[Hovind] is afforded the opportunity to believe as he does. But lets look at it truthfully. If what Hovind was saying was so fantasitically false, then no one would care about his babble. As it is, its more than evident that what he's saying is hitting home to the scientific community. If creationism as a whole was not presenting a problem to secular views, then there would not be propaganda campaign to stop it. I mean, look at Talk Origins. Nearly the entire site is devoted towards the debate, as is this webforum. If it wasn't a problem and if it wasn't based on, at the very least, some merit, then no one would care either way. So its reasonable to assume that what Hovind and the gang are saying has more legitimacy than some would incline.
Illiteracy must have something going for it--else the educators of the world would not invest so much energy in a propaganda effort to teach kids to read.
Thanks to complexPHILOSOPHY for the OP. My mental picture of this theory needed exactly the update you provided. I appreciate your taking the time to type it up.