Kabbalist Big-Bangism

I followed the tracks from an Associated Press article at Combined Jewish Philanthropies that starts with “A Jewish organization is demanding an apology from a Georgia lawmaker after a memo using his name claims that evolution was a myth propagated by an ancient Jewish sect.” The website in question is http://www.fixedearth.com and the lawmaker is Representative Ben Bridges.

This is one of the most confusing website I have seen in a long time and I don’t just mean architecturally, design-wise and navigationally. I don’t have a problem with people believing whatever they want as long as it doesn’t harm anybody. So if the authors of this site decide that the Earth is fixed and Copernicus’ idea was a hoax, fine with me. I think they only harm themselves and their own reputation and not Copernicus’. I am even amused by the text in big red letters on the front page: “Read all about the Copernican and Darwinian Myths (and their many ramifications going all the way to Kabbala-based Big Bangism!)”

The site has eight pages dedicated exclusively to fight “Kabbalah.” I admit I didn’t manage to read through them. I was primarily looking for references, trying to figure out what the author based his claim on. I didn’t find much in this regard in the first half of the pages, which mostly sound as repetitive rants. But later this gem aroused my interest: “Both the Ramban [Nachmanides]…and the Rambam Moreh Nebuchim…agree that there was only a single act of creation, at the first moment of the ‘six days’, and everything else, (light, stars, moon, life) was created from that primordial creation.”

I tried to check upon his resources, but none of the links leading to external sites were working. I am still hoping to find Ramban’s writing on the topic. That might be more interesting, than this site. The look and feel suggests not just a non-professional editing, but also that the site was created a long time ago. My guess is that this (datedness) is the reason the links are broken.) According to archive.org it has been around at least since March 1998.

Another pointer I will follow up time permitting is this little quote: “Nechunya ben HaKanah, a 1st century Kabbalist, asserted that if you knew how to use the 42 letter name for God you could decipher a lengthy time between the creation of the universe and of man.”

But for now I think I wasted enough space and time on this site. If it does not have a big following I consider it harmless. But if lots of people believe it or see support for their own wild theories in it than I would recommend to create an anti-site rebutting this site’s claim. I don’t think it is worth the effort now, but I am not a proponent of censorship neither. Thus I would not get this site taken down.