You mean among his supporters? I agree.
Freekenthovind
Freehovin
Let me set the record straight about the charges that sent Kent Hovind and his wife to prison. I have read the actual court transcripts of Kent's case. Some context, I attended college with Kent. We were best friends back in the early 70's. I know in the hater's minds out there that discredits anything else I say but I am going to say it anyway.
Kent was convicted of violating structuring laws which were designed to catch drug dealers and money launderers. The IRS recently apologized for jailing innocent citizens like Kent who were simply withdrawing their own money out of the bank. In Kent's case it was to meet payroll and other expenses. There are hundreds of people like Kent mostly small business people who are sitting in prison because of this law that has been misapplied to normally law abiding citizens. He was not convicted of tax evasion. All of Kent's employees were independent contractors and responsible for paying their own taxes. The Dinosaur Adventurer land property along with his home which also contained the ministry offices was owned by the ministry not Kent.
On a personal note. Kent did not begin this ministry to make lots of money. This assessment is from being a college roommate and observing his life over the past forty years. Kent is not materialistic. He wears the same four of five suits he had in college. He buys old cars and fixes them up himself. He is the quintessential penny pincher. He and his wife Jo live very frugally. The majority of the money his ministry takes in is used for building projects, producing videos and other materials which are not copyrighted. I know Kent's haters will not believe a word of this but it is the absolute truth!
Let me also add that I do not endorse everything Kent teachers about creationism and other topics but I defend his right to do it. It saddens me about the controversy over his doctorate. I earned a legitimate PhD. and it grieves me that Kent has to continually answer questions about where he earned his degree. Kent could have earned an accredited doctorate but like many others took the easier cheaper route. BTW he did complete actual courses and did not simply send in money for his diploma.
Finally, let me say having spent thousands of hours with Kent and his wife Jo they are two of the most gracious and kind people in the world. Kent would give you the shirt off his back. When we were in college and both working at General Motors Truck and Coach, when he saw a car broke down on the side of the road he would always stop to help, even if it meant we would be late for an appointment. I realize my words will fall on deaf ears to those who have already made up their mind about Kent. The sad thing is their opinions are based on skewed information found on the internet by those who are biased against creationism and have no firsthand knowledge of the facts surrounded Kent's character, his ministry or his conviction. I just wanted to set the record straight on a few things that I believe have been distorted and misrepresented!
