If you happen to be in the vicinity of Grill in the Park,
Nobles Park on the evening of 25th October or The Studio, Upper Car
Park, Central Prom the following evening look out for people in tinfoil hats.
Even if you spot people in more conventional dress entering these
establishments you might want to make a note not to trust them with any important
matter regarding you or those you care about.
The thing is, information passed to me indicates that the
Manx Tinfoil Hat Tendency is fast gathering momentum. If you can bear to follow
some of the recent odd exchanges on the local newspaper letters pages and IOM
Newspapers website you know the sort of person, and their flaky views.
You would think that these freaks meet in the corners of dingy
pubs at night (which quickly clear when they start talking) or perhaps the
cheaper caffs during the day after they’ve signed on. Surprisingly not, in fact it seems they are
about to go into the after-dinner speaking lark.
In fact one John Mackay of Creation Research UK is
due to make all but the wackiest upchuck their food on 25th and 26th
October. As stuff I’ve seen suggests those arranging this visit are
barely literate I’m not sure this is wise, but hey ho, any entrepreneur has to
be encouraged during a recession.
Mackay, if you’ll
excuse the pun, is a real dinosaur of the Evolution Denial industry. He started
in the 1970’s (so must now be over 60) and is now seemingly moving into
Global Warming as his traditional market shuts down.
Creation Research UK is the European arm of an Aussie
outfit, Creation Research, and Mackay pretty much runs both as a means
to push DVDs and speaking tours of views he variously claims to be presenting
as a scientific or theological academic (depending on the punters and venues). However,
credible evidence of his expertise in either field seems as light as creationist
evidence that the Bible should be taken literally.
The British Centre for Science Education (which IS run by
scientists, and regards the likes of Mackay as menaces to the young and
impressionable everywhere) says that:
“Mackay has a doctrinaire (dogmatic) belief in his religion;
he has absolute belief in the absolute certainty of the revealed truth of the
bible, as literally interpreted.
He was originally a school teacher and holds a degree in
geology from a reputable Australian university (Queensland). What Mackay has never been is a
professional, practising geologist. Despite the name of his ministry, he has
never had a peer-reviewed article in any scientific or geological journal. Nor
is the author of this report aware that he has ever submitted such a paper.
Mackay has also been described as a geneticist, presumably
because he undertook a course in this subject as part of his BSc. However, one
thing Mackay is not is a geneticist. What he would have learned in a 1st degree
in geology is both years out of date and well below the breadth and depth of
education which most consider necessary to be a practising geneticist. Mackay
certainly has never practised as a geneticist.
Nor does Mackay appear to have any theological
qualifications whatsoever.”
Actually, the BCSE study the professional creationist racket
rather closely (for obvious reasons), but remain objective enough to ask the
main players precisely what they mean to say, and how they mean to say it. In
the course of this they uncovered something else about John Mackay.
