Henry M. Morris

Henry M. Morris (October 6, 1918 – February 25, 2006) was the original modern young Earth creationist. His 1961 book The Genesis Flood, co-written with John C. Whitcomb, served as the seminal text for the budding creationist movement.[2] He coined the term "scientific creationism". The book was largely a restatement of George McCready Price's book The New Geology (1923).[3]

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This article is about the founder of the Institute for Creation Research. For other pages named Morris, see Morris.
“”When science and the Bible differ, science has obviously misinterpreted its data.
—Henry M. Morris, outlining the central problem with creationists 'thought' [1]

He trained as an engineer,[4] receiving a B.S. in civil engineering from Rice University in 1939 and a Ph.D. in hydraulic engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1950.[5]

Morris's spiritual heirs have had the edge worn off their works by exposure to the real world. Morris' works are vastly more unashamedly batshit insane than the typical run of 21st-century creationism.

Creationism

Morris founded such pseudoscientific organizations as the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research. These institutions suffered major infighting as their various founders duked it out over disputes in theology, rather than just agree to disagree as most proper scientists would have done.

He was also one of the first to attempt modifications to the philosophy of science so as to characterize science as a complete worldview, or religion, which is of course a colossal straw man (see our article on secular religions).

Racism

Morris may have been a believer in the old racist myth of the Curse of Ham, holding that those people who were not Semitic or "Japhetic" (white European) were Hamitic, and "possessed of a genetic character concerned mainly with mundane matters, they have eventually been displaced by the intellectual and philosophical acumen of the Japhethites and the religious zeal of the Semites."[6]

However, by 2002 Morris had apparently adopted the standard "racism comes from evolution" line,[7] showing that he certainly didn't think of himself as racist at this point. Psychological projection might also be at work, though.

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See also

References
  1. http://adultthought.ucsd.edu/Culture_War/The_American_Taliban.html
  2. The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications by John C. Whitcomb Jr. & Henry M. Morris (1961) Presbyterian & Pub. Co. ISBN 0825433266.
  3. The New Geology: A Textbook for Colleges, Normal Schools, and Training Schools; and for the General Reader by George McCready Price (1923). Pacific Press Publishing Association.
  4. What is it about engineers?
  5. This anecdata is consistent with the Salem hypothesis.
  6. Talk.Origins: Is the ICR's Henry Morris racist?, by Richard Trott.
  7. Looking Back & Pressing Forward - Dr. Henry Morris - Part 1
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