Creation Museum (Earth, gospel, America, church, pagan)

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by NetDoc

Are we getting crazier?

There was a time when people actually SOLD snake oil and made a living out of it.

They still do.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlue

It's all too easy to sit and laugh at a Creationism Museum, but this kind of stuff really freaks me out. America just gets crazier and crazier. Where will all this end? How crazy do we have to get before enough people get sick of it?

In a market driven economy with 300 million consumers, it's possible that there will be enough people who demand something for all sorts of craziness to find a niche. Is there really much difference between a creation museum and a roadside souvenir stand selling cheap paper and plastic junk to tourists? I'd think if there were enough tourists to support the sale of such junk, there are enough folks to support a few creation museums.

IMHO, people are now shopping for information in much the same way they shop for anything else. That is, they demand the information that best fits with their tastes and prejudices, and they spurn information that contradicts their preset views. There are so many various "news and information" sources out there today that people can pretty much shop for what they want to hear and isolate themselves from anything they don't want to hear.

Worse, the average person seems to buy into a lot of nonsense about the supposed bias, slant and spin of news and information sources they don't want to consider. For instance, several people who have never worked in academia, nor have any clear idea of how academia works, who are nevertheless convinced that everyone who works in academia, from biologists to historians, is somehow deluded by academic group think. It's easier for them to believe such nonsense than to believe their favorite bimbo talk show host might not know what he's talking about when he accuses climatologists of covering up the facts on global warming, or accuses sociologists of fudging their data, or historians of "revisionism". That is to say, some people are simply so ignorant of what goes on in academia they will even take the word of a bimbo talk show host over that of a man or woman who has spent their entire professional career subject to peer review.

A creation museum is just another example of how people these days shop around for only the information they want to believe and are too intellectually lazy to actually study an issue from more than one side.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by stemann

The part of this that made me type "Idiot" is the "$25 million." I'm sure God is proud of their propaganda efforts here, whether true or not, and if some of the poorer people of the world die during the opening, it will be a worthy sacrifice. Kill me now.

$25 million is a lot of money, but I suspect it doesn't really buy all that much infrastructure in the States these days. A Disneyworld, by contrast, would run into the 100s of millions to build. And a small art museum easily might run 80 millions. A cinderblock school for less than a thousand students might go for 10 millions. So, I think it's safe to say this creation museum is being done on the cheap. About the cost of two and a half no frills state funded school buildings.

However, I do agree with you the money could be better spent. But someone probably aims to make a buck on this, and hence, the funding.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by sparc872

I agree. I am interested in seeing what they do come up with. It does worry my that it is going up however, because I can't tell if it is the canary in the mine or not. Will this be something we will be seeing more and more often in the US? While other countries are pushing forward with new technologies and ideas, will we be sliding backwards, stuck in the past and still sipping on our fossil fuels to boot? Where are we as a society heading?

IF this museum is a financial success, then we will indeed be seeing more and more museums like it crop up in the US. Bigger and more elaborate than the first, too. There will be no shortage of investors who want to put their money into something successful.

[Mister Emu]

While other countries are pushing forward with new technologies and ideas, will we be sliding backwards, stuck in the past and still sipping on our fossil fuels to boot? Where are we as a society heading?

What exactly does believing in a created world have to do with inventiveness? And while new technology is generally better, I don't see how 'new' ideas can be inherently seen as positive compared to 'old' ideas.

I find the idea of a "Creation Museum" pretty preposterous, and see the 25 million used to fund it as wasted compared to many, much more beneficial, programs/causes.

[sparc872]

It has to do with our scientific understanding of the world. People who believe in the literal genesis often have trouble comprehending a lot of science. They don't see the contradictions between their belief and scientific observations. This lack of scientific understanding is what I was referring to as holding us back.

[MdmSzdWhtGuy]

Originally Posted by sparc872

It has to do with our scientific understanding of the world. People who believe in the literal genesis often have trouble comprehending a lot of science. They don't see the contradictions between their belief and scientific observations. This lack of scientific understanding is what I was referring to as holding us back.

Even more frightening is the fact that many of them do understand there is a difference between what their preacher is telling them on Sundays (literal Genesis, etc. . . . ) and what science shows to be true, and respond by rejecting science, instead of the other way around.

Scarier still is that these folks are not hard to find, and scariest of all, they are breeding!!!

B.