Answers in Genesis and The Servant Foundation: Agents and Mouthpieces for Wall Street

 https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/see-how-answers-in-genesis-finances-its-creation-museum-and-publishing-operation

https://vcy.com/climate-change-for-kids-and-parents-too/

I was perusing the online edition of the new 'Climate Change for Kids' book issued by Answers in Genesis and I immediately thought of some past articles I've read about the dubious finances connected with the organisation. It's clear that Ken Ham is in it for the money and is willing to tap into every resource available - including tax money to promote his Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. And he's not above threats of litigation - suing the state of Kentucky for one. His lawyer was Mike Johnson who is now the Speaker of the House.

The donor system within Evangelicalism is a deliberately impenetrable labyrinth. It's legal but often unethical and invisible. There are various shell organisations such as the National Christian Foundation (NCF) in which the late Larry Burkett played a key role. Others such as The Servant Foundation grant anonymity to donors even as every year they funnel hundreds of millions of anonymously donated dollars into all manner of Right-wing organisations - including various para-church outlets and ministries. Sometimes there are layers to the labyrinth - money goes to one organisation which then gives grants or donations to another which is sometimes an above-board affiliate and in other cases is a shell. It's a highly complex enigmatic machine.

And so while I cannot prove it, given the overlap in personnel, and the fact that some figures are made public - such as The Servant Foundation giving $8 million to Answers in Genesis, it's not a stretch to assume that money flows from Wall Street, the oil industry, and other sectors into the coffers of Christian ministries.

And why? Because their task (in part) is to promote the policy line in the context of the Church and given the way these same leaders aggressively promote Christian politicking and the mandate to vote - the motive seems pretty obvious. These ministry leaders are effectively agents, doing the work of these big money interests. And when we see so many ministry leaders so obviously given over to money and the lust for power - such corruption seems inevitable. We are warned of these people in the Scriptures but no one takes heed or because there's always someone worse or more egregious to point to, the more quiet and 'respectable' leaders are given a pass.

And yet as deceivers who go on deceiving and being deceived, as false prophets who make merchandise of God's people, they undoubtedly are true believers, really and truly believing the political, economic, and ethical material they put out. I don't doubt that Ken Ham sincerely denies the realities surrounding an issue like climate change, but given the money that (I think likely) flows into his coffers from powerful players and political actors with a financial interest - one has to wonder how this affects his reasoning and enables him to justify what he's doing.

I sincerely hope someday whistleblowers will emerge and we'll see an episode of 'Evangeli-leaks'. I believe there are layers of scandal and corruption at work in the acculturated and largely apostate colossus that is Evangelicalism. A great deal has been revealed but I would like to see the lid blown off and these scoundrels exposed.

Do I want to see scandal fall upon God's Church? Of course not. What I'm hoping for is that the False Church is exposed and wrecked as a consequence. I do not weep when these swindlers are exposed and taken down. Many are just shameless and given all that I've seen - Ham is among these. He has problem with honesty - something that is repeated over and over again by his critics.

And so while I do not even necessarily embrace the consensus view on climate change, I am nevertheless a thoroughgoing cynic when it comes to the like of Ham and the motives behind him putting out a work like this. And you should be too.