‘kinds’ without ever defining what they mean. No-one apart from creationists use that term.

The next excerpt features three of the four scientists interviewed by Comfort, PZ Myers, Craig Stanford and Gail E Kennedy. They are given the same treatment as the students with Comfort rejecting their answers out of hand. There is no debate, no discussion and no exchange of ideas. PZ Myers has blogged about his experience and has accused Ray Comfort of selective editing. In the Revelation TV programme Comfort denies this charge and claims that the interview was edited with integrity. He also said he would not be releasing the unedited interviews. Craig Stanford tweeted, ‘Ray Comfort’s new creationism video does the most un-Christian thing; uses misleading editing to take an immoral and frankly sleazy low road’.

Howard Conder then gives Ray Comfort the opportunity to reel off the familiar list of creationist tropes, all recieved uncritically by the host and, I suspect, most of the audience.

• The missing link is still missing.

• Everyone has an inbuilt, innate knowledge of god.

• Evolution gets rid of moral accountability.

• Evolutionists believe that nothing created everything.

• There is observable evidence that god exists.

Inevitably, Richard Dawkins gets several mentions. According to Ray Comfort, Dawkins has ‘opened up the golden door to the delirious pleasures of sin’. Talking of delirious pleasures, the interview then moves on to discuss Christian fundamentalists second favourite topic – other people’s sex lives.

Howard Conder mentions that the Queen has recently given her royal assent to the same sex marriage bill in England and Wales. Ray Comfort is shocked that our Queen (?) should do such a thing. He has no doubt that she came under pressure from other members of the royal family who ‘don’t have a standard of righteousness’. We can add Constitutional Monarchy to the ever growing list of things that Ray Comfort doesn’t understand.

Howard Conder points out that the teaching of evolution is now being extended to the primary curriculum. Ray Comfort is appalled. Bizarrely the Queen gets the blame for that as well – she has compromised again.

The programme ends with yet another swipe at a great British institution. Howard defends the one-sided approach of the programme by informing us that the BBC spends billions of pounds promoting evolution and that Richard Attenborough is largely to blame. Yes, that’s right, Richard Attenborough.  Howard must have been thinking of Jurassic Park.

At that point the programme ended.

The sub-title of Evolution Vs God is ‘Shaking The Foundations Of Faith’. It is Ray Comforts claim that evolution is based on faith, not science. I’d guess that the scientific foundations of evolutionary theory will remain unshaken.


Links to my other blog posts about Revelation TV.

Quacking for Jesus
Revelation TV and Felicity Corbin Wheeler
Revelation TV and Felicity Corbin Wheeler Revisited

Revelation TV & Felicity Corbin Wheeler

In a previous blog post, I wrote about Revelation TV promoting Felicity Corbin Wheeler and her views on diet and health. I made reference to her lack of scientific background and my concern that she was advocating the use of unproven therapies and treatments for the prevention and treatment of cancer. I emailed the channel to express my concerns but, undeterred, they have broadcast two more programmes featuring the reverend doctor once again giving her a platform to tell viewers how cancer can be cured by diet. More of that later. First of all, a little more about Corbin Wheeler.
A section of her website is titled 'Scientific Research'. Purveyors of woo are always keen to legitimise their claims by using science but by so doing, they highlight their ignorance. Trying to validate the use of laetrile for cancer treatment Corbin Wheeler's website contains the extraordinary statement,

In the mid 1950’s, the American biochemist called Ernst Krebs, known to all medical students for the “Krebs Cycle”, took up the research in Nevada.  He was studying the absence of cancer in certain non-industrialised peoples.    There are tribes on earth now such as the Hunzas, who do not have cancer.   When these people start to eat a western diet, high in animal protein, they succumb like the rest of us.

The Krebs Cycle is, of course, named after Nobel Prize winning biochemist Sir Hans Krebs. Ernst Krebs was a quack. Hopefully no medical students would make such an elementary mistake.
Back to Revelation TV. The programmes were hosted by presenter Howard Conder who is quite happy to tell viewers about his lack of science education. He sets the background by declaring that the programme will look at 'both sides'. The 'other side' turns out to be reading from a print-out of the CancerResearch  UK website. Next we have the staple of 'alternative' therapies - YouTube videos. A succession of naturopaths and chiropractors give their views about cancer and diabetes being lifestyle choices. Both programmes ramble through an assortment of quack therapies but fortunately Revelation TV has provided a handy downloadable summary rather oddly called Gary Tunsky on Cells with header.(pdf) In this document Corbin Wheeler sets out the steps we need to take to prevent and treat cancer, complete with scientific explanations. Let's take a look at a few examples:

• All disease originates at the molecular and cellular level, not at the organ or system level as we're led to believe by Western medicine. This is a meaningless statement but the use of the term 'Western medicine' sets the scene for what's to come.
• We need photon light and electromagnetic energy, and our cells need photon light and electromagnetic energy. Photon light? 'Photon' is a sciencey word - that's why it's there.
• The DNA helix coils act as transmitters and receivers of cellular information in the form of electromagnetic pulse energy sent to neighbouring and distant cells, similar to a radio antenna that receives and transmits frequency messages. Absolute gibberish!
• A healthy body functions best when it's slightly alkaline. To measure the body's pH you'd have to put it through a blender first. That's not recommended. There follows a lengthy explanation of how we must have an alkaline body achievable by eating alkaline foods. This nonsense has been thoroughly debunked by Quackwatch.
• Over 90% of western population is dehydrated through over-consumption of acidic and dehydrating foods and beverages ..... . Over 90% of people have kidneys that don't function?
• It's my conclusion based on years of research that cancer and AIDS are nothing more or less than a cellular disturbance of the electromagnetic balance. This is stupidity beyond words.

So Corbin Wheeler has the answer to virtually all our health problems. It is of course, eating raw foods, a vegan diet, juicing, colonic irrigation and an alkaline diet. Scientists, oncologists, and doctors are prevented by their ignorance and the influence of the drug companies from treating us in the appropriate manner.
Howard Conder said the programmes would be looking at both sides. He obviously visited the CancerResearch UK website. He must have missed the pages which show that:

• Half of people diagnosed with cancer now survive their disease for at least five years.
• Cancer survival rates in the UK have doubled in the last 40 years.
• Almost three-quarters of children are now cured of their disease, compared with around a quarter in the late 1960s.

(Source: CancerResearch UK)
These results haven't been achieved by quack diets. They've been achieved by hardworking, dedicated scientists using evidence based medicine to relieve suffering.

Creationism in the UK

I’ve never really encountered many creationists. There’s been the odd religious nutter in the streets of Newcastle trying to convert the shoppers but that’s about it. In forty years of teaching evolution I’ve been challenged in the classroom twice, once by a Jehovah’s Witness and once by a Christian fundamentalist. So I was a little surprised when I came across this article by the National Center for Science Education which reports on a poll about the public acceptance of evolution in Great Britain, Canada and the United States.

Respondents were asked “Which of these statements comes closest to your own point of view regarding the origin and development of human beings on earth?” and offered the choices “Human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years” and “God created human beings in their present form within the last 10,000 years.”   In Britain 68% chose the evolution statement, 16% the creationist statement and 15% were unsure. This compares to 61%, 24% and 15% in Canada. In the USA it was 35%, 47% and 18%. I might take comfort from the fact that we enlightened Brits have a better grasp on reality than our scientifically backward American cousins but it was cold comfort. I’m concerned that over 30% of the British public don’t accept evolution as an explanation for the way things are.

It would seem I am not alone.

It’s not the religious nutters in the streets we should worry about, it’s what is happening in schools. There are concerns that creationist organisations are visiting schools and sending them materials promoting their cause. Sciencemag carries an interesting report on the situation. This has prompted a number of eminent UK scientists to call for a re-think about the teaching of evolution in schools under the heading of, “Teach Evolution, not Creationism!”  Speaking of creationism and intelligent design, they say that, “There should be enforceable statutory guidance that they may not be presented as scientific theories in any publicly-funded school of whatever type.” 
 

Professor Richard Dawkins, one of the scientists supporting the campaign, has called for evolution to be taught in primary schools. The Daily Mail carried a report which provoked some interesting comments in the online version.

Darwin’s vile book of 1859 was followed by the murder of up to 15m people in the Belgian Congo, followed by all of the various genocides of the twentieth century – probably more than 100m in total. There were atrocities committed before 1859, but very few on a comparable scale to what has happened since. Presumably Richard Dawkins wants more genocide to occur in the future.

To be fair to the Daily Mail (not a statement I ever thought I’d use) that comment is not typical of the responses and has been heavily red-arrowed by other readers. Nevertheless, there is a justifiable concern that creationism is creeping into schools and that needs to be confronted. As a first step, readers of this blog might follow this link and sign an e-petition calling for the teaching of evolution to be mandatory in all publicly-funded schools.