Creationist Offers $20K to Disprove Book of Genesis in Court
An expert in creationism has recently announced that he will reward $10,000 of his own money to anyone who can scientifically disprove the literal account of the Bible's book of Genesis in an informal trial in front of a judge.
Dr. Joseph Mastropaolo, an avid creationist who holds a Ph.D. in kinesiology, is offering $10,000 for his Literal Genesis Trial, which, given a contender comes forward, would be held in a courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif., in front of a superior court judge, a court reporter, and a bailiff.
The contender attempting to scientifically disprove the book of Genesis must also put $10,000 of his own money in an escrow account along with Mastropaolo's money, and the winner of the debate will receive $20,000 total.
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Additionally, the prevailing party of the debate will pay court costs.
Mastropaolo said that he hopes engaging in a trial-like debate regarding creationism vs. evolution will provide guidance to those questioning both theories in the future.
"The evolutionists thereafter could read that transcript and make their case a bit stronger on the next one they contend against and we can do the same," Mastropaolo told The Guardian of the debate.
"We can read the transcript and not have to go through the same process over and over and over again without any let up, without any resolution."
Mastropaolo, who currently writes for the Creation Science Hall of Fame website, told The Guardian that the argument supporting evolutionism must be based on science, meaning it must be "objective, valid, reliable and calibrated."
An advertisement featured on the Creation Science Hall of Fame website, which is facilitating the competition, invites all "theistic evolutionists, allegoricalists, and long agers" to participate in the competition.
"This is your chance to shine. Are you willing to participate in a contest to prove your point that the Bible is wrong and that we evolved? You could go home with $20,000 if you win!" the advertisement reads.
As the contest rules contend, this debate is legally classified as a minitrial, meaning it is a private, voluntary, and informal type of alternative dispute resolution which carries no legal basis and has no connection to state or federal governments.
Before the minitrial can take place, the two competitors must agree on a judge pulled from a list of possible candidates.
According to Yahoo! News, this is not the first informal trial Mastropaolo has conducted.
The California resident attempted to previously facilitate a similar competition known as the Life Science Prize.
As Mastropaolo told The Guardian, he believes that any evolutionist who comes forward to debate cannot successfully prove that a non-literal interpretation of Genesis is more scientific than a literal interpretation.
"They (evolutionists) are not stupid people, they are bright, but they are bright enough to know there is no scientific evidence they can give in a minitrial," Mastropaolo said.
