In the beginning . . . Adam walked with dinosaurs [Creationist Park] Telegraph.co.uk ^ | 02 January 2005 | James Langton
Posted on 01/02/2005 3:20:11 PM EST by PatrickHenry
Posted on 05/24/2005 9:14:01 PM PDT by restornu
Eureka Springs, Arkansas The razor-toothed Tyrannosaurus rex, jaws agape, loomed ominously over the gentle Thescelosaurus, looking for plants to eat. Admiring the museum diorama were old and young visitors, listening on headphones to a stentorian voice describing the primeval scene. But the Museum of Earth History is a museum with a controversial difference. To one side, peering through the bushes, are Adam and Eve. The display is not an image of the Cretaceous. It is Paradise. 'They lived together without fear, for there was no death yet,' the voice intoned about Man and Dinosaur.
Nestling deep in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas, in the heart of America's Bible Belt, this is the first dinosaur museum to take a creationist perspective. Already thousands of people have flocked to its top-quality exhibits which mix high science with fundamentalist theology that few serious scientists accept.
The museum is riding a wave of creationist influence in America. Creationism, which holds that the Earth is just a few thousand years old and the biblical account of Genesis is fact, is central to a rash of furious arguments across America. From school boards in Kansas to elections in Pennsylvania, the 'debate' between creationism and evolution has become a political hot potato.
Even as America's scientists make advances in palaeontology, astronomy and physics that appear to disprove creationism, Gallup surveys have shown that about 45 per cent of Americans believe the Earth was created by God within the past 10,000 years. It is not just creationism either. Last week NBC's Dateline current affairs programme, equivalent to the BBC's Newsnight, investigated miracles. It concluded some could be real. It is hard to imagine Jeremy Paxman taking this stance.
That wellspring of popular belief, and the political clout that comes with it, is the inspiration behind the museum. It is not interested in debating with mainstream science. It simply wants to represent the view of a significant slice of America. 'We want people to see that finally they have something that addresses their beliefs, to show that we do have a voice,' said Thomas Sharp, business director of Creation Truth, the religious group that co-founded the museum.
No expense was spared. The fossil casts, which range from a Triceratops skull to an 18ft-long Albertosaurus (a relative to T. rex), could easily grace London's Natural History Museum. Plans for a much bigger museum in Dallas are advanced. 'We would love to open in the United Kingdom if the right partner showed up,' Sharp said.
The museum forms part of a Bible-based theme park in Eureka Springs; the car park is full of cars and coaches from all over the country. To enter the museum is to explore a surrealistic parallel world. Biblical quotes appear on displays. The first has dinosaurs, alongside Adam and Eve, living in harmony. The ferociously fanged T. rex is likely to be a vegetarian. Then comes the Fall of Man and an ugly world where dinosaurs prey on each other and the first extinctions occur. The destruction of the dinosaurs is explained, not by a comet striking the Earth 65 million years ago, but by the Flood. This, the museum says, wiped out most of the dinosaurs still alive and created the Grand Canyon and huge layers of sedimentary rock seen around the world.
Some dinosaurs survived on Noah's ark. One poster explains that Noah would have chosen juvenile dinosaurs to save space. An illustration shows two green sauropods in the ark alongside more conventional elephants and lions. The final exhibit depicts the Ice Age, where the last dinosaurs existed with woolly mammoths until the cold and hunting by cavemen caused them to die out.
Scientists dismiss such claims as on a par with believing in Atlantis. Yet the museum is unlikely to be seen as a major threat to mainstream science. It was put in the heart of an area where Christian attractions are a mainstay of the local economy.
It was built in co-operation with the 'New Holy Land' theme park which re-created the biblical Middle East in the Ozarks. A huge statue of Christ, the largest in North America, looms over Eureka Springs. The site is the setting for The Great Passion Play, where each night in a 4,500-strong arena the last days of Christ are acted out. The play has attracted more than 7.2 million people.
But creationism is seeking to become more influential in other parts of the country. In Kansas the state school board recently held public hearings on the validity of evolution and the teaching of 'Intelligent Design' (ID) in classrooms. The hearings were boycotted by scientists who believed they were rigged against evolutionists. The theory of ID holds that the world is so complex it must have been created, and has been dubbed 'creationism lite' by its critics. Kansas is now expected to recommend schools to include ID-friendly material in its science courses this summer.
In Pennsylvania, the issue dominated an election in the town of Dover after the school board decided to include mention of ID in its science classes. A vote last week between anti-evolution and pro-evolution candidates ended in an electoral tie.
Creationism has found one high-level voice. President George Bush famously proclaimed: 'The jury is still out on evolution.' A CBS survey late last year showed that 45 per cent of Bush voters wanted creationism taught in schools instead of evolution, compared to 24 per cent of voters for John Kerry. 'Under the Bush presidency, we are clearly able to get a lot more done,' Sharp said.
The Museum of Earth History may be the first dinosaur museum of its kind. It is not likely to be the last.
Posted on 01/02/2005 3:20:11 PM EST by PatrickHenry
Like your tagline!
This author forgot the talking point (to be delivered with a snicker) that ID isn't creationism. I can see where it's easy to forget.
Strikes me as being poor theology, leaving science out of it.
Surely nobody claims that (parts of) the animal world became carnivorous as a result of the Fall of Man?
If dinosaurs were born prior to the Fall, but none die, don't we get a bit of a population problem before long?
Creation ping list
See my profile for info
LOL
The scripture is correct, although often indirectly. The animal kingdom feeds on the plant kingdom.
Try putting your cat on a strict vegetarian diet and see how long she survives.
I'll buy that, if you like, although it seems highly unlikely that the evil men before the Flood would obey this law while breaking all the others.
LOL.
However, I do believe it was given to cats and other carnivores to eat meat. I do not comprehend how anyone can read the Bible to mean that Man's sin would affect the animals and what they eat.
God demonstrated he could close the mouths of Lions, why not all animals.
**************
Or how long you do. :)
I thought dinosaurs died out millions of years ago and Noah wasn't alive back then. How do they explain this?
This Noah comment really made me laugh.
I believe in the creation, but I have no idea how long a "day" was, as mentioned in Genesis. A day can mean a period of time. I don't usually get involved with the evolution vs. creation debate. I don't know how God created the earth and all the creatures on it. I'll just wait until I get to Heaven to find out exactly how the creation happened.
People need to hear the Truth and our fellow Freepers are part of the great commission.
If evo is true, God did not create, if evo is true, God did not save us.
"Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."
Thank you, Restorer.
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