Now this is a situation about which I have mixed feelings: fans of creationism are lobbying to free a certain convicted felon and dishonest sleazebag with a petition to Free Kent Hovind. To counter that, another group has started a petition to Keep Kent Hovind in Jail.
Since the "Free Kent Hovind" petition has many more signatures (and read the comments; they're comparing this con artist to Jesus), I signed the one to lock him away. I really hope, though, that the judicial system simply ignores both pleas and judges him on the evidence.
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I've got my real name on that one.
What does a person have to believe, to think that signing a petition to free a convicted criminal will have any effect at all? Do they really think that determining innocence and guilt is a matter of public opinion, rather than careful gathering and assessment of physical evidence? Do they really want to live in that sort of country? It boggles the mind...
Same.
Well the good news is that so far there are only 39 people asking for his release. Even under out present standards of truthiness, this may be no enough to prove his innocence.
There is a lesson in the comments: when you have FAITH you can KNOW he is innocent without bothering to look at the evidence:
Amber: "I know that Dr. Hovind is an innocent man! He deserves much better than this! "
But one person makes a remark that shows that this man should stay behind bars for a very long time:
Wanda Sappington: "Dr. Kent Hovind answered a lot of questions for me about the dinosaurs."
Keep him locked up!
What do petitions hope to accomplish? Seems like a watered down version of vigilante-style mob mentality.
If they're comparing him to Jesus, well, doesn't that mean he should therefore get 39 lashes, and... *wink*
Whereas I don't believe in the death penalty, so what I would start a petition for is house arrest - with Hovind in a cage in his own Dinosaur Adventure Land with one of the dinos posed as turning the key in the lock. Of course, being a generous soul, I'm willing to run this tourist trap. I pay my permit fees. PLEASE DON'T FEED THE HUMAN. He would make a good mascot! Lonesome Ken.
Free Tracy Turnblatt!
...I might say the same for Ken if he'd get a double-process, but I doubt that's in the cards.
I know these petitions don't accomplish anything, but it's therapeutic for me. It's like maniacal laughter. I'd never make it as an Evil Overlord.
I must have missed something: what did they nail him for?
Tax evasion. They got him like they got Al Capone.
Do they really think that determining innocence and guilt is a matter of public opinion
Well, so long as it is an "approved" opinion. If you rule according to established law then you are an "activist judge". See the fallout from Kitzmiller and Judge Jones excellent speech on same) for details.
Do they really want to live in that sort of country?
Apparently, yes. Again, so long as the tyrant holding the reins is their tyrant.
What does a person have to believe, to think that signing a petition to free a convicted criminal will have any effect at all?
The Bible? There was that incident with Barabbas...
Holy crap. Since when is the law decided by petition?
Well, it's true their mythology has at least one good example of a crowd asking for someone to be freed. Remember "Screw Jesus, free Barabbas?" Or something like that, anyway. I guess you can't say what they're doing is inconsistent with their beliefs.
"What do petitions hope to accomplish? Seems like a watered down version of vigilante-style mob mentality. "
It is the lazy man's way of protesting, which isn't all that energy intensive to begin with. The New Left convinced me neither one is worth too much.
Nice names and comments on the new signatures for freeing him.
I wonder if any of my coworkers heard me snort.
Signing petitions? What's the matter with those people? Since when doesn't prayer suffice to get someone out of jail?
What's the point of calling on Pilate to free Kent Hovind when "Kent Hovind" contains neither an R nor an S?
(Welease Bawabbas!)
What does a person have to believe, to think that signing a petition to free a convicted criminal will have any effect at all? Do they really think that determining innocence and guilt is a matter of public opinion, rather than careful gathering and assessment of physical evidence?
Hey, if it's good enough for their "science", it's good enough for their "law"!
I look forward to the witch-burnings and inquisitions if they ever manage to seize control of America (a thankfully distant proposition at this point, but one must still remain vigilant).
I seriously wonder if any of these people truly believe any of the things they say. Kent Hovind is a convicted criminal. I suppose people see echoes of their own behavior, and since they don't want to think they are immoral themselves, their justification mechanisms kick into overdrive.
"The whole thing's kinda sad and lame at the same time."
--Amber Atkins, "Drop Dead Gorgeous"
Reminds me of the "Free Hat" episode of southpark...
This is great... reactionary blog post:
"Blaspheming Heathens challenge us to a duel!"
http://www.myspace.com/freekenthovind
Somebody else beat me to the Barabbas allusions (I was going to say, "If Kent Hovind is Jesus, put me down for Barabbas.")
But I think the dueling petitions are more likely to have been inspired by Paris Hilton's recent legal troubles http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070509/od_nm/hilton_odd_dc
He was just following Christian tax code: "Render unto Caesar, unless Jesus tells you personally that you don't have to."
reminds me of something....
Fwee Wodewick!
Thanks for the signatures.
I know this is not an "offical" petition, I want to show that more people do not agree with Kent Hovind.
He would probably say that most of the time, the majority is not right. But if the majority of people believed that would it be right?
Of course. Majority rules is one of the flexible bedrocks of the fundamentalist lifestyle. America is a Christian country so by majority rule we should get our way. This poll says that most Americans agree with the Bible so we should get our way. Most Americans are not gay so we should get our way.
Of course they see absolutely no hypocrisy when the shoe is on the other foot, and they find themselves in a minority position. Right is right and wrong is wrong no matter how many people think the other way.
And touching on a theme mentioned early in the comments, they also have zero issues with determining truth through the use of faith and opinion without looking at facts. Hell, they can determine truth in the face of contrary facts. That, unfortunately, is not unique to the nuts on the right or the left. A good portion of humanity hold the position that if they just believe something hard enough, it will become true. Especially if they do not just believe, but repeat it publicly as some type of chanted shield of reality distortion.
Also, please refrain from putting fake names and comments on the other petition.
I see no need to be immature about this.
You don't see any reason to be immature about attempting to inject mob rule and popularity contests into the judicial system?
I'm going to put fake and hilarious names on both.
It seems that they deleted a bunch of names from the petition. There was a page two, which started with a signature from a "Satan". But several sigs from page one are gone as well. He's down to 45 signatures as of this post.
Guantanamo Bay? Abu Ghraib? "Extraordinary renditions"?
The neo-inqusision's torture chambers are already in operation.
Free Hat!
He's up to 48 or 49 - eight of them from "Anonymous".
Ok, ok... I think the purpose has been served here...
Well done, free-thinkers.
At 770 to 52, that's nearly a 15:1 ratio of intelligence vs blind faith in a criminal! We rest our case.
Contest:
Most humorous proposal for what to do with the FreeKentHovind MySpace page will win the OFFICIAL FreeKentHovind Myspace page AND FreeKentHovind Petition.
Send your entries to cgoodahl@yahoo.com
Winner will receive the user-name and password for the MySpace page, petition, and access to the yahoo email account of the administrator.
Batteries are not included, void where prohibited by law.
Winner will be chosen by current admin when sufficient entries are received.
Late to the party, but I'll comment anyway.
I figure he shouldn't have been put in jail for tax charges. Nope. I figure since his argument was that he was a citizen of heaven, not the USA, that we should have deported him back to heaven at his own expense. I think a sharp stick would be all he'd need, a gun if he was feeling lavish.
Not that I wish people dead. I just figure if your argument is you are an illegal, we should send you back to your home country.