| Is Bill Maher a Chicken? | ||
Ray Comfort, the author of a new book called, Intelligent Design Versus Evolution—Letters to an Atheist, has challenged HBO star Bill Maher to a public debate. Comfort maintains that the political satirist was woefully misinformed last year when he lashed out at intelligent design and said, “Evolution is supported by the entire scientific community . . . the reason there is no real debate, is that intelligent design isn't real science [1].” The author said, “I can scientifically prove intelligent design. Let’s have 20 minutes each. I present my case (I won’t even mention “faith”) and then he can present his case for evolution. I say that he doesn’t have one. He’s bluffing. I don’t mind if he spends his 20 minutes telling jokes, because that’s all he has.” Comfort maintains, “Mr. Maher, like all believers in the theory of evolution simply has a blind faith in a theory-tale that can’t be substantiated. It’s just another opiate of the masses—a religion called ‘Darwinism’ that piously robes itself in what it thinks is ‘science.’” The author adds, “I am beginning to suspect that some men may have evolved from chickens, or at least that’s the impression I get when it comes to evolutionists standing up for their convictions. Mr. Maher can choose the place of the debate. I don’t mind if he has it in front of his audience. He can bill it as ‘Another simple-minded Christian being thrown to the lions.’” In 2001, Comfort was flown from Los Angeles to Orlando, Florida by American Atheists, Inc., to be a platform speaker at their 27th National Convention. [2] “They not only paid my airfare, but they even put me up in a nice hotel, and kindly gave me a gift basket when I arrived.” He has also spoken on the subject of intelligent design at Yale, UCLA and other prestigious learning institutions. His publication The Atheist Test has sold over 700,000 copies. He’s the author of more than 50 books, including, God Doesn’t Believe in Atheists and, The Evidence Bible (2002 Gold Medallion Award finalist). He also produced and co-hosted “The Science of Evolution,” which won 2005 NRB “People’s Choice” and “Best Program Award.” Comfort feels so strongly about the intelligent design versus evolution debate that he purchased a $4,000 gorilla suit, put a manikin inside it, and animated it to draw a crowds so that he could speak about the issue. Recently he used the gorilla to attract 200 students outside a local high school in his city. “If they won’t let us speak about intelligent design inside schools, I will speak about it outside schools. The issue is too important to let a few pseudo-intellectuals bring censorship into schools. I thought that they believed ‘censorship’ was a dirty word.” Comfort added, “It was the British journalist and philosopher Malcolm Muggeridge who so aptly said, ‘I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially the extent to which it has been applied, will be one of the great jokes in the history books of the future.’ I am thinking that perhaps Mr. Maher has thought about the issue and will admit that it was all a new standup routine—that evolution is just a ‘great joke,’ and we will laugh together. I’d love to hear from him, but I won’t be holding my breath.”
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