Religious Right Groups
Creation Ministries International (Australia)
(formerly Answers in Genesis, Creation Science Foundation and other titles)
| Leadership: | Carl Wieland, Editor, Creation magazine |
| Date formed: | 1977-78; CMI title dates from 2006. |
| Area of operation: | Based in Queensland but has supporters throughout Australia and in several other countries. |
| Estimated membership: | Not a membership organisation, but an estimate of Australian financial supporters (including donors, magazine subscribers, major book/video purchasers etc.) in the low thousands would not be far wrong. |
| Finances: | This is a very wealthy group by Australian Religious Right standards. It owns valuable property and is able to raise large sums for special projects. Its Australian revenue probably runs to several hundred thousand dollars annually. |
| Main objectives: | CMI claims to be “an independent, non-profit, non-denominational organisation, controlled by Christian men [sic] of science and education, committed to researching, developing and promoting Christian creationist materials, and Christian school texts and aids.” (Technical Journal, Vol. 17(2), 2003, inside front cover). More precisely, the primary aim of this group is to promote its particular version of Young Earth Creationism and to undermine the theory of evolution wherever and whenever possible. It is also outspokenly opposed to abortion, gay rights, ‘pornography’ etc. and adopts the standard Religious Right position on a range of other social issues. |
| Main activities: | Publishing, public speaking, conferences: CMI is a special type of Christian fundamentalist missionary organisation. |
| Links with other groups: | Based its theoretical foundations on the work of the (American) Institute for Creation Research and maintains close ties with this body. Most other Australian Religious Right groups regard CMI as a bona fide member of their ‘club’. |
| Publications: | Bi-monthly 56-page glossy Creation magazine; 128-page glossy Journal of Creation (formerly Technical Journal) appears three times annually; Prayer News newsletter is issued quarterly. |
| Sample quotes: | “After all, if God is not Creator, and the first verse of the Bible is not true, then neither is the rest of the Bible. Other than the doctrine of God himself, creation would be the most important doctrine, for everything else in Christianity depends on this being true.” (Ken Ham, 1999 Creation Evangelism for the New Millennium, 120)” |
| More than one hundred years ago, Robert Lewis Dabney pointed out that it is not good enough for the scoffer [i.e. the critic of Creationism] to propose a hypothesis that may be true, and claim thereby that the Bible is disproved. Rather, they must show that their hypothesis must be true, that there is no other possible explanation. On the other hand, we [Creationists] don’t have to prove that their hypothesis is wrong. We just need to show that other possibilities exist.” (Larry Pierce Niagara Falls and the Bible, Creation Ex Nihilo, Sept.- Nov. 2000, 11-12)” | |
| … [A]nti-Christian actions are really responsible for the spread of AIDS – homosexuality, prostitution, sexual promiscuity, intravenous drug use etc. … The Christian must condemn homosexuality! The Christian must condemn sexual promiscuity! The Christian must condemn evolution!” (Ken Ham AIDS and Evolution, Creation Science Prayer News, Oct. 1985, 1-2) | |
| Assessment: | A durable and dangerous organisation with significant international connections. It is a mistake to focus purely on its opposition to evolution as its social and political agenda is far broader. |
| Contact details: | PO Box 4545, Eight Mile Plains QLD. 4113 www.creationontheweb.com |
