For the first ten days of his visit John Mackay was being repeatedly interviewed in person, on the phone and in radio studios wherever he went. For over two months after the Citizen's story, he was still being contacted by reporters. The interest has not been confined to the UK; he has been interviewed by an Irish radio station, Australian newspapers and even appeared on the front page of a national paper in the USA. All this is publicity which he has not sought, but which he could not have obtained without the help of those who seek to ridicule the Bible and want to outlaw the Christian faith in British schools. Their efforts are just a small part of a persistent attempt to reject The LORD's authority which has been ongoing since before the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Rome. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened." (1:18-21, but do read on.)
Below is a list of all the links we can find to articles about John Mackay and his visit - we have included the good, the bad and the plain ugly in the list. Whilst we will leave you, the reader, to discern which is which, we remind you that the standard of reporting as always leaves much to be desired, even from the most prestigious of publications. The main Guardian article on Tuesday 18th April, for example, reported that John Mackay was to arrive "next week" when in fact they had been told that he was due to arrive on 20th April. The Times Education Supplement (27th April) twice described John Mackay as an archaeologist and not a geologist!
John featured in a segment which appeared on Sky News
Report on the evening of May 2nd and the link to their video archive is
below. More recently a programme which John recorded in June for HARDtalk
has been broadcast on BBC News 24 and BBC World. Unfortunately it is not
possible to provide links to the many radio interviews John has given.
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Who are you calling old?
Financial Times Magazine - 14 October 2006
In a neat reversal, John Mackay compares creationists with Galileo,
with scientific fact on his side, 'persecuted by short-sighted and dogmatic
bishops'.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3e4f832c-59c3-11db-8f16-0000779e2340.html
Creationism vs Darwinism (VIDEO
- requires RealPlayer
or similar)
BBC News HARDtalk - 6 September 2006
Gavin Esler talks to a leading member of the Creationist movement about
his views on evolution and why he believes Charles Darwin's theories are
wrong.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/5321286.stm
Blame Adam and Eve (VIDEO -
requires mininimum
of 512Kb Internet access)
pembrokeshiretv.com - 5 June 2006
Calvary Church was host to a series of talks on the subject of creationism
over the weekend. John Mackay of Creation Research – who claims David Attenborough
is too frightened to debate with him - had a busy weekend at the church.
http://www.pembrokeshiretv.com/content/templates/v6-article.asp?articleid=2182&zoneid=32
Mike West Meets - John Mackay (AUDIO)
Radio Lancashire - 28 May 2006
"My guest this week is without fear of contradiction becoming one of
the most controversial figures in the world..."
http://www.creationresearch.net/media/mackay-west-interview-280506.mp3
[Link connects to our main web site as the programme
is no longer on BBC Radio Lancashire's site.]
Exam Board rules out creationism in UK classrooms
Ekklesia, UK - 24 May 2006
The question of the fossil record raised in ‘Gateway Science’ was thrown
into relief by the recent visit to Britain of Australian creationist John
Mackay, who sought an audience in schools and universities.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060524exams.shtml
Creationism debate moves to Britain
The Independent, UK - 18 May 2006
For once, an evolutionary biologist and a creationist agree on something.
Professor Steve Jones,the author of an updated version of Darwin's Origin
of Species, and John Mackay, an Australian preacher who believes the book
of Genesis constitutes literal truth, are both convinced that creationism
is making a comeback in British classrooms.
http://education.independent.co.uk/schools/article485814.ece
Controversial creationist in debate (with
audio)
Lancashire Evening Post, UK - 15 May 2006
One of the world's foremost religious theorists has revealed to an audience
in Lancashire how he formed his controversial views on creation.
Creationist John Mackay told an audience at the Leyland Pentecostal
Fellowship it was reading a book written by an atheist which converted
him.
http://www.lep.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1503333
Would you Adam and Eve it? Not likely!
Scotland on Sunday, UK - 14 May 2006
Mackay... has been attracting lots of attention, largely thanks to those
who oppose his views, and who keep shouting at us to ignore him. We were,
we were.
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=719772006
Church and council row over signs
Lancashire Evening Post, UK – 12 May 2006
A dispute has broken out between a Leyland church and South Ribble Council
over signs advertising the visit of a controversial figure.
Leyland Pentecostal Church put up 10 signs around the town advertising
the visit of geologist and creationist John Mackay.
http://www.lep.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1499668
(This page may not load.)
Creationism
The Politics Show (South) BBC One, UK - 10 May 2006
(Was a feature on the programme to be broadcast 14 May 2006 at 12.00pm
on BBC 1, but video is no longer available on the BBC web site. )
[Ed. Com. The facts in this one are certainly wrong!] The Creation Science
Movement got going in this country in 1932, and they recently hosted a
speaking tour by the Australian creationist John Mackay - with two dates
in Bournemouth, two on the Isle of Wight, and one in Oxfordshire.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4757357.stm
Creationist to visit Lancashire church
(Print edition headline: Lancs visit for man who says evolution
is bunkem…)
Lancashire Evening Post, UK – 9 May 2006
A controversial creationist is visiting Lancashire this week to "dismiss"
the evolution theory. John Mackay will be visiting Leyland Pentecostal
Church, Broad Street, to talk about the origins of the Earth as part of
a UK tour. (Article is precised version of the print edition.)
http://www.prestontoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1490840
Creationism/Intelligent Design (Video)
Teachers'tv - 8 May 2006
Should religious beliefs dictate what pupils are taught about the origins
of the universe? In this episode of Talking Point, Sheena McDonald chairs
a debate on the controversial issue of teaching Intelligent Design. (John
Mackay appears at the start of the report which is fiollowed by a studio
discussion.
http://www.teachers.tv/strandProgramme.do?strandId=59957&transmissionProgrammeId=315944
‘Darwin's evolutionary theory is a tottering nonsense,
built on too many suppositions’
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 6 May 2006
JOHN Mackay, 59, is a Queensland geologist who believes Earth to be
about 6000 years old. In Australia, he's not exactly a household name.
But in Britain and the United States, he's the Steve Irwin of the creationist
movement - a sun-weathered fossil fan and larrikin whose way with words
is proving a big hit....
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/darwins-evolutionary-theory-is-a-tottering-nonsense-built-on-toomany-suppositions/2006/05/06/1146335967549.html
Believe it or not: The battle over certainty
A Point of View: BBC Radio 4 - 5 May 2006
This week John Mackay from Queensland Australia, a passionate advocate
of Creationism, has been touring halls and chapels in the UK attacking
Darwin's theory that the human race has evolved gradually from the apes
over millions of years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4950876.stm
Creationists gather to convince UK
The Church Times, UK - 5 May 2006
John Mackay, a leading Australian Creationist, started a tour of the
country this month. He will speak at schools and churches. Mr Mackay, whose
visit will continue till the end of June, founded Creation Research, based
in Brisbane.
Originally at: http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/80256FA1003E05C1/httpPublicPages/C032884F449A8A718025715D0056A3BE?opendocument
Creationist visit off
Blackpool Citizen, UK - 5 May 2006
A creationist who caused a rumpus by refusing to name the school he
was due to visit says he's not disappointed' the visit has been cancelled.
http://www.blackpoolcitizen.co.uk/news/newsheadlines/display.var.751210.0.creationist_visit_off.php
Creationist speaker visits town
Warrington Guardian, UK - 4th May 2006
A CONTROVERSIAL Christian speaker whose tour of the UK has attracted
massive press interest spoke at Penketh High School on Friday.
http://archive.thisischeshire.co.uk/2006/5/4/270074.html
Creationist Debates With Evolutionist (VIDEO)
Sky News, UK - Tuesday, 2 May 2006
A key challenger to the theory of evolution is in Britain,John Mackay
is touring our schools. The Sky Report's Robert Nisbet brought Mackay together
with one of Darwin's biggest supporters.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,31200-creationism_p11820,00.html#
[N.B. May not run video on Firefox browser.]
Six-day wonder
Guardian UK - 1 May 2006
Talking to Mackay is a disconcerting experience, as almost every scientific
dictum you've learnt is systematically rubbished; virtually the whole canon
of 19th- and 20th-century scientific thought, starting with Charles Lyell's
Principles of Geology, is dismissed as an atheist conspiracy to write God
out of history.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/faithschools/story/0,,1765209,00.html
Creationist on a dinkum crusade
The Age, Australia - 29 Apr 2006
"A lot of the interest now has been generated by the humanist groups,
who don't like me being here, and stir up stories," he said, when The Sunday
Age found him on Thursday night at the barbed-wire-enclosed Kings Church
in Birkenhead, Liverpool's notoriously rough neighbour.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/creationist-on-a-dinkum-crusade/2006/04/29/1146198391637.html
Schools minister says creationism has no place in
classroom science
Ekklesia, UK - 28 Apr 2006
John Mackay, a US figure associated with creationism, has also been
speaking in British schools and colleges this month.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060428create.shtml
Alarmed head axes creation lecture
TES, UK - 27 Apr 2006
It would have been the second time Mr Mackay had spoken at the school
following a talk to religious education pupils during a previous visit
to the UK.
http://www.tes.co.uk/2224721
Preacher in a storm
Daily Post, NorthWales, UK - 24 Apr 2006
A CONTROVERSIAL Australian preacher who has been described as "extreme"
is to stage a training camp for children as young as five in mid Wales.
http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_objectid=16985676&method=full&siteid=50142&headline=preacher-in-a-storm--name_page.html
Storm brews over preacher's training school
Wales on Sunday, United Kingdom - 23 Apr 2006
John Mackay... faces potentially fierce protests from groups accusing
the Australian of trying to "brainwash" children and even "intellectual
child abuse".
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=16982241&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=storm-brews-over-preacher-s-training-school--name_page.html
Creationist descends on Britain to take debate on
evolution into the classroom
The Independent - 21 Apr 2006
A leading creationist who claims to use science to prove the Bible's
version of how the Earth was made begins a controversial tour of Britain
today.
http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article359111.ece
Creationism gathers strength
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 21 Apr 2006
... The conference has coincided with a tour of schools and universities
by another leading creationist, John Mackay, an Australian geologist who
claims that ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/22/ncreate22.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/22/ixhome.html
Evolution should be taught as fact, says top scientist
Guardian Unlimited, UK - 21 Apr 2006
... His comments came the week before prominent creationist speaker
John Mackay, a former science teacher from Queensland, is due to tour halls
and chapels in the ...
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1758665,00.html
The creation of a phantom enemy
Spiked, UK - 20 Apr 2006
... Meanwhile, the arrival of John Mackay, an Australian creationist,
on British shores prompted a full-page article in the Guardian (1). ...
http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CB025.htm
Star of creationist circuit flies in hoping to stir
the faithful ...
The Guardian, UK - 18 Apr 2006
Next week, an Australian will jet into Heathrow for a lecture tour that
will gladden the hearts of the small but dauntless band of British creationists,
believers in the biblical account of the origins of the world. John
Mackay, a former science teacher from Queensland....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1755769,00.html
We believe in ET, not ID
The Guardian, UK - 18 Apr 2006
... basis of ID is that nature is too intricate to have been built bottom-up
by natural processes - as British creationists will hear from John Mackay,
a former ...
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/comment/story/0,,1755594,00.html
Creationists target schools and universities in Britain
Ekklesia, UK - 10 Apr 2006
John Mackay, an Australian geologist who makes contested claims that
the Earth's crust provides evidence for the biblical flood described in
the book of Genesis, will tour the UK this month.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060410creation.shtml
Creationist to tour UK universities
The Observer – 9 April 2006
A leading member of the controversial creationist movement who claims
to use science to dismiss evolution is to visit Britain on a lecture tour
that will include several schools and universities.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1750031,00.html
Debate about creation
Blackpool Citizen – 6 April 2006
Organisers of a controversial visit by a creationist to a Fylde Coast
school say they're keeping the location a secret to protect staff and pupils
from abuse.
http://www.blackpoolcitizen.co.uk/display.var.726000.0.debate_about_creation.php
John Mackay was also interviewed on BBC Radio 2 & 5 and several local
radio stations. 
