Museum Of Earth History Displays Creationism Exhibit

Just thought some members might find this interesting. The Museum of Earth History, located in a resort town in the Ozark mountains, displays Dinosaur fossils and lush pre-historic scenes designed to depict the creation of the earth in six days as taught in the Bible. G. Thomas Sharp, the chairman of the Creation Truth Foundation who co-founded the museum, is a former high school science teacher and states that "There is so much demographic data telling us that about 50 percent of the American public believes in the biblical story of origins".

Plaquards at each of the displays describe how it's possible that the creation of the earth could have happened as taught in The Book of Genisis in the Bible. A sign on one display reads:

"Each of these unique design features indicate that Pteranodons were created to fly, not that they slowly evolved into flying creatures."

Pteranodons were flying reptiles with a wingspan of more than thirty feet.

Yahoo News via The Chicago Tribune

At first glance, with its research-quality replicas and lush dioramas of prehistoric Earth, the Museum of Earth History, which opened in April in this Victorian spa town, may seem like any other facility devoted to dinosaurs and fossils. But with exhibits aligned with the Bible's six days of creation, it also is emblematic of the increasing volume in the national debate over how evolution should be taught in public schools and the emboldening of those who oppose or question evolution.

At issue, in state legislatures, school boards, museums and other cultural institutions across the country, is whether evolution, Charles Darwin's widely accepted theory that all life descended from common ancestors and developed through natural selection and random mutation, should be presented alone or in conjunction with alternative explanations.

Most visitors to the Museum of Earth History prefer the explanation in Genesis. And that is exactly what the museum, a joint project of the non-profit, Oklahoma-based Creation Truth Foundation and Eureka Springs' Great Passion Play outdoor Bible theme park, offers.

I guess if the supporter's of creationism are going to make a national debate about the validity of the claims then having museums where they can show the "science" behind creationism is a key component. No matter how you feel about this subject, there is no doubting that this debate is really gaining momentum in American culture. Court battles, politicians weighing in, and alot of media attention point to signs that this issue is so very far from being settled.

I've always thought that the theory of evolution was the most likely explanation for the history of the earth. I've even shyed away from debating it, mostly because I've always considered that the idea of creationism is so lacking in evidence and credibility that to argue it was ubsurd. Although, someone looking at this objectively has to admit that no definitive and proven theory has shown exactly how and why life on earth started when and the way it did. One thing that really surprises me sometimes is that many of the most ardent supporters of creationism are very well educated people. Teachers, doctors, and all manner of highly educated professionals support the biblical version of earth's history. With that in mind I find myself having to let go of the stereotypes I've always believed in when thinking of the supporters of creationism. This is a strange debate in that there is seemingly no middle ground, you either believe one theory or the other so completely that the other viewpoint seems silly.

Anyone else wanna weigh in? Tell me what you think.

Well since the Museum of Earth History is funded by Creationist organizations, they can of course do this as part of their freedom of speech.
I find that it is funny though that even their website uses debunked "facts" to support their claims of the "young Earth"

Museum of Earth History\

One of the facts that they use to support their claims are the human footprints next to dinosaur footprints found at Glenn Ross, Texas.

If the museum as well as the creationists wish to legitimize their position, they would do well to avoid such outdated "facts".

Well freedom of spech and all I'm technically not allowed to fully voice my opinions on this due to somethings being unaccceptable on this site eg swearing etc etc.
BUt the fact it says in the bible that all land animals went on the ark isnt really much proof, maybe ill find proof of giants -JAck adn the beanstalk is all I need to convince all Christians.

The human race never ceases to amaze me. No matter how strong the science behind something is people with heavy faith can find ways to explain it in a manner that doesn't obstruct their faith. I have no problem with religious faith, as a matter of fact I think it is essential to the human experience, junk science is a different matter though, and I have a feeling that that is what is going on at this museum.

I absolutelty have no problem with a high school science teacher mentioning that some people of faith disagree with Darwinism, but leave the teaching of the Bible out of the classroom, especially a science classroom. If you're going to consider creationism in a strict Biblical sense as science than you might as well teach classic alchemy and witchcraft and voodoo too. And you might as well go ahead and tell the kids that along with the believers in the bible some people believe that life on earth was created by medelling space aliens with advanced technologies no one has found evidence of yet.

Science and religious faith have clashed for thousands of years and in countless societies. In my mind that is exactly what we are seeing today. It is almost crazy to say it but.... I have "faith" that in our society and in our time people will realize the difference between science and religion and seperate the two. Not that one is exclusive of the other, a scientist can have religion, but science should be based on scientific methods not devotion to one diety or another.

I beleive that the longest Pteranodon fossil only had a wingspan of 23 feet.

Quetzalcoatlus, on the other hand was in the 30 + range.

The oldest "human" like remains found outside of Africa are apx 1.84 Millions years old. They were found in Dmanisi, Rep of Georgia.

Ironically, in the same place there were also many bones of Mammoths, Sabertooth tigers, horses and many other animals. There are many threories as to why they are all literally in the same place.....It could
be a lair of a tiger or something, many bones had tooth marks on them
and tool marks aswell, so maybe the hominids found a nice place
to eat. Who knows.

www.dmanisi.org.ge...

Just thought I'd share that

[edit on 8/8/2005 by SportyMB]

Howard, pteranodon did indeed have a wingspan of thirty feet. It only weighed about 45 pounds though, which is amazing for an animal as long as a schoolbus!

Pteranodon

There seems to be a lot of disagreement from various sources. I think that the longest that has actually been documented is 23 feet. Up to 30 feet is an estimate. I may be wrong about that, however.

It is still pretty big. I wouldn’t want that carping on my windshield!

The staunch believers of Creationism probably laugh at quaint old ideas of how the earth was formed,for example the Australian Aborigines believed the "Rainbow Serpent" travelled across a wasteland and left mountains,rivers etc,but it was an attempt by humans to explain something they had no capacity to understand at the time.

Now that humans have more of an understanding of the science involved in the natural world,some people prefer to hang on to ignorance as a comfort.I have always believed religion is nothing but a crutch for the feeble-minded to ease their fear of death,but as we continue to learn and progress,religions will eventually fade away.Which is a good thing imho.

Religions were originally created to give asnwers but as soon as science entered the picture the higher ups began hiding as much as they can before people lost faith. But the demented thing is not all of them lost faith. Although Ive never had a 'discussion' with a christian where i couldnt crush everything they said, go figure.