Ignorant, stupid or insane? (Or maybe wicked?)

I think there's undoubtedly a wide spectrum of creationists. Some believe in creation stories because that's how they've been educated or indoctrinated. Many won't have thought deeply or objectively about the subject, they just stick with what they've been told out of ignorance or loyalty.But it's my subjective feeling that most professional creationists (like that certain mustachioed Kiwi ZenMonkey mentions) know they stand on very thin ice. I think they argue their case just to be perverse to facts and logic. I know that in the past I have often got a strange kick out of arguing for things I didn't consider to be true (I hasten to add not something I do on this site). Sometimes just as an amusing intellectual exercise, and sometimes because it annoys me that people accept things as facts too readily (even if they are right!). I honestly feel many of these professional creationists simply argue their case because they enjoy the debate and the confrontation.

It's my subjective impression, of course, but I've no doubt that creation "scientists" like Ken Ham and his fellow Aussie creationist, John Mackay (Sucuri WebSite Firewall - Access Denied) understand evolution very well. I just can't believe that anyone who makes the effort to study the TOE in depth, as they clearly have, could seriously dismiss it. They will know far more about the theory than most ordinary people who readily accept evolution as fact but who have little interest in the subject.There are other types of professional creationists who do not portray themselves as scientists, but who are really just preachers (like the mustachiod Kiwi).Then there is the flock who just believe what they want to believe or have been brought up to believe. It's not surprising at all that they come out with the same crap regarding evolution. They talk to each other and read each other's stuff. And after all, without the religious we wouldn't have the phrase "singing off the same hymn sheet"!