Park staff will visit Creation Museum

defending the First Amendment against the Christian right ...

... because if Jews don't speak out, they'll think we don't mind

Web JewsOnFirst

Optional Member Code

Please email us
(click here)
catcher@JewsOnFirst.org

And "bookmark" us at
JewsOnFirst.org

Jews on First
P.O. Box 33821
Washington DC 20033

310-553-1146

Park staff will visit Creation Museum

State naturalists face visitors' questions

By Tom Loftu, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), September 1, 2007

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Naturalists from Kentucky state parks are planning a trip to the Creation Museum in Boone County to see firsthand what they are up against.

Since the museum opened about three months ago, the naturalists who teach visitors about the ancient natural history of the parks have been challenged more frequently by people who have visited the Creation Museum, said Carey Tichenor, chief naturalist in the Department of Parks.

"Visitors are asking, 'Well, it said this at the Creation Museum, but you all are saying something different,' " Tichenor said.

The Creation Museum, which presents the Bible's creation story as fact supported by science, was opened in late May in Petersburg by the Answers in Genesis Christian ministry.

And there might be millions of years of difference between what a tourist is told one day at the museum and the next day at a state park.

"At places like Cumberland Falls or Natural Bridge -- where we're interpreting geologic history based on the scientific evidence that has been provided -- we talk about going back into hundreds of thousands, even millions, of years," Tichenor said. "The theory of creationism is that the world is only 6,000 years old."

Plans call for as many as 18 park naturalists to visit the museum on Nov. 1. Tichenor said group-rate tickets will cost taxpayers about $338.

He said those attending will drive to Georgetown in state vehicles, and then ride to Boone County in two park vans. He did not have an estimate for the cost of gas for the trip. He said those attending will buy their own lunches.

"We think this trip is worth the nominal expense so we can see it directly, so that when we have these visitor encounters we can speak from experience," Tichenor said. "If a visitor talks about a particular exhibit, then this naturalist will know what they are talking about."

Tichenor emphasized that the park naturalists do not want to try to dissuade park visitors from their religious beliefs.

"We will tell the person if they want to believe what they saw at the Creation Museum that's fine and good," he said. "And then we explain to them why we are saying what we say at the park -- which is interpreting the scientific evidence produced for the site."

However, the Creation Museum has no qualms about trying to change the scientific beliefs of the park naturalists.

"I hope they can carve out some time to meet with some of our Ph.D. scientists," said Mark Looy, spokesman for the museum.

Daniel Phelps, president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society, said the trip by the state naturalists is a good idea. "You have to experience it firsthand to see how impressively bad the science is," he said.

Looy said the museum has had more than 178,000 visitors since it opened and he is pleased some of those visitors are questioning what is taught by the park naturalists.

"I'm encouraged that our museum guests are looking at things from a different point of view and using their critical thinking skills," he said.

Tichenor, who has been the state's chief naturalist for 20 years, said he did not know how many times park visitors who had been to the Creation Museum had questioned or challenged park naturalists. "But from the conversations I've had I know of several encounters at Big Bone Lick and one or two at Natural Bridge," he said.

The Department of Parks is in the state Commerce Cabinet, which is headed by Secretary George Ward, who attended the opening of the Creation Museum.

Ward said he sees no conflict in his parks' naturalists teaching the natural history broadly accepted by scientists while his cabinet promotes the Creation Museum.

"This trip will let our naturalists be better prepared to deal with questions they get, and they will continue to talk about the scientific explanations at their parks," Ward said. "But we also have a role to promote tourism in Kentucky, and we see the Creation Museum as a tourism attraction."

Fair Use Statement: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.