Atheist says to blog the Creation Museum

This past Thursday evening, Dr. Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of an organization set up specially to oppose creationist organizations spoke in Cincinnati. Keep in mind that in 1998, Eugenie was given an award by the American Humanist Association. After her lecture, she answered a number of questions. We transcribed some of the questions and Eugenie Scott’s answers:

1. Questioner: "The creationists ... are making a big thing about dinosaurs and Ken Ham makes a point of saying "We're taking back the dinosaurs" I don't think anyone took them away ... My question, in your research, has...I think Ken Ham is making a break with the past from the fundamentalists with their treatment of dinosaurs. What was the past like, with fundamentalists, and their regard towards dinosaurs?"

   Scott: "Yeah, he's very clever, he's realized that kids love dinosaurs. You want to be able to use that to bring children to Jesus. So he refers to dinosaurs as missionary lizards." (laughter)

2. Woman expressed concern about public schools being pressured to take students to the AiG Museum:

   "The problem with the Answers in Genesis Museum is that it is a very religious operation. This is a...from what I've seen of the exhibits and I haven't seen all, but...of the reports that have come through, and the pictures shown on their website, from everything that I can...all the information I can obtain, this a very sectarian institute. It's presenting a particular Christian view, and it's advocating it very, very strongly as well as making very dogmatic statements that if your religion is different from this, you are going to go to hell. I don't think public school kids should be taken to a venue like that that is strongly prosetylizing."

   [By the way, when Eugenie visited the Creation Museum with the BBC to interview me, she saw none of the 50 videos produced, none of the many teaching signs, and heard none of the audio, and did not see any of the theater programs. When she visited, the state of construction was such that we could only show her the lobby area. It’s interesting to note her dogmatic statements about what the Creation Museum will teach when she has seen virtually nothing of what will be taught! That’s not what one would call good research procedure – and incidentally, I’ve seen all the signs for the Museum and watched all the videos, I have not heard anything or seen anything that says “if your religion is different from this, you are going to hell.” Certainly we present the gospel and the consequences of not being a Christian.]

3. Eugenie encouraged the audience to go to the museum after a question about the MUSEUM’S OPENING:

   "What I would suggest is that you all go. Go take lots of notes and blog the [expletive deleted] out of the place. (laughter) Because more people are going to read these blogs than are going to see the photographs from the opening or anything else. And blogs have got staying power. And there's lots of good science blogs around. Blog it; write letters to the editor. You can get information out to the general public about two things: the science there is really, bad and it really hurts local education."

Represented at the lecture was the local Free Inquiry Group (FIG). FIG is the humanist group that first stirred up all the problems when AiG tried to rezone a piece of property (10 minutes off the freeway) to build a Creation Museum. At that stage (a few years ago) we were going to build a 30,000 sq foot building for Museum and offices. As a result of all the opposition stirred up by this anti-God group, AiG lost the first piece of property. However, what they meant for evil, God meant for good. We found a piece of property (the one the Creation Museum is now located on) right on Interstate 275, right at an interchange—and we decided to build a much bigger Museum, in a much better location, with potential for a much greater impact, and with a much greater vision. I almost feel like I should send FIG a thank you letter.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying Ken