Objective Ministries Hoax

What a misuse of the word “objective!”

The web site objectiveministries.org, I have concluded, is an elaborate hoax. I conclude that there is no such educational facility as “Fellowship University,” and there is no such creationist “Richard Paley” affiliated with “objective ministries.” All the supposed plans for an expedition “to locate and bring back to the United States living specimens of pterosaurs or their fertile eggs” are fictional. Although there are a few references to real persons in other associations, most of this site is a huge joke, apparently created to ridicule Christians of a particular kind of beliefs. I have found no reasonable way that the person or persons who created this hoax would themselves believe in what is portrayed on the site.

This should not reflect negatively on my “objectiveness” site (see Objective Ministries NOT), but the name similarity is unfortunate, for some of my pages promote research or investigations into reports of living pterosaurs. Those who look only deep enough to note that outward similarity may assume they are the same or from the same source; they are not. I do not hold a grudge against the person or persons who manufactured this hoax, but it was surely wrong to do that.

How sad that somebody would spend so much time to ridicule those of a particular belief system! And how sad that somebody would create such an elaborate hoax! In places, some statements resemble (at least somewhat) statements on sites that portray the actual beliefs of the writers. If there is a problem with those actual beliefs, why not openly bring up the subject? Why not simply question those statements?

I first noticed the objective ministries site around 2004, and assumed that things like the “Pterosaur Rookery“ and “Project Pterosaur” expedition to Africa were simply naive goals by a serious but unprepared minister. Since looking deeper into this, I conclude that there is no creationist minister named Richard Paley; others have come to the same conclusion.