Why would someone pay decent money to go to the Creation Museum?
Hi. It’s Chad once again from BuzzFlash.com. We’re still pinch-hitting for Steve, keeping the conversation going.
The Creation Museum seemed like a sad joke when the concept was introduced. An entire building devoted to the philosophy (theory is too strong a word) that the story of Adam and Eve is literal. When the story was passed down over hundreds of years, people even then knew it was a story. How we went backwards in time is anyone’s guess.
In case you don’t know much about the museum, here’s a good look from the archives of BuzzFlash.com.
The museum wants to expand, but they have to raise the money to be able to pull this off. The museum predicted it would get 250,000 visitors its entire first year, but they say that 250,000 mark got hit after five months.
I should point out that I almost went there. We were on our way to Cincinnati and decided to take I-275 West to bypass the city and go to our hotel in Kentucky. As tempting as it would have been to go to make fun of it, we decided not to go since we would have to give them money.
You have to figure that schools are busing their kids from miles around — evangelicals can’t help but use this as a field trip to “confirm” their narrow-minded views. But who else would go to a Creation Museum?
I couldn’t help but ask the hotel clerk where we were staying in Kentucky (suburban Cincinnati) about the Creation Museum. He hadn’t actually been there, but had heard good things about it, and wanted to go himself. Some of that sentiment could be attributed to tourism, and getting us to spend more money in the area. But he seemed really sincere. If he had gone, I would have asked the follow-up question: “Why?”
So instead I ask you, “Why would someone pay decent money to go to the Creation Museum?” I realize you aren’t the typical audience for the museum, but take a shot.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Why would someone pay decent money to go to the Creation Museum?…
The Creation Museum claims it has had 250,000 visitors since it opened on Memorial Day, and now they want to expand. But why would people pay admission to sit through lies?…
November 14th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Many devout and evangelical people will pay entrance in the farce of a museum for the same reasons they believe so strongly.. because it is their life view and has been since childhood. To have validation of such a belief… they can continue to indoctrinate their offspring and community with a perceived physical, tactile support of their beliefs. And to them.. these aren’t lies, but proof. Sad, isn’t it. And atheists are the deluded?
But even if you put imperial scientific evidence refuting any claims regarding Creationism or Intelligent Design (which was denounced by a Bush appointed federal judge as a means to get religious views in the public school system), it does not phase them. In fact, it motivates some to do more to keep this kind of questionable and sometimes dangerous mindset ongoing.
While I will not come down on all religion, there are some radical, almost militant viewpoints and actions coming from the neoconservative evangelical christian community. I feel they could be as dangerous to this country as Islamofacists are purported to be. But they could never see that, because in all the questionable statements and actions .. they always have the ultimate justification.. I did it for my god.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
[…] Why would someone pay decent money to go to the Creation Museum? Filed under: Religious Right — jr @ 6:49 pm Why would someone pay decent money to go to the Creation Museum? […]
November 14th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I gotta jump in on this. In Alberta Canada, in the village of Big Valley, is the other “Creation Science” museum… I actually went there, and I must admit I was biting my tongue trying not to laugh as I saw the total BS they were trying to push in there.
Dinosaurs on the ark?? ROFL!!! Every human on the planet came from Adam and Eve, then from Noah an his family??? Oh c’mon! It’s a story people!!!!!
Over they years, I have found that extremely religous people seem to lack to the ability to use rational thought. If it’s in the bible… that’s good enough for them. Nothing else matters.
With myself… at least I can attempt to look behind the curtain and see what is behind there… while the fundies just look at the curtain and take everything there for granted. I honestly just do not get it.
I also watched the excellent “Judgement Day” on PBS’s NOVA last night… and it shows that the trial in Dover, Penn proved absolutely that Intelligent Design / Creation Science or what ever else it is called is just religon trying to disguise it self as science.
Sadly, intelligence design is NOT science, because it cannot prove that is is. There are no tests, expirements or imperical data that they can use to prove their point. All they have is a book. ONE BOOK! That was written by people, trying to interept legends and stories passed down over the centuries to teach other people. However, this has been corrupted as powerful people realized that they could use the book to force others to follow their ideals and belief, while getting rich by suckering the poor and unwise. (Hmm… sounds like today with televangalists doesn’t it…. the more things change, the more they stay the same)
What I can’t understand is some people say we must FEAR “God”. The bible says “God” loves everyone, yet if you do something bad… you will be sent to this terrible place to be punished… yet if you are a good little boy or girl… you get to “Heaven” or wherever. I was thinking about this… and to me it sounds like a abusive parent. They “love you” but beat the living crap out of you when you’re bad. Sounds to me like this “God” is a border line psycho.
Makes me glad I’m a agnostic-athiest.
Space is big! Really BIG! You make think it’s a long way to the chemist’s but that’s just peanuts to space. Listen…
(Douglas Adams, Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy)
November 14th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
I think any Liberal with a good internet connection can appreciate what it feels like surveying the vast wasteland of Television and seeing all the propaganda, subtle and not in everything from news to game shows, constantly assaulting what you know is real, or creating twisted frames or sly digs, that would go unnoticed by those less informed, or perhaps by those who watch enough of it.
Politically and economically, the anti-liberal meme is pervasive and annoying, but while much dumbed down, and with a supernaturalist slant most of society defaults away from the specialty fantasies of the folks the Creation Museum is looking for, so for them to see someplace that supports their beliefs is comfortable and self assuring.
The political effects for the larger population of both these issues is quite distressing, but the self assurance of being immersed in a reality and subculture you understand and are part of and agree with is certainly something that any individual would wish for themselves, and all the more so for the ignorant and uptight RWA.
The answer in both cases is to challenge fraud not turn up the volume of a counter catechism or let it be proposed as anything equal to verifiable fact.
November 14th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Belief in Creationism is just that: “belief.” The term refers to someone having “faith” in the verity of something. Belief and faith are posited in the conviction that trust in something self-validates its truth. “Faith” in ‘Creationism’ or a particular ‘Creation Myth’ requires total belief in a predetermined set of statements without consideration of or in spite of facts to the contrary. A “faith- founded belief in a creation myth” has its basis in a set religious concepts that cannot, by definition, be verified - else they would not be “faith-based.” As to why folks would plunk down cash…the need for certitude, 100% back or whiteness of things, runs deep in our reptilian psyche: its what W calls upon when he invokes “us vs them,” “here or over there,” “muslim jihadists vs our brave troops,” “Islamic fundamendalists vs christian family values.” You can see it in the need for iconic Bowl games, World Series playoffs and our need for surrogates to pin our anxieties on: steroid users, poor celebrity mothers, liberals, conservatives, fundamentalists, literalists. According to the Museum, it is a place “where the past comes to life and ancient mysteries are solved.” Just what is needed, right? Their purpose? “To equip you…with practical answers so you can confidently communicate the gospel and biblical authority with accuracy. Why wait?”
November 15th, 2007 at 3:01 am
Good point spmosher. The Talibangelicals are very threatening and angry.
I am a person of faith and they seem so far off the path of enlightenment. They seem to want their God to be a warrior, a God of vengeance and intolerance, contrary to their own teachings. Some people must become just frozen with fear at the prospect of thinking for themselves or of questioning doctrine. (by the way, Steve wrote a great episode about challenging doctrine, “Heavenly Protest”) I read that Reagan once said that they could never really make abortion illegal because the “base” would lose the anger that drives them to donate and organize and vote. They are used and misled…willingly.
To answer the question……I read about a place that had people riding dinosaurs (you know, since the world is only 6,000 years old)…….if they have evangelical dinosuars…well, I might go see ‘em.
November 15th, 2007 at 3:20 am
spmosher
honestly, as i’ve watched the rainmaker’s prayers of Georgia - i thought “American Muezzins at work”
November 15th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Having been transferred to the red state of Indiana from the northeast, culture shock ensued and the utter hypocrisy of the midwest has been a real eye opener for us. You can’t spit without hitting a church, 13 in the 3 miles between us and the supermarket. Midwesterners seem to be the epitome of the “me” generation. Selfish, hateful, ultraconsumer oriented and devious. Gossip is the main attraction in their lives. As to the question of “why would they spend the money,” it seems to be their way to “buy” their way into their supposed “heaven.”
“Welfare Queen” is the most common phrase one hears around here. The lack of diversity in this area has created a culture(?) that sees 60 year olds without children at home attending high school girls’ basketball games, little league and football. Sports rule. The educational system emphasizes the whole sports thing and nearly mandatory “club” participation. The Stepford syndrome.
We have personally witnessed several cases of underhanded deals such as illegal cable hookups and deliberate misinformation on building specifications resulting in lower tax assessments. And yet, these people religiously attend church. It appears to us that these people are ignorant to a fault, poorly educated, and without any sense of social responsibility. So things like creationism seem perfectly reasonble to them. They are the ultimate consumer society and truly believe if you’re down on your luck, it’s your fault.
They’ll pay money to go to an RV or Studebaker museum, but rarely, if at all, contribute to a food pantry or homeless shelter.
With attitudes like these, and a total lack of curiosity, we don’t see much room for change or hope. It’s a sad place, full of sheeple.
November 15th, 2007 at 10:48 am
mewsashi
I live in the boonies in Indiana. I want you to know that we are not all fundy hypocrits. Out here in the fringes live real, live , thinking liberals!
Look for us, we want to change our state into something relevent in this century and we need all the help we can get. Right Larkrise?
November 15th, 2007 at 10:57 am
By the way, congratulations are in order. I get a new niece last night. She’s beautiful. Ah, new birth, new life, new hope. If you could touch hope, I’ll bet it would feel as soft as a newborn baby.
November 15th, 2007 at 11:00 am
The correct word is ‘empirical,’ not imperical.’
See the British empiricists– John Locke.
Nothing empirical resides in these museums.
##
crowell999
November 15th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Thanks crowell999, I stand corrected.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Right you are, alwayshope, and, by the way, congratulations on the birth of your niece. mewsashi, my children have lived in Texas, Florida, New York and Chicago. The kind of people you describe live in all 50 states. Indiana is a very conservative state. There are ignorant, bigoted people who live here. There are progressive people who live here. We often feel we are a minority. Perhaps we are. But, go to West Lafayette. Go to Bloomington. You will find many informed, intelligent progressive individuals and groups. You will even find them here in Indianapolis. Stereotyping is not particularly useful. It tends to result in self-fulfilling prophecies. If you expect to meet only bigots, chances are you will meet them. If you have positive expectations, those, too, may be fulfilled. At any rate, I have met both sides of the coin wherever I have traveled. Alwayshope and I try to bloom where we are planted. It builds character and a certain determination to demand change. I have an Internet friend who has a blog called the Rant. He lives in Goshen, NY. He describes the environment as the boonies, with a fair share of hypocrites, red necks, right-wingers, religious extremists, shallow wannabees and the like. My son sees the same in Orlando. My daughter lives in NYC and we have both witnessed some shady goings-on. The capital of hedge-fund managers is not exactly pristine in its purity. Change needs to come to the country as a whole. Corruption is not located in only one section of the 50 Nifty United States. Society needs to change its attitudes, its values, its direction toward the common good, not just the me, myself and I mantra. That change is needed everywhere.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I live about 20 minutes from the Creation Museum. When it opened, my friends from the local atheist/agnostic and scientific communities protested at the opening. We don’t care if they have a place where they want to congregate (I always thought that was a church); just don’t call it a “museum” and certainly don’t call it “science.”
We’re keeping tabs on whether or not public schools are bussing kids in on fields trips — doesn’t seem to be the case. But we do have a lot of religious schools as well as children who are home-schooled in the area, and I’m sure they’re being brainwashed even as we speak. While this is a very conservative area (home of the Right-to-Life movement, for example), I don’t think the Catholics are buying into the madness, at least.
Some troubling thoughts and observations: they did receive permission from the county to expand their parking lot by some 650+ spaces; they have plans to build a school, a church, and a hotel/apartment complex — so that their teachers can live on site. Sure reminds me of the Branch-Davidians.
Also, the state erected a sign off I-275, directing traffic to the place. I think they paid for the actual sign, but tax-payers got stuck with the bill for actually putting it up.
November 17th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Rational people have museums to go to, so why shouldn’t irrational people have one in which they feel at home? The term “museum” implies knowledge, or wisdom, therefore, a creation museum, in their minds, means that their beliefs must be actual facts.
I couldn’t care less if these “true believers” want to go to a place that reinforces their beliefs and biases. However, my real problem with them is this: If they had the power to make us all live by their views, they would force us to do so in an instant. If we had the power to make them live by what most of us consider to be rational views, we would not use it to force them to do anything. It’s a difference that makes them more dangerous than laughable.
November 17th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
The Bush administration’s support for everything from faith-based education and organizations to Revelations based insanity and domination suggests that ‘Imperial scientific evidence” may not be an inaccurate expression.
I was part of an organization which fought Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis when it initially tried to get the Creationist Museum established in a State park with public finding (we won that round). But there’s not much we can so to prevent people from giving their money for a private museum. However, we can raise funds to erect our own museum, right next door, at the exact bisectual nexus of Beaver Lick and Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. Send contributions to Answers in Genitals’ Procreationsit Museum. Marvel at the Big Tetons, nearly identical domed IMAX theaters; gasp open-mouthed at the magnificent Maxiret de Machismo and ride its exhilarating, quick-thrust Ejaculevator; employ a range of male and female self-love machines; take the Big Bone Measurment, Cunnigrip test and Make-your-own-Merkin; view the continuous loop, 3-D animated version of the Vagina Monologues or watch the Naturists Renaissance Fair Phallic Jousts; then finish it all off with a relaxing sweat bath in Flaccidland. From the moment you ring the big pink Cllitorbell ’till you slide down the KY chute out the Moonglow Rear Orifice, you’ll be glad you came. And you’ll love the effect you’ll have on the Creationists next door. Let’s get it up. All it takes is the will and the passion.
If we build it… you know the rest. More information from Answers in Genitals, Censornaughty, Oh! USA.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
This is actually a sort of backwards tribute to scientific advance.
People who have real faith don’t need to borrow the appurtenances of natural history museums to bolster their beliefs; but Creationism is an outgrowth of an anti-historical sect which has sprung up in the last century & a half, which calls itself Christian (and is called that constantly in the media) but isn’t.
The wealthy always fund these sorts of things to keep the populace in as much ignorance as possible.