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Hardly a comfort, more of an embarrasment…

This weekend I discovered that the church we are attending is going to do a series by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron called the ‘The Way Of The Master’, these are the two were part of an ABC News special that debated the existence of of God, they where debated by two people called the Rational Response Squad.

Comfort stated he could prove scientifically, using at least one argument without relying on faith or the Bible that Evolution was false. While I admire their zeal in this matter, right from the start both constantly quoted the bible to prove their case, Comforts shining moment was when he used a banana as his ultimate proof. As well Cameron used the ‘Crocoduck’ as proof that evolution is true, just to be clear here is the argument: since a ‘Crocoduck’ does not exist, and evolution *must* produce billions of transitional species then evolution has to be wrong. It’s not the worst argument, but to use fictional creations to make it just shows how far out of touch this debate was. It’s widely agreed that both Cameron and Comfort got shellacked in the debate, neither has theology degree, neither is a scientist and both where wholly unprepared for the debate.

Comfort has also come under fire for plagiarism, he decided that since Darwin’s the origin of species is now in the public domain, that he would re-release it with some modifications to prove that evolution is false, then pass it out on college campuses. Comfort added a 50 page introduction that included texts lifted from a biography done by Stan Guffey titled “A Brief History of Charles Darwin” in 1997, after taking considerable heat for his plagiarism, he updated the opening text but only minimally. Along with that the original release excluded some chapters from the original work of Darwin.

Here’s what I don’t understand, how can *any* church in good conscience trust either of these men?. The debate was driven by Cameron’s former stardom, both are attention seekers and while I don’t question their faith, I certainly question their methods. It’d be like letting Pat Robertson come and preach on evangelism after his comment that Haiti’s earthquake and destruction was because of a deal made with Devil years ago. While there is a grain of truth to the statement, just like his 9/11 comments, Robertson can’t see to resist from putting his foot into his proverbial mouth.

I’ve run into this time and again with Christians, they seem unable or unwilling to look any deeper than the surface. Before I submit my mind to theology of any man, I want to know what he believes, that I can trust him and that he’s thoughtful in his actions. Again I don’t question the faith of either Cameron or Comfort, but I certainly do question their methods and results. If your going to publicly defend the christian faith, should you not take that seriously?, should you not also steer away from any hint of charges like plagiarism?

Certainly with the track record these two have, I won’t be submitting myself to their teaching anytime soon and it’s a shame that so many in church are so quick to jump without looking.

-Paul-