Some Creationists Comments on the Death of Stephen Jay Gould

John Stear

Dr Carl Sagan was relentless in his efforts to bring the wonders of science and the natural world to the general public.  When he died in 1996 the tributes flowed. Sadly, among those tributes, were littered the mean spirited and dare I say it, anti Christian, comments of creationists.  The usual observations were, 'Carl Sagan is burning in hell' and 'Now Sagan knows the truth', and similarly vicious remarks.

And so it was on the death of Stephen Jay Gould.   Below are some comments which, apart from the first, which came from Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis (and is only mildly rebuking) are gleaned from just one 'chat' site.  There must be many, many more sites on which creationists have, in denigrating Stephen Jay Gould, demonstrated again their meanness of spirit and in many cases downright evil attacks on science educators of the stature of Sagan and Gould who have faced life's vicissitudes with outstanding courage and integrity.

' ...What is the real legacy of one who had such a great mind and was truly an intellectual giant—who received in life and death the accolades of the world? I think it can be summed up by the following testimony from Mark Engblom in Minnesota that was sent to our AiG artist Dan Lietha. (Many years ago, Dan witnessed to this young man using our creation materials.)

It was Stephen Jay Gould who wrote an evolutionary propaganda book called Ever Since Darwin, which I used in a science course back when I was a college student.

As you can imagine, what little remained of my faith at the time was utterly shattered by this course and, chiefly, this book. Thanks to Gould and a host of other dedicated atheists, my faith in God was stripped away chapter by chapter until nothing seemed to be left...

—Mark

Which of the two is the most important legacy? More important, what sort of legacy are you leaving on Earth?  Ken Ham, President, AiG–USA, 27 July 2002'

[The full text of Mr Ham's article can be found here]

'Now he KNOWS the truth.....May he find mercy and peace.'

'Too bad SJ Gould didn't have anything to look forward to after his demise.'

'Spent his whole life running from a God that would have loved to save him, show him the truth.'

'If he didn't know how stupid "punk-eek" was in this life, I'm sure he does now....'

'No, when the fossil evidence started eroding his beloved theory of evolution, he MADE UP an explanation for the gaps in the fossil record. He didn't KNOW the truth...what he practiced was wishful thinking.'

'Jesus never ever claimed he came to save ALL of us, just those he chose to. Gould doesn't seem to have been chosen.'

'You'll die just as Gould. What then? To what end will it have served you then to promote the doctrines of devils? What are "links" to evolutinary [sic] "proofs" to Mr. Gould now? What will they be to you then? Nothing! You waste your time proving what is not true, only to run the risk of confronting what is, and paying a high price for it. That, my dear, where I come from, is not a good trade. And I tend to recognize a good trade when I see one :)

'he he. Perhaps this was God's way of poking fun at Mr Gould, Mr Gould who spent a lifetime doing the same with God.'

'Mutations are the precursors to new life and major species changes? HA, that is a LAUGH! mutation=cancer=death. Sorry, Mr. Gould, you were wrong.'

'It's very sad to see so many people on this thread who take delight in imagining that he will be roasting eternally.'

'I dare say the biggest regret of most of the people who feel that way is not having been able to do it to him personally while he was still alive....'

'Its gonna be a tough call for Gould at the gates tonight...'

'I'll bet he's a Creation Scientist now. Guess that it's too late to espouse any more of his silly sophistries. I don't suppose he'd have much of an audience for them now. What a shame he didn't give credit for all he saw to his Creator instead of that punctuated lameness of all explainations [sic] he did invent. Professing himself to be wise....'

'Gould may find out that God's justice is not mocked so easily.'

'My wish for Dr. Gould is that God blesses him at the pearly gates tonight and after condemning him to hell gives him a proper inventory of the innumerable harm he has caused by mocking God and debasing religion around the world on television and in person with this students.'

'The flames of hell await you, esteemed Professor.'

'I haven't seen anyone applauding the fact that Dr. Gould will be burning in hell.

I cannot believe all the Libertarians and others willing to excuse the damage a really foul little man has done towards Christians because he spoke some cuddly words about baseball on a Ken Burns PBS film.'

'Hope there is digital satellite in hell so he can catch the Red Sox losing the pennant again..over the next hundred years or so.'

'I grieve for the family because their son was a destructive force in the world specifically towards Christianity.'

'Given the chance, he chose to humiliate his Harvard students posing resepctful [sic] theological queries while ducking the questions asked.'

'This man was guilty of the most unpardonable sin known to Christian man and never missed a chance on television or in a lecture setting to humiliate persons who asked respectful questions regarding the issue of Evolution theory vs. Creation'

'My "mind" has been opened to Gould's teachings in several forums and while he may be an amiable man to some and we debate his scholarly brilliance, the ledger will not be wiped clean of his continual staining of the Christian faith.'

'May God have mercy upon his family.'

'The Flames of eternal hell await the esteemed Dr. Gould. (If he did not ask the lord for forgiveness on his death bed for his sins)'

'Wasn't Gould a commie?  I thank him for his contributions to science, but he probably deserves to roast in hell for that alone.'