Creationist museum

A creationist museum is a facility hosting exhibits which use the established natural history museum format to present a creationist view that the Earth and life on Earth were created some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago in six days.^[1] These facilities generally promote Biblically-literalist creationism and contest evolutionary science, which has led to heavy criticism from the scientific community.^[2]

Canada

• Big Valley Creation Science Museum, located in Big Valley, Alberta.^[3]
• Creation Truth Ministries Travelling Museum, located in Red Deer, Alberta.

China

• Noah's Ark, located in Hong Kong.^[4]

United Kingdom

• Genesis Expo, located in Portsmouth, Hampshire.^[5]
• Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, located in Wraxall, Somerset, whilst not strictly speaking a museum, represents creationism as scientific fact.^[6]

United States

California

• Cabazon Dinosaurs, located in Cabazon, California^[7][8]
• Museum of Creation and Earth History, located in Santee, California,^[7] was originally part of the Institute for Creation Research. 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.^[9] 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.^[9]

Florida

• A Key Encounter Theater, located in Key West, Florida.
• Creation Adventures Museum, located in Arcadia, Florida.
• Creation Discovery Museum, located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Idaho

• Northwest Science Museum, founded 2014 in Boise, Idaho

Kentucky

An exhibit at the Creation Museum showing humans alongside dinosaurs

• Creation Museum, located in Petersburg, Kentucky, opened in 2007 and constructed at a cost of $27 million, includes exhibits of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden accompanied by dinosaurs.^[7] 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.^[10] This museum has drawn criticism from scientists, who have circulated petitions accusing the Creation Museum of undermining education. According to Lawrence M. Krauss, "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]

Montana

• Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum, located in Glendive, Montana.^[11]

New York

• Lost World Museum, located in Phoenix, New York, features odd creatures in its creationist exhibits, including a one-eyed kitten^[12][13] and a supposed chupacabra from Texas.^[14]

North Carolina

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

Ohio

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

South Dakota

• Grand River Museum, located in Lemmon, South Dakota.^[15]

Tennessee

• Wyatt Museum, located in Cornersville, Tennessee.

Texas

• Creation Evidence Museum, located in Glen Rose, Texas.^[16]
• Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum, located in Crosbyton, Texas.
• Museum of Earth History, located in Dallas, Texas,^[17][18] 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 became extinct later.^[2][19][20]

Washington

• 7 Wonders Creation Museum, located in Silverlake, Washington near Mount St. Helens, use the volcano's 1980 eruption to show 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.^[21] Reporter Johnson says this approach to creationism has been described as potentially plausible to non-specialists.^[21] Scientists claim that this interpretation of the evidence can only be supported by ignoring scientific method and any evidence that disagrees with a foregone conclusion.^[22]

References

1. Harris, Paul. "Where dinosaurs meet Methuselah: A new museum in Kentucky merges evolutionary theory and creationism", The Guardian, May 27, 2007. Accessed May 17, 2013.
2. Harris, Paul. "Would you Adam 'n' Eve it ... dinosaurs in Eden", The Guardian, May 22, 2005. Accessed September 2, 2008.
3. "Creationism museum to open in Alberta", CBC News, May 29, 2007. Accessed May 17, 2013.
4. Rory Boland, Noah's Ark Hong Kong Creation Museum, About.com. Accessed November 13, 2009.
5. http://www.csm.org.uk/expo.php
6. 'Darwin has done a lot of damage', This Is Bristol, September 23, 2008.
7. "Adam, Eve and T. Rex", by Ashley Powers, Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2005. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
8. Cabazon Dinosaurs About Us
9. Clock, Michele. "Literal interpretation of Bible is illustrated", San Diego Union-Tribune, February 3, 2007. Accessed September 2, 2008.
10. Mead, Andy. "Jurassic Ark: Planned Museum Debunks Evolution, Religious Group says dinosaurs on Board with Noah", Lexington Herald-Leader, March 10, 1996. Accessed May 17, 2013.
11. Donna Healy, "Dinosaur museum presents biblical view of origins", Billings Gazette, October 18, 2009.
12. Roadside America: New creationist museum buys cyclops kitty; wants more freaks
13. Associated Press, "Museum makes deformed kitty its main attraction", USA Today, April 6, 2006.
14. Benjamin Radford, "Latest Texas 'chupacabra' exhibited in creationist museum," Skeptical Inquirer, January/February 2010, p.7.
15. South Dakota Historical Society, The Grand River Museum
16. Roadside America: Creation evidence museum
17. Arkansas Times (12 May 2005): State promotes new creationism museum
18. Time (2 May 2005): Dinosaurs for creationists
19. Anderson, Lisa. "Museum exhibits a creationist viewpoint.", Chicago Tribune, August 10, 2005. Accessed September 2, 2008.
20. Museum of Earth History website
21. Johnson, Alex (May 2, 2005). "The stirring on the mount: St. Helens used in drive to prove biblical creation with science". MSNBC. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
22. Elders, Wilfred. "Problems With "Flood" Geology". Tufts University. Retrieved 2008-09-06.

External links

• List of creationist museums, creationwiki