This is just to present a way that the ID vs Evolution argument affects us at the museum level. The first exhibit in my museum is the Oneida Creation Story. There is a painting and accompanying text that explains a short version of the story. (The full story actually takes several hours to explain and by no means I am an expert in the lengthy version.) When we give guided tours to groups, we always, always begin with Creation Story. It helps put the visitors into a different mind set and lets them know right away that this museum displays something that they are not as familiar with as they assume that they are because they spent a few days discussing the Oneida in class. I always begin my tours by asking the groups if they know what a creation story is. I rarely have to tell them that it's a way to explain how the the earth began, even the youngest visitors seem to understand that. I ask if they know the story of Adam and Eve or maybe they've heard of evolution and Darwin. That seems to cement the concept of a creation story in their minds. I then tell the groups that these are stories that people have come up to explain how the earth began and that every culture and country around the world has their own story. Sometimes they're similar and sometimes they're not. I let them know that the creation story I'm about to tell is something they probably haven't heard of before. Afterwards, before I move on to the next exhibit, I always ask if there any questions and if they understand that this is the way the Oneida explain how the world began. I often get asked how the story ends which I can sum up pretty quickly. Sometimes the parochial students will ask if I believe the story, which I tell them honestly that I consider it a possibility. I wasn't there when the earth was created, so who am I to say that my ancestors got it wrong? I do let them know that there are still people practicing our traditional ceremonies and that they do believe that the Oneida Creation story is the true creation of the earth. And I tell them that there is nothing wrong with believing in different stories because that's all they are, stories. We can't prove that they didn't happen and we can't prove that they did happen. I thankfully have never been personally attacked by a visitor with strong Christian beliefs (at least not at this job) but other staff members have when certain visitors attempt to tell us that there is only one true belief system. Some of these visitors will make repeated visits to the museum just to help "save" our staff members. It's history repeating itself. The point I'm trying to make is that there are different explanations as to how the world began. Whether we're arguing it's right wing hate machines advocating Intelligent Design or left wing hate machines advocating Evolution, these still just stories trying to explain the same thing. It is at best a philosophical argument and at worst a political argument. No matter what, it is a debate that doesn't belong in our schools or our museums. And yes, I agree that both sides have the freedom of speech. Unfornately, that doesn't mean people are required to listen. Elizabeth Sauer Pries __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).