Saturday, January 08, 2005
In the beginning . . . Adam walked with dinosaurs
Telegraph | News | In the beginning . . . Adam walked with dinosaurs: "The new multi-million-dollar Museum of Creation, which will open this spring in Kentucky, will, however, be aimed not at film buffs, but at the growing ranks of fundamentalist Christians in the United States."
As someone who grew up in Northern Kentucky, where this thing is going to be, according to this article, and spent four years just across the river in Clifton, a part of Cincinnati that houses the University of Cincinnati, where I attended, I feel I can comment some. First, the area is far more diverse than this would lead anyone to believe. Yes, there are a lot of church-goers, but there are also lots of foreigners, as the metro area is larger than a millioln people. In fact, I think that Fresno, CA is less diverse and more like the Bible belt than the Greater Cincinnati area. In Cincinnati, they are able to claim other world renown Museums, most notably the Cincinnati Art Museum which was one of my favorite places to go when I skipped school. I would say that they have en totale approximately 3-5 really fine museums there. After having lived near and attended the University of Cincinnati, as well as attending high school in Northern Kentucky, I can say with assurance that creationism is not taught in schools. In fact, in college, I took a World Civilization course that taught World Civ through the untruths in the Bible. Chapter by chapter, book by book, the professor explained its myth. My science teachers in high school were also well-educated, and I don't really remember ever hearing about creationism other than to explain what it was, not tout its application to science.The City also has Xavier University, Northern Kentucky University, a couple of Technical Schools, and other large Universities in surrounding cities. It can't be all bible belt with that many professors in the area. Additionally, the area brags Procter and Gamble and other scientifically-oriented businesses, very successful ones at that. While I often paint it as the last stop for hicks, it is much more culturally and intellectually diverse than that. I agree that these things are ignorant, but if freedom of speech works the way I think it will, this museum will have a very difficult time staying in the black. With my favorite museums just across the river and the newly opened Underground Railroad Museum in Downtown Cincinnati, this is likely not to fair so well. Obviously they have the right to speech and expression just like everyone else, but I worry, alongside other observers, about the message it sends. Maybe a whole bunch of other people will too.
As someone who grew up in Northern Kentucky, where this thing is going to be, according to this article, and spent four years just across the river in Clifton, a part of Cincinnati that houses the University of Cincinnati, where I attended, I feel I can comment some. First, the area is far more diverse than this would lead anyone to believe. Yes, there are a lot of church-goers, but there are also lots of foreigners, as the metro area is larger than a millioln people. In fact, I think that Fresno, CA is less diverse and more like the Bible belt than the Greater Cincinnati area. In Cincinnati, they are able to claim other world renown Museums, most notably the Cincinnati Art Museum which was one of my favorite places to go when I skipped school. I would say that they have en totale approximately 3-5 really fine museums there. After having lived near and attended the University of Cincinnati, as well as attending high school in Northern Kentucky, I can say with assurance that creationism is not taught in schools. In fact, in college, I took a World Civilization course that taught World Civ through the untruths in the Bible. Chapter by chapter, book by book, the professor explained its myth. My science teachers in high school were also well-educated, and I don't really remember ever hearing about creationism other than to explain what it was, not tout its application to science.The City also has Xavier University, Northern Kentucky University, a couple of Technical Schools, and other large Universities in surrounding cities. It can't be all bible belt with that many professors in the area. Additionally, the area brags Procter and Gamble and other scientifically-oriented businesses, very successful ones at that. While I often paint it as the last stop for hicks, it is much more culturally and intellectually diverse than that. I agree that these things are ignorant, but if freedom of speech works the way I think it will, this museum will have a very difficult time staying in the black. With my favorite museums just across the river and the newly opened Underground Railroad Museum in Downtown Cincinnati, this is likely not to fair so well. Obviously they have the right to speech and expression just like everyone else, but I worry, alongside other observers, about the message it sends. Maybe a whole bunch of other people will too.
