onion, I'd like to enlighten you to the facts of your idol taken from his very own Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_hovind
His "education" was in the Patriot Bible University in Colorado. If the name itself isn't hint enough, it was accused of being a diploma mill. In other words, a place where you can get your degree in just a few months, for as low as $25 a month, where even a grade school child can get a master's degree with little to no effort.
From the picture, this "university" appears to be a single building with just three rooms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pa...niversity2.jpg
His $250,000 offer is accused as being "merely a publicity stunt designed to be impossible to win".
His dinosaur land theme park is a ridiculous mockery of nature, as it would suggest that man and the T-Rex lived side by side.
Even other Creationists accuse him of persistantly using discredited or false arguments.
More interesting is his debates with non-Creationists:
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In Shermer's online reflection while explaining he won the debate with intellectual and scientific evidence he felt it was "not an intellectual exercise," but rather it was "an emotional drama."
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I believe this quite accurately portrays Kent Hovind. He's not exactly an educated authority, instead he comes across more as an "As-Seen-On-TV" infomercial.
As for his legal history, he seems to have most of it involving tax evasions. He claims that he is not a citizen of the US and does not earn income, yet he has made bank deposits of up to 2 million per year.
Not only has he broken the commandment of "Thou shalt not lie", but he encourages others to do the same by also claiming to not be citizens of the US.
Oh, and more fun facts:
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Hovind was charged on September 13, 2002, for failure to observe county zoning regulations with respect to Dinosaur Adventure Land.[27] Despite arguments that the owners did not need a permit due to the nature of the building, the park was found in violation of local regulations.[121]
After a 5-year misdemeanor court battle over the $50 building permit, on June 5, 2006, Hovind pled nolo contendere as charged to three counts: constructing a building without a permit, refusing to sign a citation,[122] and violating the county building code.[123] Hovind was ordered to pay $225 per count. That month Hovind complied with the county law.[124] Hovind estimated he spent $40,000 in legal expenses on this case,[125] but in a 2002 CSE newsletter Hovind requested donations stating that the costs approached $100,000.[126]
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In 1996 Hovind unsuccessfully filed for bankruptcy to avoid paying federal income taxes claiming he wasn't a citizen of the US and did not earn income.[131] Hovind was found to have lied about his possessions and income.[132] He claimed that as a minister of God everything he owns belonged to God and he is not subject to paying taxes to the United States on the money he received for doing God's work.[133]
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On June 3, 2004, the IRS filed notices of Federal tax liens of $504,957.24 against Hovind and his son and their businesses due to previous legal maneuverings to evade taxation by moving property between himself, his son, and other legal entities.[138]
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On July 11, 2006, Hovind was charged in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola with twelve counts of willful failure to collect, account for, and pay over Federal income taxes and FICA taxes, forty-five counts of knowingly structuring transactions in Federally-insured financial institutions to evade reporting requirements, and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the administration of the internal revenue laws.[139][140] Twelve of the charges were for failing to pay employee-related taxes, totaling $473,818, and 45 of the charges were for evading reporting requirements by making multiple cash withdrawals just under the $10,000 reporting requirement (a technique known as "smurfing"). The withdrawals, totaling $430,500, were made in 2001 and 2002.[140] Jo Delia Hovind, his wife, faced 44 charges.[141]
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Hovind was sentenced on January 19, 2007 to ten years in prison and ordered to pay the federal government restitution of over $600,000. After his prison term finishes, he will serve another three years of probation. A tearful Hovind had hoped to avoid prison, telling the court, "If it's just money the IRS wants, there are thousands of people out there who will help pay the money they want so I can go back out there and preach."[154] But Hovind's court room behavior was in stark contrast to phone calls he made while in jail.[155] One conversation with Eric Hovind, Kent Hovind's son, showed the two plotted to hide a motor vehicle title and property deeds to prevent the government from collecting the property to pay for owed debt.[156]
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Quite an inspiration there. [/sarcasm]
It seems to me that, instead of being anyone great or upstanding, Kent Hovind is nothing more or less than a scumbag using religion to further his own ends(in this case, money). He is a hypocrite, he does NOT practice what he preaches, and he is no different than David Koresh who used people's religious beliefs in order to coerce young girls to have sex with him.
More information at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koresh
See, Kent Hovind has a gift. That gift is nothing divine and has little to do with God. That gift is the ability to manipulate the dumb, ignorant masses. A gift once shared by David Koresh as well.
It's almost funny in a sadistic way that he also managed to drag his wife and son into the mess he made.
Your hero is currently residing in the Federal Correctional Institution in Edgefield, South Carolina. His wife is in the Federal Correctional Institution in Marianna, Florida.
In the battle of Science VS Creationism, it looks like the IRS won. Go figure.