[lit-ideas] Dinosaur Adventure Land
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 09:28:39 EST
And Andreas thought the oreo thing was over-the-top imbecilic.
_http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,783829,00.html?cnn=y
es_
(http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,783829,00.html?cnn=yes)
<<Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
At a park called Dinosaur Adventure Land, run by creationists near
Pensacola, Florida, visitors are informed that man coexisted with dinosaurs.
This
fantasy accommodates the creationistsâ?? view that the Earth is only 6,000
years
old and that Darwinâ??s theory of evolution is false. Among the park exhibits
is
one that illustrates another creationist article of faith. It consists of a
long trough filled with sand and fitted at one end with a water spigot. Above
the trough is a sign reading â??That River Didnâ??t Make That Canyon.â?? When
visitors open the spigot, the water quickly cuts a gully through the sand,
supposedly demonstrating how the Grand Canyon was created, practically
overnight,
by Noahâ??s flood. Thatâ??s nonsense, of course, but what else would you
expect
at a creationist park? Certainly, one might think, this couldnâ??t be
acceptable
at, say, a National Park, right? Think again.
Two-thirds of the way across the continent, some four million people annually
visit Grand Canyon National Park, marveling at the awesome view. In National
Park Service (NPS) affiliated bookstores, they can find literature informing
them that the great chasm runs for 277 miles along the bed of the Colorado
River. It descends more than a mile into the earth, and along one stretch, is
some 18 miles wide, its walls displaying impressive layers of limestone,
sandstone, shale, schist and granite.
And, oh yes, it was formed about 4,500 years ago, a direct consequence of
Noahâ??s Flood. Howâ??s that? Yes, this is the ill-informed premise of â??Grand
Canyon, a Different View,â?? a handsomely-illustrated volume also on sale at
the
bookstores. It includes the writings of creationists and creation scientists
and
was compiled by Tom Vail, who with his wife operates Canyon Ministries,
conducting creationist-view tours of the canyon. â??For years,â?? Vail
explains, â??as
a Colorado River guide, I told people how the Grand Canyon was formed over
the evolutionary time span of millions of years. (Most geologists place the
canyonâ??s age at some six million years). Then I met the Lord. Now I have a
different view of the Canyon, which according to a biblical time scale,
canâ??t
possibly be more than a few thousand years old.â??
Vailâ??s book attracted little notice when it first appeared in the NPS stores
in 2003, until a critical review by Wilfred Elders, a respected University of
California geologist, brought it to light and took apart its
pseudoscientific claims. That led David Shaver, who heads the Geologic
Resources Division of
the Park Service, to send a memo to headquarters urging that the book be
removed from the NPS stores. â??It is not based on science,â?? he wrote, â??
but on a
specific religious doctrineâ?¦and should not have been approved for in NPS
affiliated book stores.â??
The presidents of The American Geological Institute and six of its member
societies also weighed in, expressing their dismay to the Park Service. Noting
that the Grand Canyon â??provides a remarkable and unique opportunity to
educate
the public about Earth science,â?? the scientists urged that, â??in fairness
to
the millions of park visitors, we must clearly distinguish religious from
scientific knowledge.â??
But when Grand Canyon National Park superintendent Joe Alston attempted to
block the sale of Vailâ??s book at canyon bookstores, he was overruled by NPS
headquarters, which announced that a high-level policy review of the matter
would be launched and a decision made by February, 2004. So far, no official
decision has been announced.
Even worse, according to the Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility (PEER), an organization that includes many Park employees,
papers obtained
under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that no review has ever taken
place. Indeed, PEER claims that the Bush Administration has already decided it
will stand by its approval for the book and that hundreds more have been
ordered. â??Now that the book has become quite popular,â?? explained an NPS
flack to
a Baptist news agency, â??we donâ??t want to remove it.â??
Even more troubling, PEER charges that Grand Canyon National Park no longer
offers an official estimate of the age of the canyon, and that the NPS has
blocked publication of guidance intended for park rangers that reminds them
there is no scientific basis for creationism. The group has been increasingly
concerned about what it calls the Park Serviceâ??s â??Faith-Based Parksâ?? and
the
agencyâ??s seeming indifference to the separation of church and state Among
other
moves, for example, NPS has allowed the placing of bronze plaques bearing
Psalm verses at Grand Canyon overlooks. PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch is
indignant, â??If the Bush Administration is using public resources for
pandering
to Christian fundamentalists, it should at least have the decency to tell the
truth about it.â??
Is this religious bias, as some creationists charge? Hardly. Itâ??s more than
likely that the majority of scientists, environmentalists and others
protesting the NPS stand are themselves intelligent, rational Christians who
are
convinced by overwhelming evidence that the Grand Canyon is no
Johnny-Come-Lately.
The creationists have demonstrated again that they are scientifically
illiterate, and out of step with the 21st century. >>
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