The BIG THREE of Y-E-C

by Jake Ramgren

It happens over and over again.

Whether I am visiting a church, doing a museum tour, or just speaking to a pastor, when it come to creation, I get one common question (an no, I'm not actually talking about the distant starlight problem this time).

The question is: "What do you think of Ken Ham?"

Fair enough. Whether it's my parents mixing him up with Kent Hovind (same initials, but big difference), or my grandparents planning a trip to the Ark Encounter, Ken Ham is the name people know. It's almost synonymous with creationism at this point.

But Ken's Australian ministry "Answers in Genesis" is not the only big name around. I have talked to families that listen to the ICR podcast (ICR being the "Institute for Creation Research) and Creation Ministries International is not too far behind in terms of name recognition. At least, in the little bubble I am in here in New England.

What should creationists think of these organizations? Is one better than the other like how Chick-fil-A is better than KFC or Popeyes? Or are they all pretty much the same product from different places, like McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King (if you close your eyes, it's all fast food)?

Today, I published a video describing all three organizations. I was critical, hopeful, encouraging, honest, and hopefully right about most of the things I said. I truly do appreciate and admire the work in creationism every professional creation scientist has done, and I hope my criticisms of an organization does not come across as an attack on anyone. We are all on the same side here. No one's platform (especially mine) is above critique.

I wish every YEC scientist well, wherever they work.

I wish that for conventional scientists as well, but that's a video for another day.

That said, I can't give you the definitive answer on WHAT to think about the "Big 3" of YEC. But what I can do is give you my honest opinion and let you navigate the world of creationism on your own.

Be careful. It's a crazy world out there.

Here's the video.