Dinosaurs, humans coexist in U.S. creation museum

Reuters ^ | 1 hour, 39 minutes ago | Andrea Hopkins

[Tim Long]

PETERSBURG, Kentucky - Ken Ham's sprawling creation museum isn't even open yet, but an expansion is already underway in the state-of-the art lobby, where grunting dinosaurs and animatronic humans coexist in a Biblical paradise.

A crush of media attention and packed preview sessions have convinced Ham that nearly half a million people a year will come to Kentucky to see his Biblically correct version of history.

"I think we'll be surprised at how many people come," Ham said as he dodged dozens of designers working to finish exhibits in time for the May 28 opening.

The $27 million project, which also includes a planetarium, a special-effects theater, nature trails and a small lake, is privately funded by people who believe the Bible's first book, Genesis, is literally true.

For them, a museum showing Christian schoolchildren and skeptics alike how the earth, animals, dinosaurs and humans were created in a six-day period about 6,000 years ago -- not over millions of years, as evolutionary science says -- is long overdue.

While foreign media and science critics have mostly come to snigger at exhibits explaining how baby dinosaurs fit on Noah's Ark and Cain married his sister to people the earth, museum spokesman and vice-president Mark Looy said the coverage has done nothing but drum up more interest.

"Mocking publicity is free publicity," Looy said. Besides, U.S. media have been more respectful, mindful perhaps of a 2006 Gallup Poll showing almost half of Americans believe that humans did not evolve, but were created by God in their present form within the last 10,000 years.

Looy said supporters of the museum include evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews and conservative Catholics, as well as the local Republican congressman, Geoff Davis (news, bio, voting record), and his family, who have toured the site.

FROM 'JAWS' TO EDEN

While the debate between creationists and mainstream scientists has bubbled up periodically in U.S. schools since before the Scopes "monkey trial" in nearby Tennessee 80 years ago, courts have repeatedly ruled that teaching religious theory in public schools is unconstitutional.

Ham, an Australian who moved to America 20 years ago, believes creationists could have presented a better case at the Scopes trail if they'd been better educated -- but he's not among those pushing for creation to be taught in school.

Rather than force skeptical teachers to debate creation, Ham wants kids to come to his museum, where impassioned experts can make their case that apparently ancient fossils and the Grand Canyon were created just a few thousand years ago in a great flood.

"It's not hitting them over the head with a Bible, it's just teaching that we can defend what it says," he said.

Ham, who also runs a Christian broadcasting and publishing venture, said the museum's Hollywood-quality exhibits set the project apart from the many quirky Creation museums sprinkled across America.

The museum's team of Christian designers include theme park art director Patrick Marsh, who designed the "Jaws" and "King Kong" attractions at Universal Studios in Florida, as well as dozens of young artists whose conviction drives their work.

"I think it shows (nonbelievers) the other side of things," said Carolyn Manto, 27, pausing in her work painting Ice Age figures for a display about caves in France.

"I don't think it's going to be forcing any viewpoint on them, but challenging them to think critically about their evolutionary views," said Manto, who studied classical sculpture before joining the museum.

Still, Looy is upfront about the museum's mission: to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers.

"I think a lot of people are going to come out of curiosity ... and we're going to present the Gospel. This is going to be an evangelistic center," Looy said. A chaplain has been hired for museum-goers in need of spiritual guidance.

The museum's rural location near the border of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana places it well within America's mostly conservative and Christian heartland. But the setting has another strategic purpose: two-thirds of Americans are within a day's drive of the site, and Cincinnati's international airport is minutes away.

The project has not been without opposition. Zoning battles with environmentalists and groups opposed to the museum's message have delayed construction and the museum's opening day has been delayed repeatedly.

The museum has hired extra security and explosives-sniffing dogs to counter anonymous threats of damage to the building. "We've had some opposition," Looy said.

[RadioAstronomer]

Fire breathing dragons. Hmmm....

ROFL!

[Wakeup Sleeper]

Not saying there were fire breathing dragons but perhaps in the not so distant past there was reason to give people the reason for describing such creatures or even describing such a description/thought of such an animal.

[Wakeup Sleeper]

you can make up all the put downs you want but when you refute someone you only show your arrogance and lack of sofistication when you dont back anything up, oh yeah! and not to mention much of the honest research out there is gotten from SCIENTISTS who are very highly educated including John Bomgartener who is top researched man for tectonic plate movement studies (he created best model on computer for tracking and he is highly recognised) and he believes in the flood of Noah inwhich the models of tectonic movement even show this, and it is undisputable( the contenants use to be all together at one time but a massive flood broke them apart and the trenches which exist in the ocean floor today show thisi.e. mid atlantic ridge). Oh yeah many of these SCIENTISTS USE to be evolutionists . Evolutionists are very dishonest just like the media and evironmental activists, In which they have asked in a highly recognised survey how many scientists would be willing to sign a statement saying that there is no true evidence of global warming, and seventeen thousand scientists signed it, and then the evironmentalists did the same to counteract,asking how many scientists believed global warming was true, and they could only get 2,500 to sign, how come the media doesnt report this stuff? I know why, they are PHONIES and BIASED!!!!! Check it all out my friend!!! even Darwin began to question what he did and said at the end of his life. Oh yeah just to add the as a free tid bit, the scopes monkey trial was nothing more than a plublicity stunt for the town it was held in, Oh yeah did you know that natural selection has nothing to do with what is "so called" macro evolution which no where in science is there a model of! Ohyeah I already told you this, theres no adding to the genetic code! With all do respect honesty saves people from a lot of grief! So study Honestly my friend!

[Wakeup Sleeper]

You can make all the childish comments you like, but with all respect, something intelligent would be better my friend. Peace dude!

[Porterville]

You know I love Harry Potter... witch craft is so cool... I think witches dragons and elves shared the earth 6,000 years ago... hell it's my religion.... I believe Harry Potter is the once and future king!!

[Wakeup Sleeper]

First of all the resources I use, are frome SCIENTISTS who use to be evolutionists, its funny how when there evolutionists their scientists, which the word scientists only means "to know" but when they no longer believe in evolution, then there no longer scientists their creationists, also your resources show no bonafied testable evidence, their just non backed up oppinions by an evolutionists no doubt, beside it makes no difference the source, what matters is what holds water! Their have been many errors in dating methods, just one example the Grand canyon or poly strate fossils which just blow massive holes in evolutionist theology/religion. Hey did you know my pastor at church has 3 doctors degrees(Yes even in science), and he use to be an atheist and an evolutionists and in his studies he began to realise as many use to be evolutionists. have concluded things arent adding up here in the theology of evolution which the universities have propagandised and duped there students by not letting fair critical question even be asked that should tell you something about how dishonest evolutionists usualy are, the higher ups in it any ways.

My spelling? I found errors in your post also, concerning spelling, but I dont snivel over petty things, Im not a good typer, so what!

[Wakeup Sleeper]

Also your articles are in accurate and highly dishonest they dont even tell the whole story, how conveniant for you and evolutionists who dont want the whole story to be told.

[Coyoteman]

John Bomgartener = John Baumgartner

Some of the Major Problems with Baumgartner’s Runaway Subduction Model

[Wakeup Sleeper]

The problem with article you have given is that John Baumgardener has adressed the very info that article, and he shows very accurately how the timeframes have great evidence as a matter of fact it is whats so remarkable to showing how quickly this movement took place, the shifts in magnatism in the ocean floor show this indisputably. how come your article didnt mention the magnatism in the ocean floor or did I miss it, this is how they have concluded If my memory serves me correctly. They are rapid and striped in reverse directions, this wouldnt happen over millions of years, this would have to happen quickly, I believe that how it went. Somehting to that effect.

[Tim Long]

You know I love Harry Potter... witch craft is so cool... I think witches dragons and elves shared the earth 6,000 years ago... hell it's my religion.... I believe Harry Potter is the once and future king!!

Ha ha! Man, you are so funny! You should do standup, seriously!

[Porterville]

As long as you have a sense of humor.... :) to each his own.

[RadioAstronomer]

It is called imagination. :-)

[Wakeup Sleeper]

Did you know Darwin was a racist, womaniser, and he even began to question what he did as a youth concerning evolution. Which just means to evolve, what does that mean? scientificly, you got to have real evidence, all evolutionists do is try and refute what true evidence is out there in order to keep propagating the hypothesis. There is great visual evidence that points to a creator and none that points to this what ever it is suppost to be idea of everything supposedly growing emerging what ever evolution is suppose to be and why it would even occur in an extrodinarily and remarkable stse that the world is in. The Odds are so ridiculous for even just one protein which takes I think at least for even the least protein upteen amino acids and for that to just happen by some adhock chance is ridiculous and it still wouldnt produce life if one even formed, let alone everything else in the world in ehich there is so many variables that all cant even be numbered. Much more complex than a 747 Jumbo jet and know one with any common sense would say that just formed on its own. Oh yeah! did you know they have found bones that were supposed to be millions and millions and millions oh should I stop yet? That have still had c14 in them and then the evolutonists came along and said, oh well thats because it ah must have absorbed c14 from some where near by, yeah thats it, but guess what they founsd no source of c14 near by on the contrary they found that the c14 was in the ground going away from the bone itself from greater to least the farther away, something like that. How about the T rex bone that they just found that had soft tissue still in it just recently, Oh that one didnt make nationaly did it, in any big time magazine report did it? I would be suprised if it did. Evolutonists are not to eager to represent all the facts. Regardless whether one believes in Christ in that I will say it would be extremely wise that one did! Lets just represent all the science/ knowledge what ever high falutant Im on my high horse i went to a university ego gibberish way you want to call science, the word just means to know or knowledge, so lets just represent all the knowledge and if evidence doesnt support something like evolution (which it doesnt)then be wise and acknowledge it, like a real honest studier, and not someone who is trying to puff their I know and you dont ego trip. Oh Yeah! did you here about the 700 scientists who just recently signed a statement that said they have now acknowledged that evolutoin just doesnt add up, Thats besides the many, many who have already acknowledged this long ago. Like I said when people dont want to beaccountable, they invent an excuse! But it says in the Bible that in the last days there will be scoffers professinf themselves to be wise, they became fools! Oh yeah lets start some more facts lists here, of the literaly 25,000 historical and archeological finds that give credit to the bible and not one to discredit it. Thats another group of people, archeaologists who went specificaly out to disprove the bible and came back Christians. But thats another group of disscussions in perhaps another time frame, time frame? does time realy even exist? or is every thing always in the present its just change that happens, remember, something that all have to acknowledge, SOMETHING CANNOT COME FROM NOTHING!!!! Peace, no strife here! In Christs love!!!! you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!!! Take off the vale!!!! arise and shine oh sleeper!!!

[Wakeup Sleeper]

Its called imagination? how come in nearly every contenant in the world people have made drawngs of nearly exact descriptions of dinosaurs pulling carts, people hunting them, around shores of water, with very accurate descriptive drawings of the creatures we unearth today, oh yeah and the drawings of the people around these creatures arent monkey men, because there are no monkey men, and if its been milions of years where in Gods creation are all the fossils of transitional states, this should be the overwhelming majority of finds. Even Marco polo describing creatures he saw flying in his journeys. I think I read once of people not so long ago who even wrote and drew huge drawings of crocadiles they had seen. Oh yeah what about the sea creatures that many maritime drawings have shown, of creatures simalar to the ones we find in archeology? Just a thought! and there are more of these evidences but cant think of them right now! peace dude!

[RadioAstronomer]

I am only answering you to let any lurkers know that A) I read your posts, and B) I KNOW they are codswallop. You really should study a wee bit more before making a fool of yourself with this nonsense you are posting.

Just my two cents.

[Wakeup Sleeper]

You can say all the goofy little things you want, but you havent come up with anything to back up your claims all you have to offer are put downs! Not very intillectual my friend! Again my SCIENTIFIC resources come from PhD Scientists who use to be evolutionists. Who are known famously! Who worked in universities, and very prominant orginazations, even at Nasa! I back up what I present and give nothing but childish remarks! Thats not the sign of an honest discerner! Lets lok at all the evidence honestly! But if thats not your goal then why bother? If your not looking for the truth then you are kidding yourself! Peace dude!

[Wakeup Sleeper]

Did you know that Edward Blythe wrote of natural selection which has no scientific connection to "Macro evolution" cause the macro DONT EXIST, edward blythe wrote of it 24 years before Darwin, and he was a Christian. No one heard of Edward blythe like they did Darwin because Darwin was a plublicity stunter to push his propaganda, just like they do today. Just alittle tid bit for ya!

[Wakeup Sleeper]

Did you know they found,a foundation with pontius Pilates inscription on it, Or how about writings of king Hezakiah I believe 700 something years B.C. hes mentioned in the bible at the exact timline, How about ancient over 2000 year old manuscripts of books of the bible, that are as accurate as the texts we have today. How about the books of Isaiah which talked of Christ 700 something years before Christ came on the Historical seen, this is absolute undisdutable historical fact. That the books of Isaiah were written 700 something BC. No historian Christian or otherwise would dispute it nor could they, it has been historicaly researched and found so. Along with many other finds 25,000 to be exact! Did you know that when people were saying that the earth was flat the bible says that man sits on the circle of the earth! Did you know that Ramses the 2nd above his first born child is a hyrogliphic of a falcon above it when they found it, which menat he died, you know as it speaks f in the old testament of the first born who would die if they did not have the blood of a lamb on there door posts. This was aslo undisputably written before Christ, which undeniably refers to Christ.

Did you know there are historians who were not Christians
who wrote of Christ and the wide spread and fervor of Christians, who had nothing to do with the bible, Pliny the younger, thallus, many many more, they even wrote of a darkness that fell on the earth during the crucifiction of Christus. And an earthquake that tore rocks apart. Just as it mentions in the bible anyone can look this stuff up its plain and simple. And look the whole world has been recording the fact that it is the year 2007 thats write 2,007 years since the coming of Christ, why have we been counting this 2,007 years. Your gonna be caught my friend please be honest with your search, not trying to argue with you, but you see the world and its ways is a liar.

Be not therefore of the world for whosoever is a friend of the world is at enmity with God!
Beware lest He comes and finds you sleeping! Dont deny his love and forgiveness for a lie! Peace dude!

[Coyoteman]

Without the use of a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to make a parody of Creationism that someone won't mistake for the real thing.

Poe's Law

[RadioAstronomer]

Hmmm... Here ya go:

CMB:

http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/cmb_intro.html

http://background.uchicago.edu/

http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/cmb.html

Lyman alpha forest:

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/Lyman-alpha-forest.html

Gravitational lensing:

http://www.iam.ubc.ca/~newbury/lenses/lenses.html

Boomerang data:

http://cmb.phys.cwru.edu/boomerang/

http://www.nersc.gov/news/annual_reports/annrep00/02compsci_boomerang.html

Nuclear decay and half-life:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/halfli2.html

Phylogeny:

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/phylogeny.html

http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html

Geological column:

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html

Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and stellar evolution:

http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Stars/hrdiagram.html

http://cassfos02.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/StevI.html

Galactic formation:

http://galileo.as.utexas.edu/research.html

Stellar nurseries:

http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Bima/StarForm.html

Earth/ Moon tides and lunar recession:

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/moonrec.html

Dating rocks:

http://earth.leeds.ac.uk/dynamicearth/dating/

Continental drift:

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/pangaea/

Galactic rotation:

http://web.mit.edu/davidl/www/astro.pdf

Colliding galaxies:

http://orca.phys.uvic.ca/~patton/openhouse/collisions.html

Supernova and SN1987A:

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/dave_matson/young-earth/additional_topics/supernova.html

Population I and Population II type stars:

http://www.astro.umd.edu/education/astro/mw/pop.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/stellar-population

Fine-structure constant:

http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Constants/alpha.html

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/04/18_deep2.shtml

And lastly here is a good overall site:

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm