In message Museum discussion list writes: > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 11:45:52 -0800 > From: Rowan Fairgrove <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: CHAT: creationism museum > Creationism Made Easy > By Marghe Covino > > Nestled unsuspectingly in an industrial park fronting a freeway in > Santee near San Diego is the 17-year-old Museum of Creation and > Earth Science. The large, converted warehouse is the object of > devout pilgrimages from tourists and schoolchildren throughout the > state; true believers who walk through the gallery listen to guides > debunk evolution, extol biblical lore and, thus, explain the origin of > the earth. > I set out from Sacramento last winter on my own pilgrimage to > the museum--to find out how creationism is taught and what its > teachers are really advocating. See, I used to think the aim of > crestionism was straightforward: to get a new version of evolution > (like the earth is less than 10,000 years o1d) taught in America's > classrooms. But a walk through the museum indicated a deeper, > even more frightening goal. The aim involves proclaiming the truth > of creationist beliefs _globally_, linking the American right-wing > with other fundamentalist religions from around the world. > Just after entering the museum comes a sign on the wall > proclaiming that most "other" religions are evolutionary and > therefore inferior at best and apostate at worst. Biblical passages > are quoted to demand that each visitor decide "where he stands on > this vital issue." One sign proclaims, "The Tree of Evolutionism > bears only corrupt fruits, Creadonism bears good fruits." > Following that, one begins the tour, first strolling through > Genesis with its bright wall murals of space and planets. Presented, > among other things, there is "scientific evidence" debunking the > Big Bang theory and, moving on, the issue that God used 24-hour > days during the Creation, (no trying to get around it by saying that > the term "day" can be interpreted to mean millennium--you must > believe the absolute inerrant Word of God). And that's not all. > Signs also announce the news that "many top astronorners are > abandoning the Big Bang theory." Raised concrete and bright paint > outline the earth and the cosmos as we move through the next > doorway (flanked by formed concrete trees and artificial greenery) > to the Garden of Eden. Much is made over God's directive that man > has "dominion" over the earth and its creaures. Indeed, the algae- > ridden fish tank, the little finches with scant food and water, the > tarantula with none, the mice climbing an endless wheel to escape > their cramped, airless cage, the poorly kept lizards and snakes were > there to prove dominion in no uncertain terms. "The billions of > fossils of both men or animals in the rocks of earth speak of sin > and death--not the evolution of life--they must ALL be dated > AFTER Adam's fall," a sign proclaims. > The Flood exhibit is next, replete with theories about God > putting most of the large animals in a "hibernating state," a three- > dimensional mural of the inside of the ark; and "space > photographs" of the mountainous region in Ararat where the ark > was purported to have landed. > Strobe lighting and water sounds then dumped us out into the > Ice Age. A guide intoned to the schoolchildren: "All of that water > had to go somewhere, so it probably was sent into making the > glacier in the Ice Age. The dinosaurs were in the ark and when the > Ice Age came they were caught in it and that's how come their > bones are found in various places, because they were left by the > glaciers." > The Ice Age room was replete with concrete-formed blue- > painted stalactites and chilly temperatures. Everything leads to the > inescapable conclusion that this is a young universe. (Even director > Stephen Spielberg fell victim to this view when Orthodox rabbis in > Israel declared his movie, Jurassic Park, heretical because it > depicted evolution, which is contrary to the fundamentalist belief > of the earth's age.) > Several sets of displays held odd collecdons that seemed > unrelated: monarch butterflies in one cage; a melted 45 rpm record, > a paintbrush, a rusty hook and a melted lab flask. Still another > display held a lengthy pictorial discourse on Mount St. Helens and > then moved on to the unreliability of radiometric dating. Still > another high-tech plastic sign gave "scientific" instructions like > "To determine the geological age of a fossil: Do NOT use depth > (where found); do NOT use type of rock; do NOT use radiometric > dating; do NOT use stage of evolution, DO use the Word of God." > Cheap knock-off pottery and artifact displays--heavy on the > shekels and menorahs, oil lamps and widow's mites were in the > same location with Greek and Egyptian artifacts, human fossils and > something called "Post-Flood Man." Still another sign states: > "Cave men were not human, but weaker, probably degenerate > descendants of those migrating away from the Tower of Babel." Of > course, Babel was the hotbed of "evolutionary pantheism, > polytheistic idolatry, astrology and occult spiritism." > The Egyptian, Sumerian and Greek civilizations were dismissed > as "man-centered, anti-Christian philosophies." Citing > Epicureanism (341-271 BC) and Zeno's Stoicism (336-264 BC) as > "opposing Paul's preaching," the Creation Museum blithely ignores > the fact that the theories were expounded prior to Paul's existence. > Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are dismissed as "atheistic" or > "pantheistic." Meanwhile, animism is described as the basis for the > religions of "uncivilized tribes" and also the basis for Hindus, > Buddhists, Shintoists, Confucianists and Muslims. > The Aztecs and Incas came in for more bashing about their > behavior--heathenism and human sacrifice--as we moved on to the > final display, what the guide called "our wall of infamy." On one > side of the hallway were the "Bible-believing scientists," while > evolutionists on the other side included Friedrich Nietzsche, > Andrew Carnegie, Karl Marx, John D. Rockefener and Charles > Darwin ... and his grandfather. Nazism, Communism and racism > were listed as "the fruits of evolution." > The final display was called The Decadence of Pre-Columbian > Indian Societies. It was the culmination of the tour and featured the > opinion of former California Congressman William Dannemeyer > (that well-known pre-Columbian scholar) on the justification for > killing and enslaving the Indian peoples. It reads: "Homosexuality > was quite common in many pre-Columbian Indian societies. > Columbus discovered, with disgust and dismay, that both the > violent Caribs and relatively peaceful Arawaks practiced sodomy. > Cortez also found that sodomy was rampant among Indian tribes in > Mexico. The priestly caste of the Cempoallan tribe, for instance, > indulged in sodomy and homosexual prostitution was common > among the community. > "Due to constant internecine warfare and ecological abuse the > Mayan civilization had already collapsed by the time the Spaniards > arrived. The residue left of that once-mighty culture was a people > that had retreated into abject barbarism.... It had become decadent > and self-indulgent. The pleasure-obsessed upper classes were > sacrificing human beings, indulging in orgies and practicing > sodomy without shame. The shocked Spaniards put the Mayans' > leaders to the sword." > People, over 27,000 visitors have been through the museum > during the past year. I urge you to go experience it for yourselves. > Look. See the past and project the creationist future. It's mind- > blowing. It's free ... and worth every penny. > > Marghe Covino is a local free-lance writer and co-founder of > Project Tocsin, a Sacramento-based organization that monitors the > political activities of the religious right. > ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------ Sue McGuire Manager of Public Programs New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science [log in to unmask]