Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 2:02am
'Creation museum' to open in Ky.
A new high-tech Creation Museum is due to open in Kentucky next May, aiming to provide the grandest riposte yet to Darwinian evolutionary theory. But secular scientists would take issue with the use of either word to describe the almost completed building that stands just a few miles west of Cincinnati, on the borders of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Wherever you stand on the debate, it is impossible not to be impressed by the effort that has gone into constructing the $27 million museum, which hopes to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, BBC Online reports.
"We have a planetarium to our left, and a virtually-finished bookstore. The museum is right under that archway there," said Mark Looy, vice president for ministry relations, standing in the foyer next to an animatronics dinosaur that is munching on a synthetic plant.
The museum's aim is to bring Genesis - the first book of the Bible - to life for all ages, and promote the belief that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. Everybody who works at the museum has to sign on to the belief that the living Earth was created in six 24-hour days - rejecting the convention most scientists view as fact, that life evolved slowly over millions of years.
To hammer that point home, two smiling children clad in tasteful animal skins, work and play alongside a pair of baby Tyrannosaurus Rex. "You go to some of the major museums and dinosaurs are their teaching icon," said Mr Looy. "We're going to turn that on its head, and use dinosaurs to show that the Bible presents the true history of the world. We have people, and dinosaurs, together."
Alongside the nearly completed museum are the offices and warehousing of Answers in Genesis, the organization behind the museum, which resemble any other medium-sized business complex in the vicinity. Much of the material is given away free for educational purposes, but the weeks ahead of Christmas are the busiest of the year, as the gift orders pile up.
Even though the complex warren of exhibition rooms is a work in progress, enthusiastic visitors are already appearing. Dr Michael Sherwin of Colorado, visting with his family, said, "I'm a pathologist... When I was studying genetics, it just seemed to me that if I consider one single cell to contain all the information I have to form me - I just don't see how that could evolve."
Answers in Genesis prides itself on having many qualified scientists on staff, including Dr Georgia Purdom, a molecular geneticist by training, from one of Ohio's main universities.
"It's foundational. If you can't believe Genesis, then why believe any other part of the Bible? You can't pick and choose, you can't say this part is right, and this part is wrong," she said, halfway through supervising an online tutorial in her office.
Australian-born Ken Ham is the president of the whole organisation, whose vision has driven the museum project. He gives very lukewarm praise to the so-called intelligent design movement, which he sees as giving in to the temptations of evolutionary thinking.
But his attitude towards committed atheist scientists is surprisingly respectful:
"Everyone starts from presuppositions. For example, Richard Dawkins says there is no God: that's his starting point. He'll admit that he has an a priori assumption of materialism, and we're saying we have an a priori assumption of the Bible."
The sophistication of the animatronics, artwork and modelling, would do justice to the most cutting edge theme park, and the main designer has a distinguished pedigree in Hollywood. As a born again Christian, he was keen to offer his services, said Mr Ham.
Wherever you stand on the debate, it is impossible not to be impressed by the effort that has gone into constructing the $27 million museum, which hopes to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, BBC Online reports.
"We have a planetarium to our left, and a virtually-finished bookstore. The museum is right under that archway there," said Mark Looy, vice president for ministry relations, standing in the foyer next to an animatronics dinosaur that is munching on a synthetic plant.
The museum's aim is to bring Genesis - the first book of the Bible - to life for all ages, and promote the belief that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. Everybody who works at the museum has to sign on to the belief that the living Earth was created in six 24-hour days - rejecting the convention most scientists view as fact, that life evolved slowly over millions of years.
To hammer that point home, two smiling children clad in tasteful animal skins, work and play alongside a pair of baby Tyrannosaurus Rex. "You go to some of the major museums and dinosaurs are their teaching icon," said Mr Looy. "We're going to turn that on its head, and use dinosaurs to show that the Bible presents the true history of the world. We have people, and dinosaurs, together."
Alongside the nearly completed museum are the offices and warehousing of Answers in Genesis, the organization behind the museum, which resemble any other medium-sized business complex in the vicinity. Much of the material is given away free for educational purposes, but the weeks ahead of Christmas are the busiest of the year, as the gift orders pile up.
Even though the complex warren of exhibition rooms is a work in progress, enthusiastic visitors are already appearing. Dr Michael Sherwin of Colorado, visting with his family, said, "I'm a pathologist... When I was studying genetics, it just seemed to me that if I consider one single cell to contain all the information I have to form me - I just don't see how that could evolve."
Answers in Genesis prides itself on having many qualified scientists on staff, including Dr Georgia Purdom, a molecular geneticist by training, from one of Ohio's main universities.
"It's foundational. If you can't believe Genesis, then why believe any other part of the Bible? You can't pick and choose, you can't say this part is right, and this part is wrong," she said, halfway through supervising an online tutorial in her office.
Australian-born Ken Ham is the president of the whole organisation, whose vision has driven the museum project. He gives very lukewarm praise to the so-called intelligent design movement, which he sees as giving in to the temptations of evolutionary thinking.
But his attitude towards committed atheist scientists is surprisingly respectful:
"Everyone starts from presuppositions. For example, Richard Dawkins says there is no God: that's his starting point. He'll admit that he has an a priori assumption of materialism, and we're saying we have an a priori assumption of the Bible."
The sophistication of the animatronics, artwork and modelling, would do justice to the most cutting edge theme park, and the main designer has a distinguished pedigree in Hollywood. As a born again Christian, he was keen to offer his services, said Mr Ham.