Here is a press release from Answers in Genesis (AiG), second only to the Institute for Creation Research in influence among young earth creationists. It describes a $50,000 essay contest for a creationist paper by high-school and college students. Further down are the stated rules for the contest.
Although those rules seem to allow for a straight ID paper, in fact they do not. Liberty University, which is administering the award in the form of a scholarship, holds to a strict 6-day creation view, even requiring a semester course on creation-evolution from a young earth perspective. In consequence, the essays are expected to explicitly adopt this perspective.
For all the talk about intelligent design being “incredibly well funded,” we have nowhere near the resources of these creationist organizations. Moreover, they seem to be making sure to exclude ID’s distinctive contributions to the origins debate by requiring work that is not merely independent of the age of the earth but instead argues postively for a young earth.
This contest demonstrates that creationism and ID are charting separate paths.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 29, 2006
Contact: Cindy Malott, (859) 727-2222 ext. 461$50,000 grand prize announced for “Research Paper Challenge 2007â€Â
PETERSBURG, Kentucky. ÂÂIn a bold move sure to catch the eyes of students, Answers in Genesis today announces “Research Paper Challenge 2007.†The contest will encourage students to defend biblical authority in an unbiblical world. The grand prize is a $50,000 scholarship to Liberty University, a premier Christian institution in Virginia with 10,000 students.
The Research Paper Challenge, now in its second year, is sponsored by Answers in Genesis and open to students aged 14–21. This year’s focus is AiG’s latest information-packed resource, Evolution Exposed. This new book confronts evolutionary indoctrination head-on, revealing the misinformation, naturalistic bias and outright censorship in public school science textbooks. By encouraging youth to understand science and its cultural impact, AiG hopes to help raise up the next generation of scripturally grounded defenders of the Christian faith.
“We’re so excited to partner with Liberty on the Challenge,†commented Ken Ham, AiG president and a popular speaker, writer and radio host. “Today’s public schools are saturated with evolutionary thinking and immorality. By showing youth the gaping holes in evolutionism and pointing to the Bible, we can help rescue this generation from doubt and purposelessness.â€Â
The winner of the $50,000 scholarship (which is larger than first prize for the 2006 Miss America Pageant) will be announced after the April 16, 2007, deadline. Runners-up will receive laptop computers and other prizes. Visit www.ResearchPaperChallenge2007.com for details.
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Answers in Genesis, soon to open the $25 million Creation Museum near the Cincinnati International Airport, defends the Bible’s accuracy from the very first verse. In addition to its award-winning website www.AnswersInGenesis.org and the popular quarterly magazine Answers (www.AnswersMagazine.com), its daily radio program, Answers … with Ken Ham, is aired on more than 820 US stations.
Liberty University is a nationally accredited institution that develops Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge and skills to impact tomorrow’s world. Students are required to take a creation apologetics course that teaches the same literal Genesis / young earth approach of AiG. Visit Liberty on the web at www.liberty.edu.
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