- The razor-toothed Tyrannosaurus rex, jaws agape, loomed
ominously over the gentle Thescelosaurus, looking for plants to eat. Admiring
the museum diorama were old and young visitors, listening on headphones
to a stentorian voice describing the primeval scene.
- But the Museum of Earth History is a museum with a controversial
difference. To one side, peering through the bushes, are Adam and Eve.
The display is not an image of the Cretaceous. It is Paradise. 'They lived
together without fear, for there was no death yet,' the voice intoned about
Man and Dinosaur.
- Nestling deep in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas, in
the heart of America's Bible Belt, this is the first dinosaur museum to
take a creationist perspective. Already thousands of people have flocked
to its top-quality exhibits which mix high science with fundamentalist
theology that few serious scientists accept.
- The museum is riding a wave of creationist influence
in America. Creationism, which holds that the Earth is just a few thousand
years old and the biblical account of Genesis is fact, is central to a
rash of furious arguments across America. From school boards in Kansas
to elections in Pennsylvania, the 'debate' between creationism and evolution
has become a political hot potato.
- Even as America's scientists make advances in palaeontology,
astronomy and physics that appear to disprove creationism, Gallup surveys
have shown that about 45 per cent of Americans believe the Earth was created
by God within the past 10,000 years. It is not just creationism either.
Last week NBC's Dateline current affairs programme, equivalent to the BBC's
Newsnight, investigated miracles. It concluded some could be real. It is
hard to imagine Jeremy Paxman taking this stance.
- That wellspring of popular belief, and the political
clout that comes with it, is the inspiration behind the museum. It is not
interested in debating with mainstream science. It simply wants to represent
the view of a significant slice of America. 'We want people to see that
finally they have something that addresses their beliefs, to show that
we do have a voice,' said Thomas Sharp, business director of Creation Truth,
the religious group that co-founded the museum.
- No expense was spared. The fossil casts, which range
from a Triceratops skull to an 18ft-long Albertosaurus (a relative to T.
rex), could easily grace London's Natural History Museum. Plans for a much
bigger museum in Dallas are advanced. 'We would love to open in the United
Kingdom if the right partner showed up,' Sharp said.
- The museum forms part of a Bible-based theme park in
Eureka Springs; the car park is full of cars and coaches from all over
the country. To enter the museum is to explore a surrealistic parallel
world. Biblical quotes appear on displays. The first has dinosaurs, alongside
Adam and Eve, living in harmony. The ferociously fanged T. rex is likely
to be a vegetarian. Then comes the Fall of Man and an ugly world where
dinosaurs prey on each other and the first extinctions occur. The destruction
of the dinosaurs is explained, not by a comet striking the Earth 65 million
years ago, but by the Flood. This, the museum says, wiped out most of the
dinosaurs still alive and created the Grand Canyon and huge layers of sedimentary
rock seen around the world.
- Some dinosaurs survived on Noah's ark. One poster explains
that Noah would have chosen juvenile dinosaurs to save space. An illustration
shows two green sauropods in the ark alongside more conventional elephants
and lions. The final exhibit depicts the Ice Age, where the last dinosaurs
existed with woolly mammoths until the cold and hunting by cavemen caused
them to die out.
- Scientists dismiss such claims as on a par with believing
in Atlantis. Yet the museum is unlikely to be seen as a major threat to
mainstream science. It was put in the heart of an area where Christian
attractions are a mainstay of the local economy.
- It was built in co-operation with the 'New Holy Land'
theme park which re-created the biblical Middle East in the Ozarks. A huge
statue of Christ, the largest in North America, looms over Eureka Springs.
The site is the setting for The Great Passion Play, where each night in
a 4,500-strong arena the last days of Christ are acted out. The play has
attracted more than 7.2 million people.
- But creationism is seeking to become more influential
in other parts of the country. In Kansas the state school board recently
held public hearings on the validity of evolution and the teaching of 'Intelligent
Design' (ID) in classrooms. The hearings were boycotted by scientists who
believed they were rigged against evolutionists. The theory of ID holds
that the world is so complex it must have been created, and has been dubbed
'creationism lite' by its critics. Kansas is now expected to recommend
schools to include ID-friendly material in its science courses this summer.
- In Pennsylvania, the issue dominated an election in the
town of Dover after the school board decided to include mention of ID in
its science classes. A vote last week between anti-evolution and pro-evolution
candidates ended in an electoral tie.
- Creationism has found one high-level voice. President
George Bush famously proclaimed: 'The jury is still out on evolution.'
A CBS survey late last year showed that 45 per cent of Bush voters wanted
creationism taught in schools instead of evolution, compared to 24 per
cent of voters for John Kerry. 'Under the Bush presidency, we are clearly
able to get a lot more done,' Sharp said.
- The Museum of Earth History may be the first dinosaur
museum of its kind. It is not likely to be the last.
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