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Creationists plan yet another museum for northern Kentucky
- Thread starter Salvadora
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IAmtheFMan
Member
Thanks! I'm quoting myself for the new page (and since the images will be smaller.)
Okay here we go, and I'll upload my pictures to boot. (Sorry about the size)
So back in 2008 I was still in Cincinnati. The museum was pretty big in the local press; "25 Million dollar museum!" "50 Acres!" "State of the art exhibits!" and so on. My group of friends and I decided that we HAD to see this place since a bunch of us were moving. Our motley crew consisted of me (Korean raised-Methodist) and my friends which were two Russian Jews, an Iranian Muslim, and... uh... a white Christian girl.
The first thing you notice is that this place is not some podunk side-of-the-road attraction. They put some serious cash into this thing. Yeah the animatronic Noah, Adam and Eve weren't too far off from the Chuck E. Cheese band, but it was still somewhat impressive for what it was. They clearly wanted to go for a sleek, professional look and to their credit, they achieved it to some degree in terms of the superficial look of it. But speaking of cash, this place was not cheap to get into.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a moments hesitation paying 22 dollars for a tour of scientific regression, but our curiosity won out in the end. I think they've raised the price since then.
So most of the famous pictures are up on other sites, but when you finally get through the gates, you're greeted by this:
Basically creepy looking girl hanging out with raptors. The first time we saw this, we all laughed in stunned disbelief, but this museum is absolutely full of this stuff. There's exhibits on the Garden of Eden where Adam's hanging out with some deer (okay,) penguins, (that's kinda weird,) and a raptor in the background (WTF.)
Note, not seen is the raptor. I couldn't frame it in the shot.
The museum is composed of a few basic areas. The actual names of which I don't know but here's how I remember them. 1) The Evolution Discrediting area, 2) The degradation of society area, 3)The animatronic Bible area, and 4) The society is doomed unless we change it area.
So to the Evolution Discrediting Area. There's exhibits on fossil records, theories on evolution, the Big Bang and why it doesn't make sense. The problem is they don't offer any arguments and there's no actual discourse about the issues with evolution. Basically they'll present a scientific theory and then go "that's wrong because "QUOTE" Book, Chapter, Verse." End discussion. These exhibits are clearly made for the choir.
The 2nd section was the degradation of society area and was my personal favorite. Basically it was a walkthrough a rundown alleyway, with sounds of sirens, police com chatter, screaming/crying, etc and dim red lights flashing. The whole thing felt like the set of the drug deal scene from an 80's cop show, just with headlines about the death of morality plastered to the walls to "shock you."
There also were looped videos of teenagers in their rooms, meant to be a portayal of a "modern day look" into an at-risk-teen's lifestyle. He alternated between playing on his computer, yelling at his mom, listening to music, smoking a bong and not praying. It was like that fake Marijuana commercial from Harold and Kumar.
The third part is the animatronic Bible area, and where that Garden of Eden picture I put earlier is from. Basically the theme is that the Garden of Eden was awesome until Adam and Eve fucked up everything.
My absolute favorite part of this was the "where did Cain get his wife" plaque. They actually talk about genomes.
Methuselah talked to us about his wiley grandson Noah who's up to something.
Unfortunately, my camera ran out of juice. The 4th part of the trip was the we need to do something about society section. This was basically a catch all with plaques and exhibits ranging from other religions, gay marriage, abortion, etc. This led to this triceratops that you could ride, and then the gift store.
As you can probably tell, the overall tone of the museum ranges from condescendingly defensive, to extremely confrontational. There's not one iota of intellectualism in the whole damn place but the whole attitude is dripping with this "you're so wrong, and you're going to burn!" haughtiness.
I think the emotional response that was felt by the group says something to. My one Iranian friend thought the whole thing was absolutely hilarious. My Jewish friends got pissed off with it, and the white Christian girl was just stunned in disbelief. Me? Well I think I hit a number of those. Initially I thought the whole thing was really funny, but I fell into this state of anxiety. I think most of that stemmed from the fact that I was watching the other groups that were there. There were a few groups in their mid 20's that clearly had the same idea we had, but there were church groups, and groups of families and random other people. I remember a guy having a t-shirt emblazoned with "DARWIN LIED" on it.
The thing is, this was the complete opposite of what a museum should do. I know it goes without saying, but whereas a museum should open your mind, educate and teach you facts, this is the complete opposite and effectively teaches you "it's okay to close your mind." The fact that I saw so many young kids there was kinda heartbreaking.
So anyways, there was my story. I haven't looked at those pics for a long time and I only put the highlights and what I remember from 4 years back.
I don't know what the fuck this is.
Evolved1
make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
These places are awful... and so is creationism being taught to school children. It can really set you back (and I say this from experience having gone to a fundamentalist middle school that took my innate interest in science and warped it with creationist horseshit) but the damage isn't "irreparable". In fact I believe those with a truly inquisitive mind will eventually see through the bullshit and look for answers themselves. Yeah it's unfortunate that their education is compromised by a bunch of unscrupulous saboteurs, and it might take a bit more effort to catch up with all the real science, but it's certainly possible. I know, because I'm finishing up my bio/marine science degrees and studying/understanding evolution is a part of my daily life... it's like my favorite thing.
So damage isn't necessarily irreparable, but it sure is insidious. It's also free speech.
Creationism has no place in the classroom & unfortunately it doesn't look like it's going anywhere in some parts.
46% to be precise.
J-Roderton
Member
If anyone is interested, They can take a virtual tour of the museum shown in the pictures.
This is insane. Read the fine print.
"..God provided organisms with special tools to change rapidly."
Isn't there a book on that??
So most of the famous pictures are up on other sites, but when you finally get through the gates, you're greeted by this:
Is it just me, or is there a black dude diving behind the bushes in the corner of this pic?
Evolved1
make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
that's probably a small child on its stomach, tickling the belly of a Jurassic Park velociraptor who has taken a break from munching on some carrots.
EmCeeGramr
Member
i'd get upset at the depiction of a featherless dromaeosaurid, but then i realized that even non-creationists still get upset at that image
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
My favorite part of this one is that he's gaming on a Mac
I understand the difference. You don't understand what I'm saying. I'm saying stop caring about everything that's socially damaging.
People are stupid horrible assholes, society will eternally continue to fuck itself, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Look at our situation today:
- Religion trying to ruin everything and keep people stupid and ignorant IN THE NAME OF GOD!
- A wholly corrupt government whose participants care more about their own well-being than the people they're supposed to represent.
- An obscene income disparity, resulting in an upper class of the elites and a lower class of peons who serve them.
Well that all sounds familiar. Oh, you know why? Because I just described THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION.
Nothing has changed. Nothing will change. Accept it. Laugh at it. Stop letting it ruin your day every time you're reminded of it.
it's a pretty awesome racket if you think about it ... Churches are always looking for things to donate some money to. There are hundreds of thousands of churches all around the western hemisphere. Even if you get them to throw 50-100 dollars your way (or more) you will never have to work again in your life.
Not to mention all the local/nearby parishes that are looking for a nice bus trip to take their children to for a wholesome afternoon of 'learnin'.
Not to mention all the local/nearby parishes that are looking for a nice bus trip to take their children to for a wholesome afternoon of 'learnin'.
I want a version of this on a poster.
Monocle
Member
Great thinking, let's all just give up on trying to improve society. It's a lost cause. We shouldn't waste our time. (I'm pretty sure this was MLK Jr.'s motto.)
Count Dookkake
Member
Hey, at least Kentucky will have a museum.
I know you're being sarcastic, but pretty much.
Any change or progress you make will be forgotten in a couple hundred years. And that's the good outcome.
The bad outcome is that your words are twisted beyond recognition to support some asshole's selfish agenda. Just ask the Founding Fathers or anyone who's ever started a religion.
I get what you are saying, I just completely disagree.
Also now that I have some alcohol in me I realize: these people are kind of proving natural selection in a way. As population increases, we are seeing a boom in the uneducated, who appear to reproduce more frequently than those who can 'think past' this sort of ting. There is, as you say, the ever-present income gap, which goes through periods of volatility (we are in/may be approaching one now) when the gap becomes too great. We have people scrambling to 'pick a side' and relying on blind faith or attachment instead of thinking independently.
Anyway maybe I am it describing myself well enough, and am probably not saying anything new.
Monocle
Member
This defeatist attitude is an insult to every successful civil rights movement there ever was, not to mention the Enlightenment values you can thank for the modern concept of human rights. Humanity has come a long way since medieval times. Anyone who enjoys the benefits of society would do well not to let it backslide.
A good start would be to keep bigots and anti-science, anti-education, theocratic nutjobs out of public office. And there are always opportunities to quietly but insistently stand up for what's right in your personal life, whether it's asking your Facebook friends to tone down the racist language, or recommending a good book to someone who thinks "it's just a theory" is a persuasive argument against evolution.
They should serve fried chicken, and call them dino bites.
Monocle
Member
Dino bites and freedom fries with gospel sauce. Them's good eatin's.
It will always impress me how some religious people are SO FOCUSED on gay people as the qoest thing EVER.
Diseases, killings, deaths of THOUSANDS .... and yet half of those magazines are just talking about gay marriage =P
Sirpopopop
Member
46% of Americans don't believe in evolution.
46% of Americans don't believe in evolution.
Fuck.
46% of Americans don't believe in evolution.
Fuck.
I think there is a serious problem with telling that they don't believe in evolution
It should be said
46% of Americans don't trust evolution.
EmCeeGramr
Member
Associating chickens and dinosaurs sounds like gaytheist liberal talk to me.
Monocle
Member
46% of a more or less representative sample of Americans say they don't believe in evolution. Don't put too much stock in polls. Their margin for error can be higher than you'd expect. There will always be people who will try to give you the "right" answer even if it doesn't reflect their true opinions. And some respondents won't have an informed opinion on the matter in question, but will feel obliged to register a position anyway.
I'd be more concerned if 46% of Americans had an accurate grasp of the theory of evolution but rejected it for religious reasons.
This is so wrong its insulting to anyone with a brain, or who has read the bible. Anyone with common sense knows this is absolutely absurd, and fantasy bull crap. I can't stand people like this who preach such fiction to impressionable kids.
Everyone knows its a verifiable scientific fact the dinosaurs and demons attacked the ark in an epic battle with angels.
shamelessly stolen from this topic. Kudos to Mengy for the pics and hilarious read
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=479597
RoadHazard
Gold Member
"Fortunately, we have another source of factual data - the first book of the Bible, Genesis."
Amazing. But also really sad.
This is so wrong its insulting to anyone with a brain, or who has read the bible. Anyone with common sense knows this is absolutely absurd, and fantasy bull crap. I can't stand people like this who preach such fiction to impressionable kids.
Everyone knows its a verifiable scientific fact the dinosaurs and demons attacked the ark in an epic battle with angels.
shamelessly stolen from this topic. Kudos to Mengy for the pics and hilarious read
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=479597
Wait I can buy this?
The art is undeniably awesome.
Damon Bennet
Member
This is so wrong its insulting to anyone with a brain, or who has read the bible. Anyone with common sense knows this is absolutely absurd, and fantasy bull crap. I can't stand people like this who preach such fiction to impressionable kids.
Everyone knows its a verifiable scientific fact the dinosaurs and demons attacked the ark in an epic battle with angels.
shamelessly stolen from this topic. Kudos to Mengy for the pics and hilarious read
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=479597
these are facts
so wait what
There's like, direct evidence against that silliness
it not only ignores the entire concept of water displacement but goes direct visual evidence anyone can see of exposed geological layers. Their theory literally ignores the existence of volcanoes, asteriods/meteors, and humorously, significant flood events recorded in the rock layers.
My favourite bit is that it actually calls the geological account 'human reason'. It is like they are trolling themselves.
elrechazado
Banned
Will there be a "but why we still got monkeys" exhibit?
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