Thomas D. Hennigan is a young earth creationist associated
with Answers in Genesis.
He has published several articles in their house journal Answers;
for vol. 2 he wrote “Toward An Understanding of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbioses within a
Creation Model of Ecology: Implications for Godly Stewardship and Sustainable
Agriculture,” which may sound technical, but is really an argument that symbiosis
between fungus and plants provides a reason for religious people to take care
of the earth. It does not even remotely support a godly created earth one bit.
For vol. 4 he coauthored (with Jean K. Lightner, Georgia Purdom,
and Bodie Hodge)
the article “Determining the Ark Kinds” – presumably as part of the Ark Encounter project, in which the authors attempted to determine which kinds of animals
were on the Ark – an important project for the creationist discipline of
baraminology (it is commonly claimed that the size of the Ark did not allow all species to
be present, but “kind” does not necessarily mean “species”; the species of
today would thus have to have developed after the Flood – though not, of
course, through evolution). The authors of said article discuss three baraminological
systems: hybridization (animals that can produce hybrids represent a single
kind, applying an old, mythical, and senseless definition of “species”),
cognitum (“a cognitum is a group of organisms that are naturally grouped
together through human cognitive senses,” i.e. they are the same kind if they
look kinda similar), and statistical baraminology. They conclude that the
cognitum approach is best, partially since “Adam would have recognized created
kinds by sight.” There is no science or even attempt to make useful
distinctions (genetic information is rejected as a potential determinant), and
they conclude by asking for prayers for the reader. It doesn’t present anything
to support creationism either.
For vol. 6,
he produced “An Initial Estimate Toward Identifying and Numbering Amphibian
Kinds within the Orders Caudata and Gymnophiona”, another attempt to enumerate
“kinds” by the method of just making it up as you go along. Sometimes kinds are
equated with families and sometimes not, and that’s that.
According to his bio, Hennigan became a creationist after
realizing that “[s]cientists studying the past were not present at the
beginning and don't know the initial conditions, so they must conjecture based
on preconceived philosophical assumptions.” That is, in translation, “the
massive amount of evidence can’t answer Pyrrhonian skepticism, so I choose to
believe whatever I want.”
Since he is passionate about creationism, he does what
creationists do instead of science: outreach. Hennigan’s strategy for winning
the scientific debate is thus, as expected, to spend a lot of effort speaking
to church youth groups, congregations and Sunday school classes. It wasn't really ever about the evidence.
Diagnosis: Complete moron who tries his best to combat
reason, rationality and accountability. Perhaps not the most influential
character in the movement, but seriously crazy nonetheless.
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