Skepticism

Creationist Comeuppance on YouTube

You know what’s hilarious? Seeing a jerk get schooled. You know what’s even funnier? When the jerk happens to be a creationist who has spent a lot of time and effort filling YouTube with the same old oft-debunked creationist garbage we see all the time, and who then illegally attempts to silence his rational critics.

I’ve been following the fight between creationist VenomFangX and pure awesomeness Thunderf00t for quite some time. For an overview, watch some of Thunderf00t’s excellent series, “Why Do People Laugh at Creationists?” VFX shows up a LOT. This upset him quite a bit.

Basically, VFX filed DMCA takedown notices on Thunderf00t’s videos, despite the fact that VFX knew those notices were false and malicious. This is illegal, and Thunderf00t obtained clear proof of the action. He could have sued the living pants off VFX and had him banned permanently from YouTube, but instead, he did this:

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca is a writer, speaker, YouTube personality, and unrepentant science nerd. In addition to founding and continuing to run Skepchick, she hosts Quiz-o-Tron, a monthly science-themed quiz show and podcast that pits comedians against nerds. There is an asteroid named in her honor. Twitter @rebeccawatson Mastodon mstdn.social/@rebeccawatson Instagram @actuallyrebeccawatson TikTok @actuallyrebeccawatson YouTube @rebeccawatson BlueSky @rebeccawatson.bsky.social

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32 Comments

  1. I went back and watched thunderf00t’s videos. I love his even-handed, calm tone and blatant calling out of that guy’s bullshit with several different lines of evidence. Awesome.

  2. I’ve been following this as well. VenomFangX is so over the top that one has to wonder if he is a “False Flag” of some sort for science. It is almost impossible to believe that anyone can have such certainty. The purest evidence I’ve ever seen that certainty is separate from reality, doubt is the basis of all wisdom.

  3. That is truly awesome!

    Actually, I have no doubt that VenomFangX was sincere in his certainty. Unfortunately, he’s not the only person I’ve heard (not necessarily on YouTube) that knows that they know The Truth About Creationism. Still good that he apologized, just the same.

  4. Pure win!

    I love thunderf00t’s videos and I also love watching the unintentional funny videos of VenomFangX. I don’t think VenomFangX has learned anything from this, but perhaps it will sink in over time.

    This video is gold!

  5. Aye, I’ve been following this, too! The awesomeness of Thunderfoot staggers me! And even though VenomfangX probably just confessed and apologized because he got caught, I hope he has enough shame to stop posting on YouTube altogether. At least for a while.

  6. I think I saw the video on the day it was posted. My main thought wasn’t about VFX’s mix of certitude and ignorance. It was that VFX lied to get revenge, which is a massive contradiction of his supposed Christian principles.

    Hate to inject U.S. politics into this – well, quite candidly, I love to inject U.S. politics – but he’s a Republican, I presume.

  7. I haven’t been following this, but it sounds as if he has learned a very hard lesson. Perhaps the publicity from this will teach others to be a little more careful. Perhaps…

  8. I had forgotten about this guy, having been turned off by his vitriolic and childish attacks on atheists, and people in the skeptical movement.

    But seeing this rare display of humility from such an open christian….

    pwnd!

  9. I have a slight regard for this Venom guy, whatever crazy ideas he may have, it does take a lot of sand to make such a public apology.

    You’ve got to admire that.

  10. Wow – I had not been following this. There are so many anti-evolution, anti-atheist, anti-skeptical videos on YouTube, I was generally ticked off and dumbstruck that folks could be so far off the mark. I see this too often locally – totally ignorant and imaginary views toward science and skepticism. After listening to VFX, I went back and watched 26 of Thunderf00ts videos of “why creationists are laughed at”. Amazing work.

  11. I just finished watching the first of Thunderf00t’s videos. I am really stunned by VFX’s ignorance, or perhaps he does know, but he believes that all that information out there which contradicts him is not true. He perhaps thinks it isn’t true, since that would logically negate his literal interpretation of the bible. Interestingly, he does understand the Copernican model (although he doesn’t understand that orbits are usually elliptical according to Kepler rather than perfectly circular) rather than a geocentrist. Artificial satellites can get pretty close to circular orbits, but there is always some eccentricity.

  12. @Opcn: Usually that happens only when watching RedTube rather than YouTube :-)

    I’ve gotten up to Part 10 of Thunderf00t’s “Why Do People Laugh at Creationists?”, they’ve all been pretty good. I also like his commentary on Sarah Palin in other videos.

  13. The apology almost reads as if it were something VFX did not write himself, but had written by someone else (as in: someone on Thunderfoot’s side) and he was forced to read it by threat of legal action/youtube account loss. The ‘i’s and ‘t’s seem too well dotted and crossed.

  14. @russellsugden: (by way of @Rebecca: )

    There’s a lot to hate about the DMCA, but the penalty for filing a false infringement claim is a nice feature. If VenomFangX was motivated more by genuine contrition than the fear of having to pay all of Thunderf00t’s legal fees, then I’m a Cambrian Bunny.

  15. I feel sorry for poor venom. Not because he’s been humiliated, but because I suspect he is incapable of learning a thing. He’s like my sister’s little dog that that kept on teasing the big dogs and getting the #$%^ kicked out of him. Eventually he was eaten and nobody was particularly surprised.

  16. “The apology almost reads as if it were something VFX did not write himself”

    It was in fact written by Thunderfoot’s lawyer. It’s part of the settlement between them that saves him from legal action.

    Many people were hoping venom would have to answer in court and have his youtube account banned, but Thunderfoot prefers having him around. He serves as a useful “posterboy for creationist stupidity” as Thunderfoot calls him (or PCS for short). It’s also a marvellous demonstration of atheist mercy and compassion in the face of christian lies and hatred.

    If you think this was funny, search youtube for the video “Thunderf00t the blackmailer” by venom (note the 00 in his name are zeros not o’s, doesn’t seem to show up on this font), which has since been removed but shows up on the many mirror channels provided for historical reference. I won’t spoil it, it’s just unbelievably hilarious and disturbing. It’s from back when venom didn’t realise how much shit he was in.

  17. Missed this post while reading from work where we can’t see Youtube.

    This is just beautiful. It just doesn’t get much better than this.

    Now I will dream about Behe or Gish reading a similar statement to Rebecca or to the NESS or somesuch.

  18. I just finished watching T’f00t’s shows, and man… I have a new hero. His calm assurance is a soothing balm after witnessing seconds of the creationists’ thundering arrogance. He makes what he does look effortless (and the arguments he is refuting help in that regard), but they show technical flair and loving effort in every episode.

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