on 5/25/07 9:19 AM, Diane Gutenkauf's electrons arrived as:

> As one with a strong scientific background and as a true stickler for
> semantics, I can't help but point our that--
> 
> One accepts or rejects a scientific theory; one believes or disbelieves a
> religious creed. 


Thank you for that, Diane!  I was just reading through the creation museum
posts, wondering what this "believe in evolution" thing was...

There is one aspect of this subject to which I might add, having to do with
how ephemeral mental constructs -- mythologies, fantasies, fictional tales
-- are given a boost in authority as they become the subject of and embedded
in real physical architecture.  One can imagine that to an uneducated
peasant of the twelfth or thirteenth century, a medieval cathedral with its
soaring spires and magical works of art was an embodiment and proof of
religious truth.  Who but God could achieve such wonders.  (Same for the
Pyramids, Stonehenge, going back...)  Living only in folklore or even in
books and literature, mythologies have more difficulty escaping the realm of
conjecture -- but once ensconced in architecture they take on a tangibility
that can be difficult to refute, particularly in the minds of those who
desire to be a "believer" in the first place.  Not only does this new
creation museum advance its cause by embedding its belief system in
architectural reality, it also is a poseur in the world of natural history
museums, embezzling their credibility as scientifically sound institutions.

At its best, this museum is just curious kitsch -- worse than that, though,
I'm afraid represents a vigorous attempt on a number of fronts by the
religious right to infiltrate the public consciousness with pseudoscience in
support of backward supernatural doctrines and the real-world social and
political decisions that follow in their wake.  As with a recent stealth
attempt by the Discovery Institute to imply a sanction of Creationist
beliefs by the Smithsonian Institution, I think this Creation Museum is an
assault on the mission of every natural history museum and should taken
seriously. Perhaps if not by direct refutation, then by renewed and bold
rigor in presenting and defending science -- in communicating what science
is and being proactive about saying what it is not.

/stephen

______________________________________
S t e p h e n    N o w l I n

Director,
Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery
Art Center College of Design

http://xrl.us/williamsonGoogle
http://www.williamsongallery.net
http://www.artandscience.us
http://www.pasadenaculture.net
______________________________________

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