Opening of the "Creation Museum"

The Creation Museum opened Monday in Petersburg, Kentucky, not too far outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. From the article in the Washington Post,


Despite the showmanship behind the $27 million museum opening here Monday, the evangelists who put it together contend that none of the gleaming exhibits are allegorical. God did create the universe in six days, they say, and the Earth is about 6,000 years old.


But in this latest demonization of Darwinian evolution, there is a sticking point: For the biblical account to be accurate and the world to be so young, several hundred years of research in geology, physics, biology, paleontology, and astronomy would need to be very, very wrong.


"This may be fascinating, but this is nonsense," said Lawrence M. Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Case Western Reserve University and a vocal defender of evolutionary science. "It's fine for people to believe whatever they want. What's inappropriate is to then essentially lie and say science supports these notions."

Eugenie C. Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education, calls the sparkling facility "the creationist Disneyland."


I post this story here because (1) people behind this are some of those who demonize GLBT people and (2) I just needed to vent about it.


The mentality of taking the bible as the "literal and inerrant Word of God" was a driving force behind the construction of this museum. That is the same mentality that harps on specific translations and interpretations of the Bible (like the GLBT "clobber verses") and calls someone like me a heretic if I disagree. According to them, if you can't refute the staggeringly overwhelming evidence to the contrary and say without a doubt that the Earth was formed in six calendar days by God 6,000 years ago, well, you just don't belive enough if at all.


"When you're talking about origins, you're not talking about science," (Ken)Ham (an evangelist) said as charter members snapped photographs in an early walk-through. "You're talking about belief."


As for myself, I don't think it is really the big deal some conservatives are working hard to turn this issue into. I don't care if the seven days mentioned in Genesis were literal calendar days or something esle. My faith is not caught up in defending any specific timeline in the Bible. I focus on what the Holy Spirit does in my life and how He wants me to minister to others in a way that can make a positive difference in their lives.


How much difference do you think $27 million could have made in peoples lives? How many could it have fed and clothed. How many young single mothers the right wingers fought so hard to prevent from having abortions could some of those funds have helped? How many churches could have used that money for outreach ministry?



Jesus didn't build a museum for His Father, he focused his energy and the resources of his followers on helping people and saving their souls.


Aren't we supposed to be following his example?

P.S. My gifted, spiritual wife Pastor Brenda pointed this out when I read this post to her:


Genesis 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light" and there was light. God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness light. And there was evening and there was morning the first day.


So then, what was God looking at as the "first day" began? How long had that been there, with solid ground, water, and gravity already in place?


Maybe a few billion years? The Bible does not tell us, and I'm perfectly fine with that.