Answers in Genesis, the Moon Landing, and Conspiracy Theories: Oh, the Irony!

Today as I was scrolling through my Twitter account, I came across a new post from Answers in Genesis entitled, “Did We Really Land on the Moon?” It’s a relatively short post, but I simply couldn’t believe what I was reading. This might be one of the most ironic things I’ve read in a long time.

So, Does AiG Doubt We Landed on the Moon?
To cut to the chase, no, Answers in Genesis does not believe that the moon landing was a conspiracy. They believe we really did land on the moon. The article is really about how there are conspiracy theorists out there who still doubt that we ever did. What does this have to do with AiG’s favorite subject, evolution? Just wait…

The article states that the reason why some people started to doubt that we ever landed on the moon was because they came to distrust the government, primarily in light of Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. Therefore, as the article states, “most Americans seemed to think that the government lied about so many things, so the moon landings could have just been one more thing that the government lied about.”

The article then notes that movies like Capricorn One and countless conspiracy theory books fed this distrust in many people. Even though virtually all of the supposed “evidence” the conspiracy theorists point to is easily refuted, there still are some people who buy into conspiracy theories. As the article states:

“Why is there such interest in the supposed hoax of the Apollo moon landing? As previously mentioned, part of the reason is a basic mistrust of government authorities. But conspiracies seem to have an odd attraction for many people, for many other conspiracy theories abound. People appear naturally to be attracted to conspiracies. Conspiracies certainly are far more interesting than the possibility that things are as they seem.”

The article then says that we can be certain that we really landed on the moon, because two of the astronauts, Charles Duke and Jim Irwin, were Christians and wrote about their time on the moon. Therefore, since “these two Christian astronauts certainly suffice as reliable witnesses…we can be assured that the Apollo astronauts indeed walked on the moon.”

So, we can sum up the article this way:
1. Conspiracy theories (like the moon landing) are held because there is a distrust of the government.

2. No matter how often you conclusively refute the false claims of conspiracy theorists, there will always be some people who cling to the debunked conspiracy theory.

3. We can be confident that we landed on the moon because two Christians testified to the fact that we did.

And Now…for the Irony
The irony, of course, is that what this AiG has effectively done is expose itself as a conspiracy theorist organization! The article states that it is understandable that some might doubt the moon landing, because “so many scientists are wrong about the origin and age of the world.” But how does AiG know that so many scientists are wrong about evolution and the age of the world? Simple, because AiG pushes their own conspiracy theory!

Let’s keep this short and sweet:
1. Distrust of the Government: AiG strongly distrusts “secular scientists” and the government. Ken Ham routinely writes on his blog about how the government is brainwashing people to believe evolution, pushing an atheist religion, and actively persecuting Christians (because he didn’t get certain tax breaks for his Ark Encounter project).

2. Evidence: AiG completely ignores the modern scientific evidence regarding the age of the earth and evolutionary theory. Ken Ham does this by making up his own fictitious category of “historical science” and defining it as “belief about the past that can’t be tested.” And just like that he then calls modern science “secular historical science” that has no evidence and is based on blind faith.

But…there really is evidence that proves this. “Not so,” says Ham, “evidence doesn’t speak for itself…you must interpret correctly, and correct interpretation must be based on starting assumptions!” And Ham’s starting assumption is that “the Bible is true.” But that’s really misleading, because what his real starting assumption is that Genesis 1-11 is meant to be read as history, and is therefore “God’s eyewitness account” and “God’s historical science textbook.” And just like that, it becomes painfully clear: no matter how much evidence you come up with to refute Ken Ham’s claims and prove that the universe really is older than 6,000 years, the folks at AiG will ignore it and cling to their debunked conspiracy theory that scientists and the government are “indoctrinating” society into the “religion of atheism and evolution,” and the sole reason is because they don’t want to live by God’s rules.

3. Testimony: And here is where AiG’s hypocrisy is on full display. They believe we landed on the moon because there were Christians who testified to the fact. But when it comes to the age of the earth and evolutionary theory, AiG’s response to Christians who are tremendous scientists (Francis Collins, Karl Giberson, Richard Colling) and tremendous Biblical scholars (NT Wright, Bruce Waltke, Peter Enns, John Walton)–well, they are rejected by AiG and called “compromised Christians” at best, and outright “deceivers” who will suffer God’s judgment at worst.

And why do these Christians get attacked by AiG? Because AiG is promoting a conspiracy theory, and these Christians who are leaders in both the scientific world and the world of Biblical Studies have refuted AiG’s conspiracy theory time and time again. Therefore, as AiG is concerned, they deserve judgment.

Yes indeed, AiG correctly describes the dynamics of conspiracy theorists. Ironically, they have described themselves.

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