I decided to take a few days to let what I saw at the Creation Museum simmer a bit before writing about it. Having been an atheist for most of my younger days, then agnostic, then Christian and now some odd liberal mish-mash of evangelical Christian and randomly spiritual (because Jesus is, like, awesome, dude), I really had no idea what I was in for when I decided to go to the museum. For anyone who doesn't know, the Creation Museum was founded by Answers in Genesis as part of their campaign to bring Creationist thought into the mainstream. Now, I'm Christian. I believe wholeheartedly in Christ, God, the Trinity and all sorts of other whatnot and whodunits. But one thing I never, really for even a moment, believed in, was Creationism. Mainly for that reason, going to to Creation Museum was a step outside of my comfort zone.
I made a promise to myself that I would be respectful, even if I didn't agree with the beliefs espoused by the curators of the museum.
...and oh how that promise was tested...
Truth be told, once I got in the museum, I found myself fairly deeply disturbed by the presentation. There is a quote from the Zohar (ie: Jewish mysticism) that goes "If you wish to strengthen a lie, mix a little truth in with it." Whether conscious or unconscious, that seemed to be the strategy at the Creation Museum. There was so much science presented, even relied upon, to disprove the conclusions that science has brought us.
In their exhibit on the formation of the universe, they choose to ignore the conclusions of modern physics about a Big Bang (such as data showing the continued expansion of the universe). Such science was conspicuously absent from displays otherwise filled with detail. In their paleontology exhibits there were bones, fossils and even descriptions of how those bones and fossils came to be. There was, however, no mention of carbon dating or explanation as to why some fossils would simply settle at lower "layers" than others if all the creatures contained in those fossils died at the same time.
In their displays they went into great detail about the conclusions of man, but rather than presenting the truth as taught by God, there were only questions.
I don't know. You tell me. You're the museum.
The truth is, for me, I expected to go and have a giggle before getting back on my merry way. Instead I found myself deeply disturbed about what was contained in the walls of the museum. At the end of the day, I'm not even particularly disturbed by Creationism itself. Rather, I found that religion at all was a leap of faith for me. If someone's leap is longer than mine then who am I to judge? However, as a person of faith, I've come to realize that acknowledging and understanding science are not an affront to God, but an homage to Him.
Who created the laws of physics? Who set time in motion? Who created biological complexity such as it exists today? These are the questions that give rise to faith for me. I wish I could post a cute, silly little entry about the Creation Museum, but what I realized as I walked through those halls was that willful ignorance is as much an attack on God as denying Him outright. We were blessed with free will and the ability to think and reason. We were blessed with consciousness. What could make someone who so loves God turn away from the gifts He gave them?
Is it graffiti?
I had a lot of thinking to do after I left the Creation Museum. Luckily there were another four hours on the road before I got to where I was going for the night. By the time I got there, I had calmed down and realized that the one nice thing about the Creation Museum is that it is ridiculous enough that it won't win over anyone who doesn't already agree with it. There's something a little comforting about the fact that they're just preaching to the choir anyway.
Because if you don't already believe this...
a diorama ain't changing your mind.
No comments :
Post a Comment