Ham Hightail

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The '''Ham Hightail''' is a term coined by [[P.Z. Myers]] to describe the ham-fisted<ref group=note>See what we did there?</ref> arguments presented at [[Ken Ham]]'s [[Creation Museum]]. In contrast to the [[Gish Gallop]], the Ham Hightail consists of hurtling from point to point, ignoring all contrary evidence, and blithely regurgitating the [[Bible]] whenever [[evidence]] is required.<ref name=PZ>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090813080232/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/08/the_creation_museum_1.php ''The Creation "Museum"''] — P.Z. Myers, Pharyngula.</ref> If this sounds even more annoying than Gish's method, that's because it is. 

The objective of the Ham Hightail is not to convert the [[sceptic]]s, but to bolster the believers. The [[science]] does not need to support [[creationism]], so long as people believe that it does. To this end, Ham's [[Answers in Genesis]] has run a long campaign of [[presuppositionalism]] in [[creation science]]: you assume the Bible is correct and then [[Shoehorning|find the evidence that fits]], [[Cherry picking|everything else you just ignore]]. Annoying scientific details, such as [[radiometric dating]] or [[common descent]], are brushed aside with comments about their being based on assumptions that are only true depending on your "[[postmodernism|worldview]]". If you want to take the Ham Hightail to the lengths the originator has, you can start your own [[Answers Research Journal|pretend science journal]] then fill it full of wildly speculative essays, all the while deluding [[Doublethink|yourself]] (and fellow creationists) that you are sponsoring ''real'' research.

==Ham Hightail in action==
In AiG's book [http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/pdfs/SampleChapter/10-2-363.pdf ''The Ultimate Proof of Creation''] by Dr [[Jason Lisle]] (foreword by [[Ken Ham]]), we find such nuggets as:
{{cquote|Our worldview is a bit like mental glasses. It affects the way we view things. In the same way that a person wearing red glasses sees red everywhere, a person wearing "evolution" glasses sees [[evolution]] everywhere. The world is not really red everywhere, nor is there evolution everywhere, but glasses do affect our perception of the world and the conclusions we draw. We will find in this book that the Bible is a bit like corrective lenses. Without "biblical glasses," the world appears fuzzy and unclear. But when our thinking is based on the Bible, the world snaps into focus: it makes sense.

Just as a person wearing red glasses perceives the world differently than a person wearing clear, prescription lenses, so [[evolutionists]] "see" the world differently than creationists. We have the same facts. But what we make of those facts is colored by our worldview. Thus, creationists and evolutionists interpret the same facts differently. This point cannot be overstated.}}

It is good that this point cannot be overstated, as most of the book reads like that. Of course, if we wished to extend the [[metaphor]], it is science which has the clear glasses (i.e., following the evidence wherever it leads) while the creationists are wearing colored ones (their vision is slanted by the conclusion that they then look for evidence to support). Notice how they don't have to present a case for creationism; it has already been presented by the evolutionists — they are just looking at it the wrong way. If you look at it as evidence confirming the Bible, it does.

The Ham Hightail is also known as the Ham Hoedown, as proposed by Chuck Morrison of Irreligiosophy in Episode 23, Ham on Nye[http://www.irreligiosophy.com/podcasts/2/023_nyeham.mp3] in the Facebook Irreligiosophy Group. Morrison referred to the Ham Hoedown as "objectively superior" when juxtaposed with the Ham Hightail.

==Use on Wikis==
The Ham Hightail is the favored argumentation strategy of [[Philip J. Rayment]] at [[A Storehouse of Knowledge]], who is known to drive otherwise sane people over the edge with his creationist arguments. These basically consist of ignoring all inconvenient contrary facts, making massive point-by-point rebuttals involving constant use of [http://www.astorehouseofknowledge.info/w/Template:Tq the "tq" template] that sets his opponents' words in small [[green ink|green type]], and (when all else fails) pulling [[Goddidit]] out of the hat.

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Fallacious arguments]]
[[Category:Informal fallacies]]
[[Category:Answers in Genesis]]

Categories: Fallacious arguments, Informal fallacies, Answers in Genesis