Five Before Chaos

Regular readers here are probably aware of the Creation Museum in Kentucky, started by nutball Ken Ham of “Answers in Genesis” fame. Basically, it looks like a typical science museum… until you notice that there’s exhibits featuring humans riding dinosaurs and such. Its role is to basically promote young-earth creationism, a Biblical literalist approach to the origins of the world, namely that it happened about 5-10 thousand years ago. Yeah, really stupid, I know.

Anyways, I found two articles about a group of scientists who actually went to visit… and were stunned at the depth and breadth of stupidity on display:

“I think they should rename the museum — not the Creation Museum, but the Confusion Museum,” said Lisa E. Park, a professor of paleontology at the University of Akron.

“Unfortunately, they do it knowingly,” Dr. Park said. “I was dismayed. As a Christian, I was dismayed.”

Dr. Bengtson noted that to explain how the few species aboard the ark could have diversified to the multitude of animals alive today in only a few thousand years, the museum said simply, “God provided organisms with special tools to change rapidly.”

“Thus in one sentence they admit that evolution is real,” Dr. Bengtson said, “and that they have to invoke magic to explain how it works.”

Another article (with some fantastic comments) also captures the scientists sentiments perfectly:

“It’s sort of a monument to scientific illiteracy, isn’t it?” said Jerry Lipps, professor of geology, paleontology and evolution at University of California, Berkeley.

“Like Sunday school with statues… this is a special brand of religion here. I don’t think even most mainstream Christians would believe in this interpretation of Earth’s history.”

Although “mainstream Christians” still believe some pretty nutty things, they don’t rise to the level of the insanity Ham is propagating.