We belong to an ISP homeschool group which provides us with, among other things, the opportunity to go on organized fieldtrips to various locations throughout southern and central California. In the past, our group has visited such diverse locations as a fire station, a supermarket, a California mission, a television station, and even a fast-food establishment. Well, it seems that our May fieldtrip will be to the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) Museum of Creation and Earth History, located in Santee, California.
Oh my.
Being a staunch Old Earth Creationist (OEC), I have certain qualms about taking my kids to a "museum" which proposes that, not only is the earth about 6,000 - 10,000 years old, but that dinosaurs accompanied Noah on the ark. 
However, the approach my wife and I take, with regards to our children's education, is that they will not be sheltered from opposing viewpoints. For instance, they are both aware that some Christians believe that the earth is "young" as well as that some people believe that nature alone is responsible for the diversity of life we find on earth today.
When the fieldtrip was first announced, I decided that I would spend some time with our children, in order to prepare them for what they would see and hear at the museum. I was assuming that the fieldtrip would occur on a Friday (a non-work day for me). Unfortunately, the fieldtrip has been scheduled for a Monday so, as it now stands, we won't be attending at all.
Maybe it's all for the better, anyway, because I did a bit of research as to exactly what to expect at the Museum of Creation and Earth History, and what I found was... interesting, to say the least.
It is not uncommon to find Young Earth Creationist (YEC) literature espousing the fact that dinosaurs existed with humans and, therefore, were present on Noah's Ark. Consider what Ken Ham writes, at ICR's website,
Dinosaurs did NOT live millions of years ago; they DID live beside people; they DID go on Noah's Ark; they ARE mentioned in the Bible; they DID live after the Flood (Job 40:15-24). There is MUCH evidence that they have lived up until quite recently. God CREATED all animal types. Dinosaurs did NOT evolve, and there is really NO mystery about what happened to them.
ICR's website isn't particularly informative regarding the exhibits within its museum. Digging around the web, however, I found out that one of the exhibits includes a scale model of Noah's Ark, sans dinosaurs. From the museum,
"Dinosaurs lived before the Flood, and most dinosaur fossils are remains of those buried in flood sediments... Representatives of the land 'kinds' must have been present on the Ark, and lived for some time after the Flood."
Scientific methods which yield an "old" earth are, evidently, ignored. Radiometric dating is written off as unreliable, despite the independent cross-calibration aspects of the multiple methods available. Ice core dating is deemed unreliable, also despite calibration techniques. Fossils are said to have been deposited at once and by, the great flood, despite inconsistencies with how they are actually found. Hence, we see video productions which misapply scientific techniques, rely on anomalies, and make statements such as:
Scientists have never developed a technique to test whether anything is billions of years old. The oldest fossils are about 6,000 years old.
A curious feature of the YEC scenario is that, due to the young nature of our world, geological landmarks must be, by necessity, created quickly. Thus, the Grand Canyon, it is posited, was created as an aftermath of the flood (note: YEC generally, but not universally, believe that the great flood was global in scope).
Evidently there is a "canyon wall" along with the claim that the Grand Canyon was formed in a matter of weeks, or months, as opposed to millions of years. Yet, the layers found in the Grand Canyon display marine as well as non-marine origins. So just how is it that the flood deposited the layers of the canyon, as well as cut through them? And given that so many animals were killed off in the flood, one would expect the bigger and heavier ones to settle to the bottom of the resulting runoff. Yet that is not what the geological layers indicate. With regards to how to determine the geological age of a fossil, it is stated,
- DO NOT use the depth where it is found.
- DO NOT use the type of rock in which it is found.
- DO NOT use radiometric date (these are practical only in non- fossil-bearing igneous rocks, and often disagree with each other).
- DO NOT use the `stage of evolution' of the fossil (that would be circular reasoning).
- DO use the Word of God (The Bible indicates that most of the fossils must have been buried in one year--the year of the Flood)!
It is indeed unfortunate that such muddled thinking is found within the halls of YEC facilities. It is disturbing to note that some YEC advocates exhibit hostility towards their fellow Christians, who happen to be OEC. Jonathan Sarfati, a Young Earth Creationist, has written inflammatory articles directed against Old Earth Creationist Hugh Ross, of Reasons to Believe, accusing Ross of compromising the Word of God. Additional spats have occurred between Carl Wieland (of Answers in Genesis) and Fazale Rana (of Reasons to Believe), whom Sarfati has referred to as "Hugh Ross' minion." And Wieland has stated, in an e-mail exchange, that the teachings of Reasons to Believe "represent a greater danger to the church than attacks by atheistic evolutionists."
But, back to the museum.
There is also a Mt. St. Helen's hall which, in the same light as the great flood's action on the Grand Canyon, purports to show that catastrophic events can create strata layering. Other halls review the Garden of Eden, the Tower of Babel, the (one!) Ice Age, the post-Ice Age civilization, the origin of religion, and a supposed contrast between the fruits of creationism and those of evolution.
It's really too bad that I can't attend this fieldtrip. It would have been a great opportunity to do some comparative education with my kids. And, to tell you the truth, checking out a scale model of the Ark would have been pretty neat.
Dinosaurs, or not.
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Hi Rusty,
Sorry you won't be able to go with us! I just wanted to comment about what you said about not sheltering your kids from other viewpoints. I believe exposing kids to different points of view is one of the benefits of homeschooling. Even though we hold to the YEC position, we expose our kids to the Old Earth view, as well as the evolutionist view. It's kind of hard to avoid the evolution position when we go to science museums, read science books from the library, or watch science shows on TV. My kids are big fans of the Bill Nye the Science Guy and the Animal Planet where they hear a lot of pro-evolution and age of the earth comments. Like you, we have also taken the position that we want to expose our kids to the different viewpoints so they can learn to think critically about things, and not just accept anything they are told. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to have my high schooler watch a lecture against intelligent design that was playing on the research channel so we could discuss each of his objections to the ID position. I was happy to hear she caught some of the inconsistencies in his speech. We have also included a study on different worldviews into our curriculum this year. Teaching kids to think (and listen) critically is one of the biggest reasons we homeschool. It's such an important life skill they will need to have when they read or watch the news, listen to sermons, or take their own children to science museums.
Posted by: Wendy | March 29, 2007 at 09:55 AM