National Media “Frenzy”

A talk-show host (simply called “Lionel")-on the new liberal radio network Air America-spends much of an evening defending (though not condoning) a Colorado professor who says the victims of 9/11 were “not innocent" and were like Nazis!

Lionel vigorously defends the professor’s right to say what he did, citing the First Amendment. Then we hear Lionel go on for several minutes to defend free speech for all, then he pauses slightly and says: “Except, that is, for the creationists!” Incredible!

Yes, I am writing to you during a national media “frenzy” on creation/evolution!

No doubt you will be saddened (and perhaps outraged) at some of the other statements being made by the secular media. At the same time, what’s happening will, I hope, fire you up even more to make a difference in this culture … and help restore the foundation of the authority of the Word that has been so undermined.

A combination of events has led to a huge media interest in AiG and our stand on a literal Genesis. We are on the front lines of a “culture war.” Here are the events:

The re-election of President Bush

Secular media worldwide often reported two things about this election:

1. Many people who voted for Mr. Bush did so for reasons of morality (e.g., “gay marriage").
2. More people in America believe in creation than evolution.

Many news reports and syndicated editorials equated people who support Christian morality as those who believe creation instead of evolution!

Creation/evolution battles in public schools (in more than 20 states)

In Cobb County, Georgia, it was a case of “sticker shock," as a federal judge ruled in January that a sticker that had been placed inside the cover of biology textbooks by a school board-stating that evolution is not a fact-had to be removed.

Media worldwide followed this event. This resulted in numerous articles, most of which vehemently attacked the Bible’s creation teaching.

In Dover, Pennsylvania, a school board passed a requirement that, as part of the science curricula, a statement be read to students informing them about Intelligent Design (the idea that the universe is so complex that there must have been an intelligent designer of some sort) as an alternative to purely naturalistic evolution.

Court action is pending. This also has become a focus of the world’s media.

The Creation Museum

Recently, AiG has been telling the media that our headquarters and the shell of the Creation Museum are complete, and we are now beginning in earnest to build the amazing exhibits that will teach people the truth concerning Genesis 1-11.

As a result, we were interviewed by a reporter for the Sunday Telegraph in London. When the report (with many inaccuracies and an obvious humanist agenda) appeared in that newspaper, media in a number of countries picked up the story.

The following is a list of just a few of the recent media happenings at AiG:

• Pulitzer prize-winning New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd mocked the Creation Museum in a lengthy piece (which other papers picked up).
• USAToday.com columnist Andrew Kantor felt sorry for the Cincinnati area, the host of the future Creation Museum, calling the museum a “national embarrassment,” using words like “lies,” “distortions,” “gullible,” “scary” and “silly.”
• ABC-TV’s Nightline news program filmed a major AiG seminar and spent a day interviewing me about the creation/evolution issue and our museum.
• One of Australia’s largest radio stations interviewed me about the museum.
• A reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper came to our headquarters for a feature story on AiG and the Creation Museum.
• A BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) TV crew came to AiG in late January to film aspects of the construction of the Creation Museum.
• PBS’s The News Hour with Jim Lehrer program recently aired a segment on the Creation museum.
• A reporter for Japan’s second largest national newspaper printed an extensive interview with me about the Creation Museum.

These are just some of the major secular media contacts. There have been numerous other interviews, news reports, etc., as well as Christian media reports about AiG or on the recent creation/evolution controversies (including Newsweek, Boston Globe, Time magazine, Toronto Star, Melbourne Age and the New Zealand Herald).

Even though much of the reporting has been slanted, nonetheless people around the world are hearing about the Creation Museum. We are excited … and humbled!

Most Christian organizations would love to have even a fraction of the publicity that AiG now receives regularly. But this also shows that the world sees the creation/evolution issue as an extremely important (even emotional) topic.

Personally, I believe from what has been written, the secular world understands (even more than much of the church, I’d say) that the Genesis/creation and evolution battle is the foundational issue in the “culture war.”

Many Americans have finally awakened to the fact that the secular humanists are taking over the culture. I believe that’s why so many people said they voted based on moral issues in the last election.

At the same time, the secular humanists are horrified that people are trying to reestablish what is, in reality, Christian morality in this country. And they also see the creation/evolution issue as the foundation stone of this battle. After all, they realize if evolution is allowed to be questioned, the alternative (creation) implies a Creator who owns us-and they are scared it will open minds to the possibility the Bible is true!

Now, consider this attack from ScienceWeek (which has public school teachers and students as a target audience). In their scathing January 23^rd editorial entitled “Creationism vs sanity” (how’s that for a title?), they stated:

“There will always be some who, because of ‘religious’ convictions, believe the Earth is as flat as a pancake, a few thousand years old, and resting on the backs of four giant elephants … .

“Religionists who accept the work of their God as revealed by science, and who understand that creationism is blasphemy, need to come out into the arena and be heard … . [S]cience teachers who find these creationist crusades obnoxious and potentially damaging to the children they teach also need to come out into the arena in droves and wage the battle of their intellectual lives …[emphasis ours].”

You recall that Christians and creationists were targeted by a liberal judge’s decision to remove the stickers from science textbooks in Cobb County, Georgia. Even though the judge admitted the sticker had no reference to God, creation or the Bible, he banned the sticker because (as he wrote):

“On the whole, however, the sticker would appear to advance the religious viewpoint of the Christian fundamentalists and creationists who were vocal during the textbook adoption process regarding their belief that evolution is a theory, not a fact.”

In other words, because Christians/creationists were behind the sticker, the sticker has to be removed even though in itself it had a secular intent. Preposterous!

Think about it: will Christian teachers in public schools lose their jobs because they are Christians, for no matter what they say, it really has a Christian intent?

Much more could be reported. But the bottom line is that the ministry of AiG and our Creation Museum are being watched carefully by the world.

Increasingly, those who believe the Bible’s literal account of creation are viewed as the enemy of secular humanism (good!) and are confronting “worldly America.”

Many of our ministry friends have contacted AiG to let us know that they are standing with us as the media attacks increase. But the one who touched me the most was my brother (and prayer partner) Stephen in Australia, who encouraged me:

“Keep walking despite criticism. We need your voice to reach the lost, and that is never going to happen without great opposition from the world. If we do not walk strongly and resolutely, we will be like other internally focused ministries that only care about their own programs.

“Negative media means that there is great impact happening … and will greatly be for AiG’s good, but more importantly, the Kingdom’s.”

This ministry, which is so very dependent on your prayers, is making a strategic difference in hearts and lives today!

Thank you for your part in sharing the vital creation/gospel message and helping reestablish the authority of the Bible … to change lives far and wide!

To find out how you can be a part of this ministry’s work in confronting “worldly America,” please visit Supporting this Bible-proclaiming ministry.