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What's Going On With Evolution?

Robert Mac West

Since late August, television, radio, weekly newsmagazines, newspapers, editorials, chatrooms and listservs have been filled with reactions to the decision of the Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE) to remove evolution (in all forms, including cosmology) from the subjects to be tested at the state level. While this does not prevent the teaching of evolution, it decidedly de-emphasizes it, a perceived victory for fundamentalist creationists who prefer a deity-driven explanation of life on this planet. Op-ed writers, educators both informal and formal, civil liberties advocates, and conservatives of various stripes all weighed in with their opinions.

There are many places to these opinions; a list of useful URLs and other resources accompanies this essay. I want to address a few aspects of the discussion that I believe are particularly germane to the informal learning industry.

As I write this, I make two disclosures. First, I am trained as a paleontologist and spent my entire research career documenting and interpreting the evolution of life over the last 70 million years in North America and Asia. Second, I am a long-time Board member (currently Secretary-Treasurer) of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), a non-profit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to ensuring that American students have full and unfettered access to contemporary science (which, in our opinion, includes evolution as the central tenet). An August 29 article from the New York Times clearly describes the NCSE as the David to evangelical Christians' Goliath. That article can be found at http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30713F6385F0C7A8EDDA10894D1494D81.

Strategies Being Used by Creationists to Confound Contemporary Science

Many creationist organizations continue in the Bible-thumping tradition of those stereotyped in Inherit the Wind and parodied by Elmer Gantry. For example, the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in El Cajon, CA, the Creation Research Society (CRS) of St. Joseph, MO, and Answers in Genesis (AiG) of northern Kentucky, are openly biblical and evangelical in their approach, although the ICR and some others also publish their textbooks and tracts in "public school editions" with overt biblical references omitted. Some of the more contentious ministries and movements take their fundamentalist evangelical Christianity beyond attacking evolution as anti-Christian to claiming it provokes homosexuality, family decay, Columbine, drugs, abortion, genocide, Communism, Nazism, and so on.

Others are much more sophisticated, and have morphed the concepts of God-directed creation and anti-evolutionism into an interesting intellectual and philosophical creature called "intelligent design." A textbook titled Of Pandas and People by P. Davis and D. Kenyon (1993) led this movement. A recent and apparently quite flush arrival is Seattle's Discovery Institute, which has a program called the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture. That Center has attracted a coterie of credentialed conservative academics. Phillip Johnson (University of California, Berkeley), Michael Behe (Lehigh University), William Dembski (University of Dallas) and others use sophisticated language in books that appear mainstream (quite different from the naďve and sensationalist tracts published by the old-style, young-earth biblical creationists), and arguments couched in scientific language. They very smoothly paper over the rifts between different variations of Creationist belief, outlined below:

  • Young-Earth Creationism: God created the Earth and its inhabitants, in six days, less than 10,000 years ago (determining the age of the Earth by counting backwards through Biblical chronologies)
  • Old-Earth Creationism: God created the Earth and its inhabitants 4.7 billion years ago (determining the age of the Earth using a geologic time-scale)
  • Gap Theory Creationism: God created the Earth and its inhabitants in six days starting 4.7 billion years ago; there were very long gaps in between those days
  • Day-Age Creationism: God created the Earth and its inhabitants in six days starting 4.7 billion years ago; "days" are metaphorical units indicating very long periods of time
  • Theistic Evolution: God created the Earth and its inhabitants 4.7 billion years ago; these have changed over time by the hand of God.

After the Arkansas State Supreme Court (McLean v. Arkansas State Board of Education [1981]) and the United States Supreme Court (Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 [1987]) struck down old-style creationism as unconstitutional religious intrusion into the public school classroom (violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution), the creationist philosophy re-emerged initially as an appeal to "equal time for equal ideas." The ICR and CRS, among others, published their textbooks in "public school editions" with overt religious reverences carefully edited out, presumably to pass muster in non-sectarian, taxpayer-supported classrooms. When that strategy was quickly recognized as dissembling and hypocritical, creationism reappeared as "intelligent design"(ID). The central tenet of ID is that, because the world is intricately organized with many complex interrelationships and biological structures, there has to have been a designer-but that designer is not God.

Most recent creationist attacks on evolution have been aimed at state and local school boards, administrators, and individual classroom teachers. NCSE's files are filled with pleas from administrators and classroom teachers seeking help in fending off personal confrontations with angry parents who accused them of undermining family values and Christianity and, in effect, teaching heresy and blasphemy.

Museums have not been immune to such confrontations. My own introduction to creationists occurred when I was Curator of Geology at the Milwaukee Public Museum in the late 1970s, when the Creation Society of Wisconsin convinced the board of the Milwaukee Public Museum that our "Third Planet" geology/paleontology/earth history exhibition, which had just received a huge NSF grant, was suspect and was not fair to their view of science. After lengthy dialogues with the local creationists, who were buttressed by "import" Dr. Walter Brown (then of Chicago, now director of the Center for Scientific Creationism in Arizona), we were fully supported by our Director, Kenneth Starr, and the gallery went forward and opened to great community acclaim. The exhibition is still there (it opened in 1983) and still doing well-plus being supplemented by a newer adjacent gallery about tropical biology and natural selection in the modern world.

Breadth of the Creationist/Fundamentalist Attack on Modern Science

The breadth of the attack is huge. It is not limited to questioning the concept of descent with modification, natural selection, genetic variation, or biogeography. It also assaults concepts of geologic time and the age of the earth and the universe (young-Earth creationists firmly believe that the age of the earth is determined from the biblical "begats" (a chronology based on the lives of the Old Testament patriarchs), and that the planet-and all of the Universe-is no more than 10,000 years old). In the creationist mind, astronomy and cosmology are suspect, as is anything that cannot be immediately seen, touched, smelled, etc. in real time. Therefore, sub-atomic particles are not real, we cannot "believe" radiometric dating, and even some events in human history cannot be trusted as evidential. The scientific method and the use of inference to explain process are both oversimplified and distorted.

A few minutes' surfing through the Web pages listed in the sidebar to this article will show just how many organizations and individuals are condemning evolution and how wide-ranging their arguments are.

The US historically has been a conservatively Christian country, and naturalistic evolution never has been fully accepted-unlike in virtually all the rest of the developed world-despite the number of American evolutionary biologists, astronomers, and historical scholars dependent upon and actively using an evolutionary world view. American reticence regarding evolution has been recently reflected in the results of an Internet poll conducted by Time magazine two weeks after the KSBE vote. With 14,357 votes tabulated as of August 28, 61.37% said evolutionary theory should not be taught in (public) schools, 0.95% were unsure, and 37.73% said yes, evolution should be taught. Evolution is less popular than the Ten Commandments; on the same day, 46.42% of 15,344 Time voters agreed that these should be posted in the schools.

Other surveys present similar statistics. A poll published by the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal concludes that 69% favor de-emphasis on evolution education, and 31% do not, based on 5,907 responses. In marked contrast, a poll by NewsChannel4 in New York, reported on MSNBC on September 19, said that 77% of 2,000 participants want evolution taught in the Tri-State schools (NY, NJ, CT).

The Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance have posted the following two confirming surveys on their website:

Results of a Gallup poll (November 21 to 24, 1991):

Belief System:
Creationist View
Theistic Evolution
Naturalistic Evolution
Group of Adults
God created man pretty much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.
Man has developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process, including man's creation.
Man has developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. God had no part in this process.
Everyone
47%
40%
9%
Men
39%
45%
11.5%
Women
53%
36%
6.6%
College graduates
25%
54%
16.5%
No high school diploma
65%
23%
4.6%
Income over $50,000
29%
50%
17%
Income under $20,000
59%
28%
6.5%
Caucasians
46%
40%
9%
Afro-Americans
53%
41%
4%

Political science professor George Bishop of the University of Cincinnati published a paper in 1998 listing and interpreting 1997 poll data (George Bishop, "The Religious Worldview and American Beliefs about Human Origins," The Public Perspective, August, 1998):

Belief System:
Creationist View
Theistic Evolution
Naturalistic Evolution
 
God created man pretty much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.
Man has developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process, including man's creation.
Man has developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. God had no part in this process.
% Of Respondents
44%
39%
10%

"Bishop notes that these figures have remained remarkably stable over time. These questions were first asked about 15 years ago, and the percentages in each category are almost identical. Moreover, the profiles of each group have been constant. Just as when these questions were first asked 15 years ago, creationists continue to be older, less educated, Southern, politically conservative, and biblically literal (among other things). Women and African-Americans are more likely to be creationists than whites and men. Meanwhile, younger, better educated, mainline Protestants and Catholics are more likely to land in the middle as theistic evolutionists."

"With the elderly representing a gradually increasing part of the U.S. population, one would expect that the creationist view would receive increasing support. In fact, there appears to be a gradual erosion of support for the creationist view. It is barely statistically significant. The sample size is about 1,000 so the sampling error is within +/- 3.2%, 19 times out of 20. It will take a decade or two to determine if a significant shift has really happened."

"By any measure, the United States remains a highly religious nation, compared to other developed countries. Moreover, its citizens tend to hold more conservative beliefs. For example, the percentage of adults who believe that 'the Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word' is 5 times higher in the U.S. than in Britain. Church attendance is about 4 times higher in the U.S. than it is in Britain."
(B. Anderson, http://www.religioustolerance.org)

Response to Creationist Attacks

The educational/political results have been mixed. Professional pre-college educators and civil libertarians have been much more concerned and vocal than have been practicing scientists. Alabama issued a "warning" to be pasted in all high school biology texts. Other states (e.g., California) have emphasized the importance of evolution as an organizing principle. On the whole, based on NCSE data, evolution is at best staying even, and probably really is suffering net losses in the classroom and on the school board.

Well prior to the KSBE decision, 23 biology textbook authors (including Bruce Alberts of the National Academy of Sciences, Kenneth Miller of Brown University, and Peter Raven of the Missouri Botanical Garden) signed a statement that says in part, "The coverage of evolution in biology textbooks we have written reflects the broad consensus in the scientific community. As noted in a booklet issued by the National Academy of Sciences, 'Evolution pervades all biological phenomena'.... As scientists and teachers, we find it unacceptable that school districts considering our books for adoption would be encouraged to choose one book over another based on the perception that teachers should avoid the topic of evolution.... We also deplore the efforts made in some states and districts to require that evolution be disclaimed.... It does a disservice to students to mislead them about the important position that evolution holds in biological and other sciences."

The response to the KSBE decision from the academic and political community has ranged from angry to timid.

A Kansas statewide citizens' activist group called Citizens for Science has convened public forums, offered written and cyberspace commentaries and critiques of the new standards, written to the members of the Kansas State Board of Education, and generally called additional national attention to the board's decision.

The museum and scholarly community of Kansas has responded at several levels. Faculty from the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Emporia State University and others have been publicly critical of the state school board and very supportive of local boards and individual schools which have stated that they will continue to teach evolution as basic to modern science. Paleontologist Dr. Leonard Krishtalka, Director of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, published two essays in the Lawrence Journal World prior to the state board's vote, and has since offered a third contribution. Museum scientists have been vocal, making their opinions known in newspapers and other public forums. The museum's education staff has responded to numerous questions and is developing programming to specifically address the new science standards that asks teachers and students to "refute geologic time."

The Kansas State Biology Teachers held their fall conference at the Sternberg Museum in Hays. At a September 18 press conference in front of the museum's animatronic dinosaur, they vowed to continue teaching evolution despite its omission from the new state science standards.

Harvard paleontologist and science populizer Stephen Jay Gould has stood up for the scientific community. He wrote a very strong editorial for Time magazine-which, ironically, had a cover story on the unfolding understanding of human evolution the very week of the Kansas decision. Apart from the odd letter to the editor, we have heard next to nothing from the professional scientists and historians whose very intellectual and professional cores depend on evolution.

National Academy of Sciences President Bruce Alberts said (August 20, 1999), "we view the recent actions of the Kansas State Board of Education as an unfortunate setback for all those attempting to prepare our young people for a century in which science and technology will play an ever-increasing role. Evolution is not only universally accepted by scientists; it has also been accepted by the leaders of most of the world's major religions…. The National Academy of Sciences has long been an advocate for the teaching of evolution as a central element in any science education program."

The American Geophysical Union, through executive director Fred Spilhaus said, "Many scientists were dismayed when the Kansas school board voted to eliminate the theory of evolution from the state's science curriculum, and some will undoubtedly express shock and disapproval." If professional associations other than the AGU have been active in the discussion, their voices have not been heard effectively by the national media.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science was conspicuously quiet on the matter despite the aggressive commentary by Gould, its elected 1999 president. Finally, in a signed editorial in the September 17 issue of Science Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Floyd E. Bloom and Deputy Managing Editor R. Brooks Hanson condemned the situation for two reasons. First, they criticized political leaders from both major parties (see the statement below from Bill Bradley-sent to the ILR office from his campaign headquarters) for failing "to challenge the lunacy of removing from the educational opportunities…two of the best-established theories of our era [cosmology as well as evolution]." Second, they deplored the new creationist strategy of "dumbing down" educational standards.

The John Templeton Foundation of Radnor, PA, very influential in the contemporary movement to achieve a scholarly understanding of the relationship of religion and science, issued a statement on August 31, Executive director Charles Harper stated that the Foundation "encourage(s) exploration of the theory of evolution as an aspect of the created order and believe(s) that there are rich insights potentially available from such study…(the Foundation) in no way share the quarrel with evolutionary science that is typical of Christian fundamentalism in the United State. It is simply not possible for well-informed scholars to hold such positions either in terms of theology or science…. Debates over philosophy rather than science per se, are at root an important aspect of the current cultural debate and debacle." In regard to community-level decision-making, as encouraged by the Kansas standards, he went on to say, "…one must respect such communities and their values, concerns and prerogatives, even if the specific scientific/intellectual credibility of their position is nonexistent."

As of this writing, all but one of the presumptive major Presidential candidates have announced either their firm support for creationism (e.g., Steve Forbes-who proclaimed much of textbook biology illustration to be a "fraud"-and Gary Bauer) or their agreement that it is OK for local schools to teach creationism (Elizabeth Dole, John McCain, George W. Bush, and Al Gore). Gore backed away to a mere waffle, supporting the teaching of creationism "only in certain contexts, such as in a religion class." In contrast, Bill Bradley said, "While I respect local school board control, I also believe that every American child needs a foundation of solid scientific education, and evolution clearly falls into that category."

On August 27 CNN asked me to comment in an interview on the Vice-President's waffling, all I could do was to express my disappointment, as he hitherto had been a strong advocate for progressive science-to the extent of taking credit for the Internet! Interestingly enough, the day Gore's position acknowledging creationism was published in the Washington Post, he shared space with discussion of a new find of an advanced African Miocene primate Equatorius and the discovery of water of extraterrestrial origin in a meteorite.

The strongest political response has come from the Republican governor of Kansas, Bill Graves, who is openly unhappy about what is happening on his watch. "This is a tragic, terrible, embarrassing solution to a problem that didn't exist" (Nature, August 19, 1999, p. 701). He, and others, expressed hope that the elected school board could be dissolved and once again become a state agency.

Shortly after the school board decision, a Kansas history textbook aimed at 7th and 8th graders removed its first chapter, depriving its readers of basic information about the natural history of the area occupied by the first Native American inhabitants of the state. The Wichita Eagle (August 21, 1999) reported that the publisher, the Grace Dangberg Foundation of Nevada, said that the school board's decision drove the decision to remove material about fossils and the inland sea that once covered what is now Kansas.

Museums

It seems that science and natural history museums, zoos, aquariums, and National Park Service sites remain public places where one can dependably obtain basic information on evolution. Large, comprehensive evolution and paleontology exhibitions continue to open and receive large, enthusiastic audiences. In previous issues of the Informal Learning Review I have commented on major paleontology exhibitions at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the Denver Museum of Natural History (Prehistoric Journey) and the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln. More recently, large exhibitions were organized for the new Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, the Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT, and the Sternberg Museum in Hays, KS (!), and another will open soon at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science in Raleigh. I am sure there are others I have not seen or been informed about.

But as my experience in Milwaukee might suggest, these exhibitions do not always open and operate without controversy. The staff of the Denver Museum of Natural History was well prepared when their "Prehistoric Journey" exhibition opened in 1995; creationists criticized it openly, vigorously, and loudly, even in the exhibit gallery itself. To the immense credit of the museum, the staff and volunteers stood firm, allowed open dissent, and went about their business of quality education about modern science. The Tulsa Zoo, in 1995, was attacked by a fundamentalist congregation for an exhibit on horse evolution and exhibition labels describing the evolutionary connection between chimps and humans. They updated the horse exhibition with help of Bruce McFadden of the University of Florida, a world authority on horse evolution; they simplified the chimp label, possibly watering down evolutionary interpretation. In 1996 the Vilas Park Zoo, Madison, WI, responded to pressure by scientists and replaced a graphic identifying the human population in 15,000 BC as two (Adam and Eve) with one suggesting the presence of millions of humans at that time.

So, Where Are We?

The world of science, technology, and history depends on evolution and inferences about future as well as past events. While museums certainly are not immune from attack by fundamentalists (regardless of the language and trappings they use), the informal learning industry seems to be somewhat freer than tax-supported public formal education in its ability to reflect the results of contemporary research and interpretation. That said, I, as well as many readers, can cite instances where, depending on the source of school visitors (e.g., religious/independent schools), institutions consciously and unashamedly alter their presentations and reinterpret their exhibitions to avoid offending religious sensitivities-regardless of the intellectual abuse committed. This troubles some and is seen as simply practical by others.

Creationism, evangelical fundamentalism, and conscious misuse and abuse of modern science in the guise of religion and/or "intelligent design" are with us and are not going away. They ebb and flow and, in a thoroughly ironic way, evolve with the social times. Informal educators must be alert to these trends and threats, must decide where to draw lines in the sand, and must always be willing to seek assistance from those whose political, historical, and scientific insights will help them do their jobs well and honestly.

Robert Mac West is co-editor of The Informal Learning Review.

URLs Devoted to the Evolution-Creation Discussion

The National Center for Science Education, El Cerrito, CA
http://www.natcenscied.org
The only national organization dedicated to the maintenance of evolution in the public schools. It provides resources to educators, politicians, and scientists who are being challenged about evolution.

The Why Files, a project of the University of Wisconsin and the National Science Foundation
http://whyfiles.org/
This site has useful information on evolution as well as on the sorts of phenomena that otherwise might be explored on "The X-Files."

Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
http://www.religioustolerance.org
The product of four individuals of different religious persuasions. It is a very rich site, providing direct and indirect links to evolutionists and creationists, as well as to a host of other issues shrouded with religious overtones.

TalkOrigins
http://www.talkorigins.org
This site is operated by people sympathetic to evolution and offers a wide range of FAQs, commentary, and links.

National Academy of Sciences
http://www.nationalacademies.org/
The National Academy of Sciences has information on the importance of teaching evolution. Its two recent publications, Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science and Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences, can be accessed at this site.

The John Templeton Foundation
http://www.templeton.org
An organization that provides support to a number of programs related to the study of the relationship of science and religion.  Among the projects supported by the Templeton Foundation are the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Dialogue Between Science and Religion Program, directed by Dr. Audrey Chapman.  It links to “Science and Spirit Resources” (http://www.counterbalance.org), a site that exists “to promote understanding and exploration of how science and religion can work together to address the vital issues of our time.”

Institute for Creation Research
http://www.icr.org
This site presents the Institute for Creation Research and its position statement on science education (it also was published in ICR Impact no. 306): "…an effort to establish a firm biblical base for the discipline of science education…."

Answers in Genesis
http://www.answersingenesis.org
A Kentucky-based evangelical organization that is very aggressive in its attacks on evolution. It is attempting to build a Creation Museum in suburban Cincinnati. It has strong ties to creationists in Australia.

Creationism
http://www.creationism.org
This rich site opens up the huge number of organizations dedicated to both promulgating creationism, refuting evolution, and, if you click through far enough, denigrating and attacking non-Christian-fundamentalist religions and belief systems.

The Discovery Institute
http://www.discovery.org
This is the site of the Discovery Institute, whose Center for Renewal of Science and Culture is the mother lode of information on Intelligent Design (creationism without mentioning God or a young Earth).

Creation Museums

I have conducted an extensive Web search for museums that reflect creationist philosophies. I located five that have a current or future physical presence and one virtual presentation. All quotations below are from the web pages supported by the individual museums or their sponsoring organizations.

  1. A creation museum is being developed by Answers in Genesis in Boone County, northern Kentucky, just outside Cincinnati. AIG bought at auction much of the exhibitry originally designed and built for the Hall of Exploration at the Columbus Center in Baltimore (look for the walk-through cell, the Shark Theater and the Giant Rockfish in Kentucky). This museum has been the subject of zoning disputes and appeals since the idea first surfaced in 1996. AIG's web page informs us that the architects and engineers are hard at work - no word about exhibition designers, evaluators, subject specialists, or educators. "The Creation Museum [will] show the whole world the wonders of God's creation and emphasize a literal viewpoint of biblical history from the very first verse (with particular emphasis on Genesis, the most-attacked book of the Bible). This museum will be a wonderful alternative to the evolutionary Natural History museums that Satan is using to influence so many minds."
    http://www.answersingenesis.org/museum/


  2. The Institute of Creation Research operates the Museum of Creation and Earth History in Santee, CA, a suburb of San Diego. This is the most professional of the existing creation museums; it is associated with the ICR and Christian Heritage College. Research from the ICR and Christian Heritage includes the ongoing search for Noah's Ark by President John Morris and studies of the flood origin of the Grand Canyon. This free museum offers "answers while exploring the evidence on your journey through time.
    • Do religion & science clash?
    • Why is there pain and suffering in the world?
    • What is the evidence for the Genesis Flood?
    • When did the Ice Age occur?
    • How old is the Earth?
    http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=discover&action=index&page=discover_museum
    After reading the description of the museum on www.icr.org/museum.htm, please refer to the review by Eureka College (IL) professor Dr. Karen Bartelt: "Skeptics Visit the Museum of Creation and Earth History," http://home.austarnet.com.au/stear/museumintro.htm

  3. The Creation Evidences Museum, Glen Rose, TX, is operated by Carl Baugh, a long-time advocate of the simultaneous occurrence of humans and dinosaurs. This central Texas legend originated with some crudely carved "man-prints" sold in a Glen Rose drug store during the depression. It has evolved into a major industry intended to convince the public that degraded dinosaur footprints in the Glen Rose Sandstone (well-known for excellent dinosaur footprints, including a stunning pathway at the American Museum of Natural History in New York) actually are human footprints. The web site also includes several other purported out-of-sequence occurrences, including a fossilized human finger, an iron hammer in stone, and familiar creationist questioning of radiocarbon dating. A brief web search on Baugh's name will reveal some interesting revelations about his purported academic credentials.
    http://www.creationevidence.org


  4. On October 8, 1998, the 15,500 square foot Creation Museum opened in Crosbytown in west Texas (near Lubbock). It is the culmination of the dreams of dinosaur caster and artist turned paleontologist Joe Taylor. "This fossil and dinosaur museum is no amoeba-to-man story. No millions of years. Not like any other museum in the world." http://www.pathlights.com/current_news_091798.htm
    It apparently is comprised entirely of replicas, all of which are for sale. To my knowledge, this museum has not yet been visited and critiqued by a mainstream scientist.
    http://www.mtblanco.com/


  5. The Creation Information Center for Mount St. Helens, Silverlake, WA, while not strictly speaking a museum or visitor center, is only a few miles from the NPS visitor Center at Toutle. Its exhibits "show that the earth may be only thousands of years old rather than billions…. Creation scientists believe that the world-destroying biblical Flood was the foremost catastrophe." Exhibits include:
    • Rapidly produced changes at Mount St. Helens, 1980-1984
    • Canyon erosion, including the "little Grand Canyon" of the Toutle River
    • Stratification formed by hurricane-velocity pyroclastic flows
    • Redeposited forests that dropped back into Spirit Lake, forming peat
    • Applications to Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and the origin of coal
    • The implications of creation science to one's self and society.

    http://www.creationism.org/sthelens/

  6. The Virtual Creation Museum is operated by a homeschooling family. "Our goal is to provide you with a family oriented, educational website that expresses a biblical view of fossils, dinosaurs, the Genesis Creation, and the origin of life. Our secondary goal is to provide you with quality products that will inspire and activate your child's synaptic reactions. But our ultimate mission is to honor God the Creator and His Son Jesus." It includes sections (cyber-exhibits) devoted to The Creation, The Genesis Flood, The Ice Ages, Fossils, Dinosaurs, Origin of Man, Evolution, and Creation News.
    http://www.ianjuby.org/jogginsa2.html


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