#2437: Robert Youngblood

Robert L. Youngblood is, or at least used to be, chairman of the Randolph County TEA Party in Trinity, North Carolina, and a creationist of the most ludicrous variety. He was also a candidate for an at-large seat on the Randolph County Schools Board of Education in 2014, an effort that ended with Youngblood himself being charged with and pleading guilty to attempted voter fraud.

 

According to Youngblood, there is no evidence for evolution, and he challenges scientists to come up with any: “it cannot be done, for in fact, evolution is a religion that requires faith,” says Youngblood – of course, no force in the world could make him look at the evidence. Instead, he accuses scientists of just pretending to have evidence, for “a favorite communist trick is, ‘it is not the evidence you have but what your enemy thinks you have’” (his understanding of communism seems to be roughly on the same level as his understanding of evolution).

 

Meanwhile there is, according to Youngblood, ample evidence for creationism: “Creation science is based on solid empirical evidence, for we can demonstrate, observe and verify the proof.” His own list:

 

-       “Dogs produce dogs and cats cats; I don’t remember seeing a DAT!”, an observation that doesn’t indicate a particularly sophisticated understanding of the theory of evolution (nor what it would take for anything to be evidence for creationism).

 

Well, ok, it’s not much of a list, but he adds that “Dr. Steven J. Gould and Dr. Richard Dawkins have abandoned Darwinian evolution for they have calculated for each species of animals, there are one times ten to the 20th power transitional creatures that would be required to go from one type or kind to another,” a fact and a calculation that would surely come as a surprise to either. Moreover, if evolution were correct, “[y]ou would be able to dig up a million transitional creatures in your own back yard, but there has not been one found”. No, he doesn’t know how fossils work, and is blissfully ignorant of the transitional fossils found or what “transitional” could mean.

 

In conclusion, “[t]here has not been one aspect of evolution that has been beneficial to science, all it has done is limit the areas researchers dare to delve into.” It’s definitely a conspiracy.

 

In fact, Youngblood wrote a follow-up letter to the local newspaper were he “clarified” some of his assertions:

 

-       “I did not equate science with liberals and communists. I equated evolution with that distinction, for evolution is in no way science.” Which makes it all so much clearer and more intelligent.

-       “I did not say Richard Dawkins and Stephen Gould had abandoned evolution. I said they abandoned ‘Darwinian Evolution.’ Both Dawkins and Gould, were embracing ‘the hopeful monster theory,’ which basically states ‘every 50,000 years an alligator lays five eggs and a chicken pops out,’ ” something that would be about as surprising to Gould and Dawkins as Youngblood’s earlier observation (but clearly shows that Youngblood is getting his information from Ray Comfort).

 

Youngblood is also a birther and a climate change denier, and apparently believes the UN is trying to take over our country by using Common Core.

 

Diagnosis: He didn’t make it to the school board – even though he voted for himself several times – and must be considered a local, minor village idiot. More colorful than anything else.