Now, many of you probably remember the uproar that the Giant’s Causeway exhibition in Northern Ireland saw over the summer because of the creationist content in a short part of audio in an exhibit. Of course, secularists went nuts when they found out that the exhibit included a very short reference to the biblical Creation and Flood view of the formation of the tens of thousands of basalt columns at the Causeway (hexagonal in shape, with some reaching 100 feet high above the water’s surface). The audio segment is not easy to find. (For more information on the recent controversy, you can read my original blog post and our News to Note publication.)
I visited the exhibit several weeks ago when I was in Northern Ireland on a speaking tour. The actual passing mention of the biblical view, as I showed in my previous blog post, was buried among a number of buttons containing audio in one portion of the exhibit. If you happen to press the right button, you will hear an audio presentation about the debate on the origin of the Causeway, and the narrator makes reference to biblical creationists believing that the earth is only thousands of years old. But most people I watched at the exhibit didn’t even press the audio button. In fact, the long-age evolutionary view is found throughout the exhibition.
The audio presentation I heard (transcribed by the BBC) said this:
Young Earth Creationists believe that the earth was created some 6000 years ago," it said. "This is based on a specific interpretation of the bible and, in particular, the account of creation in the book of Genesis," it said.Well, because of all the pressure from the secularists, the National Trust (the organization that oversees the preservation of Giant’s Causeway and other monuments) has decided to change the audio presentation."Some people around the world, and specifically here in Northern Ireland, share this perspective."
The BBC article recently explained the changes in the audio presentation:
The new audio now says there is a "clear understanding among scientists that the heat of the earth was the driving force behind the formation of the Giant's Causeway".Now, the Giant’s Causeway does not—and has not—promoted creation science. In fact, their exhibit clearly promotes evolution and millions of years as fact. As I walked through the various exhibits, I saw and heard the words “millions of years” over and over and over again. But the reaction is just another example of how incredibly intolerant the secularists can be—they can’t handle even a 20-second hard-to-find audio segment acknowledging the existence of an opposing view (but the exhibit does not offer it as a scientific view)!It adds that the earth is "far older than had previously been thought".
"All the scientific evidence points to a volcanic origin for the columns of the Giant's Causeway, around 60m years ago.
"However, not everyone agrees with the scientific view. There are some people who believe - often for religious reasons - that the earth was formed more recently: thousands of years ago rather than billions."
Sadly, the National Trust has bowed to the secularists’ pressure and changed the audio. Now the audio simply promotes millions of years and merely mentions there are those who believe in thousands of years rather than billions—but those who believe in a young earth are the religious people, and those who believe in billions of years (which is a belief—in fact, it is a religion) do so supposedly because this is “scientific evidence.” The audio now implies that the only scientific viewpoint is the millions of years one, the opposing view being only a religious aberrancy. And you know, what I found most interesting about this controversy is that the legend of the Causeway is that giants built it. This view is prominently presented in the visitor center, but the secularists have no problem with that! Not a surprise really, though, as they choose to consider the Word of God as a myth, too.
This controversy at the Causeway just shows how anti-Christian and intolerant secularists’ behavior can be. They don’t want a mention of anything to do with the Bible or Christianity—certainly not in a positive way. The wording in the audio is now very negative. The secularists are totally disrespectful of anything Christian.
Discover more about the Giant’s Causeway issue by reading last Saturday’s News to Note article.
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.