Media March on the Museum Continues

Several days ago, a CNN film crew spent many hours at AiG and the Creation Museum and also filmed talks by AiG–US President Ken Ham and speaker/researcher Mike Riddle that were given the evening before (at a homeschool conference in nearby Cincinnati).

In a last-minute programming decision, CNN decided that the segment about AiG and the museum (called “Blind faith?”) would be shown on Monday evening, April 2 on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 program—two days earlier than expected, and as previously announced on the CNN website. (It is possible, though, that AiG will reappear later this week on CNN, because promos continue to air about an upcoming CNN feature on science and faith.)

Monday’s segment—part of a CNN series this week called “What is a Christian?”—featured CNN correspondent Tom Foreman and anchor John Roberts (subbing for Mr. Cooper). Mr. Foreman interviewed Ken in the museum bookstore late last month, walked through the museum with Ken, and also taped AiG astrophysicist Dr. Jason Lisle inside the museum’s planetarium (although no part of Dr. Lisle’s interview was aired).

The program emphasized that AiG and other biblical creation groups, in an effort to refute evolution, are using dinosaurs as a teaching tool, saying that dinosaurs lived in recent times and co-existed with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The museum’s large main hall was described by CNN as “a glimpse of Eden in the heartland.”

Mike Riddle was seen talking to a homeschool group about dinosaur bones. This segment of the talk included Mike’s observation that red blood cells and soft tissue have been preserved in some dinosaur bones, strongly suggesting that dinosaurs have been around recently (and did not die out 65 million years ago in evolutionary history, as is most often told). A point that also came through on the program was that, according to the Bible, there could be no death of animals, including dinosaurs, before Adam sinned. Thus, dinosaurs were peaceful in the perfect Garden (they were created vegetarian, as all animals were in the beginning according to Genesis 1:29–30).

The many questions posed by Mr. Foreman here on-site were probing but fair. Off camera, he was highly complimentary of the museum project. Yet very little of the scientific content of the museum was mentioned. Furthermore, because Roberts and Foreman both referred to the “science” of evolution, the program ultimately portrayed AiG as primarily a religious group with little science to back it up.

“Well, CNN certainly picked up on one of the startling themes in the museum: dinosaurs living alongside humans,” declared Ham. “That’s the message that hits you right away when you enter our main hall and see three animatronic dinosaurs along with animatronic young people.”

Ham added: “Dinosaurs are one of our Creation Museum’s teaching icons. They’re used to teach visitors that people and dinosaurs did live at the same time, not millions of years apart. This is in sharp contrast to almost all natural history museums that use dinosaurs—as much as anything—to promote the evolutionary/millions of years belief system. I had wished, though, that CNN would have spent more time emphasizing the good science presented at the museum, and not concentrate on showing us as some kind of ‘Bible versus science’ museum. But we’re still grateful for the prominent coverage we received.”

CNN describes Anderson Cooper 360 as a one-hour news program that presents “a 360-degree look at world events—covering not only the day’s top stories, but the fascinating, the unexpected and the underreported.” Thankfully, the future museum is not going unreported. Soon, a crew with the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams—headed by correspondent Kevin Coke—will tour the Creation Museum, and eventually produce a segment that will be broadcast later this week (as a part of NBC’s Easter week programming). Today, a German reporter with the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel will tour the museum, as well as a radio correspondent with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation based in Toronto.

Meanwhile, there is still no word from the producers of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on when AiG will be seen on that cable program. For the fascinating account of how that interview came about, go to this blog entry.

These media opportunities—already occurring several weeks before the museum opens (May 28)—demonstrate that the topic of creation/evolution remains a hot one in American culture and that the Creation Museum will no doubt receive tremendous publicity in late May when it opens its doors. Praise God.

Please pray that the millions of people who have watched the CNN program1—and other viewers who will watch the NBC Nightly News program—will take the opportunity to find out more about AiG and the Creation Museum, not only by visiting this website, but by also considering a visit to the evangelistic museum this summer.