The creation scientists at Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis (AIG) — described in the Cast of Characters section of our Intro page — have an article about the sinkhole tragedy in Florida. If you haven’t yet heard about it, see Deadly sinkhole revealed under Fla. home.
We know what you’re thinking — What in the world does AIG have to say about such a thing? Moreover, are they really going to, ah, sink low enough to use such an event to promote their creationist enterprise? Good questions. Let’s take a look.
Their article is The Florida Sinkhole Tragedy — Why Did It Happen, and Could It Happen Again? First they tell us what happened, which you already know so we’ll be brief regarding that. The bold font was added by us:
On Thursday, February 28, at about 11:00 PM (Eastern Time) a Florida man was in bed sleeping when a huge hole opened under his house, swallowing part of the inside of his house and him with it.
After going through the tale, then they explain what sinkholes are and how they occur. We’ll skip most of that too, but here’s an interesting excerpt:
Under most of Florida’s relatively thin veneer of soils, surface sands, and clays are numerous stacked limestone beds, the total thickness of which is up to 3,000 feet. Conventionally dated as Pliocene to Eocene (supposedly 3–40 million years old), in the biblical framework of earth history these fossil-bearing limestone layers were only deposited after the Flood waters had finished draining off the rest of North America. Their accumulation continued for a few decades into the post-Flood era, prior to the onset of the Ice Age.
You see, dear reader, such things happen because of the Flood. Skipping some paragraphs about the geology of Florida, we come to this:
Of course, this process does not require millions of years. With all the groundwater being pumped from the limestone, plus high rainfall and other factors, the large cavities that become sinkholes can form in tens to hundreds of years.
Okay, sinkholes are obviously a young-Earth phenomenon. Then AIG talks about how common sinkholes are in Florida, and they conclude their article with this:
Sadly, dangerous sinkholes forming suddenly are yet another sign that we live in a sin-cursed world. Tragedies like this can strike at any time, which is a sober reminder that we need to be always ready to meet our Creator [scripture reference].
So there you are. The sinkhole tragedy is being exploited by AIG as a creationist teaching opportunity. The unfortunate fellow who was swallowed up is treated as if he’s a character in a Jack Chick comic book. One minute he’s lying in bed, perhaps steeped in his sins, and the next minute — poof! — he’s gone. The lesson, dear reader, is that because of the sin of Adam & Eve, terrible things happen in this world, and you must always be ready to face your final judgment.
Wait — what’s that rumbling sound? Oh no! The ground beneath your Curmudgeon is trembling. The floor is sinking! The Lake of Fire awaits! Aaaargh!!
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