When you first come up to the gates of the Creation Museum in Kentucky, one of the first things you notice is a pair of dinosaur statues positioned on each side of the gate. When you first walk into the Creation Museum, one of the first things you see is a giant hanging model of a dinosaur hanging in the air, posing as if in mid flight. As you being to walk through the exhibits, something begins to stick out at you: these people like dinosaurs. They really like dinosaurs. The gift shop is filled with dinosaur toys and merchandise. There are even animatronic dinosaurs, capable of moving around and making noises.
Yet for all this focus on dinosaurs, they cannot manage to keep their own deluded facts straight about these creatures. One graphic states that dinosaurs were created on the sixth day, but a video presentation suggests they came into being over the course of the fourth and fifth days when God created Earth. They also stated that there were only about 50 species of dinosaurs, and thus it was easy to fit them all on Noah's Ark. While the exact number of species is not known, paleontologists have found hundreds of species of dinosaurs, with many more likely to be discovered. But it is rather pointless to argue about facts with these people, this being a small sampling of their information.
The real reason for having such a strong focus on dinosaurs is obvious: it is designed especially with kids in mind. Dinosaurs, being something that almost all kids are fascinated in at one point or another during their youth, are a prime way for the people behind this museum to connect with children. I loved dinosaurs as a kid, and were I still young and easily impressionable, I might be swayed by all the focus put on these prehistoric beasts.
Another thing you notice as you walk through the museum and glance at the various exhibits is how these people seem to have an answer for everything. Why was incest ok back during the time of Adam and Eve but not ok now? They have an answer for that. How have places like the Grand Canyon been formed in only a few thousand years? They have an answer for that. How is carbon dating ineffective? They have an answer for that too.
But how do they get these answers? By ignoring “human reason” and quoting bible passages. It's hard to find a graphic or display that does not have biblical verses somewhere on it. They selectively choose what to answer and what not to as well. Nowhere could I find anything about such things as cavemen or genetics (there was an exhibit about evolution and natural selection, but nothing on DNA and its implications). My guess would be that there's not enough of God’s word to help explain why there are human remains more than 6,000 years old or how there was conclusive evidence to link species together (they did have their own genealogical trees, but it lacked an argument fortified with DNA evidence, and instead was tied together through scripture).
But ironically, the biggest thing I am going to take away from the trip was something that reinforced my atheism. I watched a planetarium-like show the museum put on, and rather than convincing me of the glory of God and creation, it did the opposite. I felt more secure in my atheism, and gained a new perspective about religion and the universe that I did not have before.
The show talked about how small the Earth was compared the rest of the known universe, and it mentioned just how far away our planet is from other stars, planets and galaxies. The program made mention of star clusters, the sizes of different stars and the number of stars and galaxies that we know to exist. Thinking about the universe on a cosmic scale moved me, and I began to develop a new viewpoint about our universe and religion here on Earth.
The first major thought that struck me as I watched was how Earth-centric religion is. When I think about how minute and insignificant our planet is relative to the massive size of the cosmos, I have to question how conceivable it is that God made the entire, ever-expanding universe only for us. I find that view rather selfish, that God chose this planet over all others, that we somehow won a lottery whose odds were infinity to one.
I do understand that, when people were first trying to explain what they were seeing up in the sky, they had no idea of the boundless nature of what was up there. The bible explains space via one little verse in Genesis (1:16) but it seems to me that the vastness of the universe deserves more respect and acknowledgment than five words.
The second major thought that struck me was that there is nothing in the bible about what is up there. Beyond the mention of stars and astrological concepts of the time, there is nothing about what we are supposed to make of it. Now, in an age where we are capable of space flight, there is nothing in the Bible about how to approach the new information we have concerning our universe and the possibilities that lay before us when it comes to space travel and exploration.
When I look at my place in existence in relation to the universe, I get the sense that I am just a speck on a grain of sand that makes up an endless beach. And I am ok with that. To assume we have some greater or higher purpose than merely to exist at all is a rather selfish view. I think some people cannot come to terms with that concept, that we are insignificant. I still feel that I am a part of something, as small as that part is, that I have left a footprint on that beach. I feel that my existence alone has contributed and fulfilled something, and that is good enough for me.
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
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