Creationist museum

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A creationist museum is one that uses the traditional natural history museum format to present a young Earth creationist view that Earth and life on Earth were created some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago and that the Earth was created in six days.^[1] These museums have been created to spread the belief in literal Biblical creationism and to reach out to those (including 40% or more of Americans^[2][3] and a third of Britons^[4]) who believe that God created humans as they currently exist within the past ten thousand years and that they do not share a common descent with apes. The museums have received heavy criticism from scientists.^[5]

Canada

• Big Valley Creation Science Museum, Big Valley, Alberta,^[6]
• Creation Truth Ministries Travelling Museum, Red Deer, Alberta

China

• Noah's Ark, Hong Kong^[7]

Germany

• Lebendige Vorwelt Museum, Grünstadt, Pfalz^{[disambiguation needed ]}

Serbia

• DINO Creation Museum, Center for Natural Studies, Belgrade^[8]

Turkey

• Noah's Ark Museum, Uzengeli Village^[9]

United Kingdom

• Creation Science Movement Genesis Exhibition, Portsmouth, ^[10]
• AH Trust Christian Theme Park, Lancashire, (planned)^[11][12]
• Noah's Ark Zoo Farm near Bristol, whilst not strictly speaking a museum, represents creationism as scientific fact.^[13]

United States

Arkansas

The Museum of Earth History, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas,^[14][15] was described by The Guardian as "first dinosaur museum to take a creationist perspective" and was constructed as a joint venture of the Creation Truth Foundation and the Great Passion Play outdoor Biblical theme park, which attracts over seven million visitors a year to its 4,500-seat arena. Among the high-quality replica casts of dinosaurs are exhibits showing dinosaurs coexisting in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. The museum asserts that most dinosaurs became extinct during the Great Flood, and that while a pair of young dinosaurs accompanied elephants and lions on Noah's Ark, these went extinct later.^[5][16]

California

The Museum of Creation and Earth History in Santee, California,^[17] part of the Institute for Creation Research, has been attracting 15,000 visitors per year, and had been considered the world's largest creationist museum by the Northwest Creation Network, until the title was taken by Kentucky's Creation Museum. The museum, established shortly after its parent in 1970, moved to its current site in the mid-1980s. The museum presents the view that all humans are descendants of the first humans created by God some six to ten thousand years ago and that a worldwide flood left behind beds of fossils that can be found all around the world, including on high plateaus and mountain ranges.^[18] The museum displays portraits of people the museum identifies as evolutionists, such as Andrew Carnegie – who is described as "cruel and heartless in his own day to competitors and laborers alike" – along with Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler.^[18]

• Cabazon Dinosaurs, Cabazon, California^[17][19]
• Creation Research of the North Coast Museum, Bayside, California, (planned)^[17]

Florida

• A Key Encounter Theater, Key West, Florida,
• Creation Adventures Museum, Arcadia, Florida
• Creation Discovery Museum, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
• Dinosaur Adventure Land, Pensacola, Florida,^[17][20] was started in 2001 by young-earth creationist Kent Hovind. The park closed in 2009.^[21]
• Dinosaur World, Plant City, Florida

Georgia

• Camp Sunrise Museum, Fairmount, Georgia

Kentucky

An exhibit at the Creation Museum showing humans alongside dinosaurs

The Creation Museum, opened in Petersburg, Kentucky in 2007 and constructed at a cost of $27 million, includes exhibits of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden accompanied by dinosaurs.^[17] Fossils are said to have been created in the biblical Flood during the days of Noah.^[1] Plans for the museum date back to 1996.^[22] This museum has drawn criticism from scientists, who have circulated petitions accusing the Creation Museum of undermining education. According to Lawrence M. Krauss, a physics professor at Arizona State University, "When they try to confuse kids about what is science and what isn't science, scientists have an obligation to speak out. There's no doubt that these are documented lies".^[1]

• Dinosaur World, Cave City, Kentucky

Montana

• Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum, Glendive, Montana^[23]

New York

The Lost World Museum, in Phoenix, New York, features odd creatures in its creationist exhibits, including a one-eyed kitten^[24][25] and a supposed chupacabra from Texas.^[26]

North Carolina

• Creation Museum, Taxidermy Hall of Fame of North Carolina, and Antique Tool Museum, Southern Pines, North Carolina

Ohio

• Akron Fossils & Science Center, Akron/Copley, Ohio.

South Dakota

• Grand River Museum, Lemmon, South Dakota^[27]

Tennessee

• Ark Museum and Dinosaur Park, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, (planned)
• Wyatt Museum, Cornersville, Tennessee

Texas

• Creation Evidence Museum, Glen Rose, Texas,^[28]
• Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum, Crosbyton, Texas,
• The Museum of Earth History in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, plans to open Spring 2010.^[29]
• Dinosaur World, Glen Rose, Texas

Virginia

• Liberty University Museum,^[30] Lynchburg, Virginia,

Washington

The founders of the 7 Wonders Creation Museum, located in Silverlake, Washington near Mount St. Helens, use the volcano's 1980 eruption to claim that geologic change can happen on a rapid scale, and that changes believed by mainstream scientists to take millions of years can occur in as short a period of time as hours or days.^[31] This approach to creationism has been described as potentially plausible to non-specialists.^[31] Academic scientists maintain that this interpretation of the evidence can only be supported by ignoring scientific method and any evidence that disagrees with a foregone conclusion.^[32]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Harris, Paul. "Where dinosaurs meet Methuselah: A new museum in Kentucky merges evolutionary theory and creationism", The Guardian, May 27, 2007. Accessed September 2, 2008.
2. ^ Powell, Michael. "In Evolution Debate, Creationists Are Breaking New Ground", Washington Post, September 25, 2005. Accessed September 2, 2008.
3. ^ Gallup, "Evolution, creationism, and intelligent design," accessed 23 August 2010.
4. ^ Jonathan Wynne-Jones, "Poll reveals public doubts over Charles Darwin's theory of evolution", Telegraph, 31 January 2009.
5. ^ ^{a b} Harris, Paul. "Would you Adam 'n' Eve it ... dinosaurs in Eden", The Guardian, May 22, 2005. Accessed September 2, 2008.
6. ^ CBC (29 May 2007): Creationism museum to open in Alberta
7. ^ Rory Boland, Noah's Ark Hong Kong Creation Museum, About.com, accessed 13 November 2009.
8. ^ DINO Creation Museum
9. ^ Anchor Stone International, Noah's Ark Museum Center Update, 16 June 2004.
10. ^ http://www.csm.org.uk/expo.php
11. ^ Jamie Doward, "Creationists plan British theme park", Observer, 16 December 2007, accessed 12 November 2009.
12. ^ The Guardian (16 Dec. 2007): Creationists plan British theme park
13. ^ 'Darwin has done a lot of damage', This Is Bristol, 23 September 2008.
14. ^ Arkansas Times (12 May 2005): State promotes new creationism museum
15. ^ Time (2 May 2005): Dinosaurs for creationists
16. ^ Anderson, Lisa. "Museum exhibits a creationist viewpoint.", Chicago Tribune, August 10, 2005. Accessed September 2, 2008.
17. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Adam, Eve and T. Rex", by Ashley Powers, Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2005. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
18. ^ ^{a b} Clock, Michele. "Literal interpretation of Bible is illustrated", San Diego Union-Tribune, February 3, 2007. Accessed September 2, 2008.
19. ^ Cabazon Dinosaurs About Us
20. ^ Dinosaur Adventure Land
21. ^ Dinosaur Adventure Land, Park closed until further notice, 24 August 2009.
22. ^ Mead, Andy. "JURASSIC ARK: PLANNED MUSEUM DEBUNKS EVOLUTION RELIGIOUS GROUP SAYS DINOSAURS ON BOARD WITH NOAH", Lexington Herald-Leader, March 10, 1996. Accessed September 2, 2008.
23. ^ Donna Healy, "Dinosaur museum presents biblical view of origins", Billings Gazette, 18 October 2009.
24. ^ Roadside America: New creationist museum buys cyclops kitty; wants more freaks
25. ^ Associated Press, "Museum makes deformed kitty its main attraction", USA Today, 6 April 2006.
26. ^ Benjamin Radford, "Latest Texas "chupacabra" exhibited in creationist museum," Skeptical Inquirer, January/February 2010, p.7.
27. ^ South Dakota Historical Society, The Grand River Museum
28. ^ Roadside America: Creation evidence museum
29. ^ Museum of Earth History website
30. ^ Liberty University Museum website
31. ^ ^{a b} Johnson, Alex. "The stirring on the mount: St. Helens used in drive to prove biblical creation with science", MSNBC, May 2, 2005. Accessed September 2, 2008.
32. ^ Elders, Wilfred. "Problems With "Flood" Geology". Tufts University. http://www.chem.tufts.edu/science/FrankSteiger/elders-flood-report.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-06. 

External links

• Creationwiki list of creationist museums
• Northwest Creation Network list of creationist museums
• Specters of a Young Earth Piece on Northern Kentucky's Creation Museum and its exhibits on dinosaurs, evolution, and modern science. At Triple Canopy (online magazine)