Press Release by Creation Research UK - 12th April 2006
John Mackay, Australian International Director of Creation Research, is due to arrive in Britain on 20th April for one of his regular visits to this country. John Mackay is a widely travelled geologist and has also studied genetics. (His full biography can be found on our web sites.) During the above dates John will be speaking in venues from the Isle of Wight in England to Crieff in Scotland and as far west as Haverfordwest in Wales.
John Mackay has been visiting Britain regularly for over 15 years. On many of those visits he has spoken in schools and universities as well as local churches. On several occasions he has debated with evolutionary scientists from both within and outside the Christian Church. In March last year, in Liverpool Cathedral, he debated with Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne KBE, FRS on the subject, “Is Evolution Compatible with the Christian Faith?” Two further debates are arranged for this visit; details are on our UK web site along with the rest of his itinerary.
On April 6th, the Blackpool Citizen carried a lead story entitled, “Debate about creation”. This followed up contact from one of its readers, who had heard that John was to visit a local school. Approximately 3 hours after that story appeared on their web site, we were contacted by The Observer newspaper seeking further details. What should be of interest to all is that their reporter had been alerted to Blackpool Citizen’s story by an email circulated by the National Secular Society. The Observer published its story on April 9th and since then our UK office has received numerous enquiries from the media about John Mackay’s visit, along with requests to interview him.
One report, on the Ekklesia web site, carries the headline “Creationists target schools and universities in Britain”. This is a report put together without any direct contact with ourselves and suffers from lavish amounts of spin. Whilst Creation Research welcomes invitations to speak in schools and universities, we do not “target” them or any other institutions. What we do target is the unbelief in Jesus Christ which is underpinned in some people’s minds by the claims that evolution has been unequivocally proved. Though John Mackay has been visiting schools and universities in Britain for over 15 years, it is only in the last 5 years that these visits have caught the attention of the media. This is because over those years there has been a sustained campaign against the British government’s education policies with regard to academy schools and “faith schools”. It has been convenient to those conducting that campaign to ridicule Christians, and creationists in particular, in an attempt to change that policy. It is a campaign being motivated by people who are primarily atheists, though sadly others have been drawn into supporting them.
Creation Research’s priority has always been to present the evidence for creation and against evolution. We believe that to the honest enquirer, the evidence speaks for itself. Unlike the British Humanist Association we are not involved in a political campaign. We are however concerned that secular groups are seeking to prohibit open debate in any part of society, particularly by censorship through ridicule.
John Mackay will be available for interview by the media from Monday 24th April onwards. However, because he already has a pre-arranged itinerary we ask any reporters/researchers interested in speaking with him to contact us as soon as possible to arrange a suitable time.
For further information or to arrange an interview contact: Randall Hardy Tel / Fax: 0161-282-1111 Email: creationresearch@amen.org.uk