Are we leading children astray?

Dear Answers in Genesis,

Quite frankly I hope you are ashamed of yourselves, because I am in you. Dont get me wrong, I have no problem with religion, or religioius people. I do however take very strong exception when you begin claiming that your religion is scientific fact.

How dare you show such an abomination to school children. How dare you damage their education in that way. How dare you use a museum to try to recruit them to your faith.

I am crrently studying physics and find it offensive, and unforgivable that you would choose to ignore a thousand years worth of scientific evidence.

It is due to these reasons that I am requesting that you close down your newly opened creationism museum.

I would like it very much if you could provide me with some 'proof' that the universe is 6000 years old. I would also like to know how hard you have to work at ignoring the countless amonts of evidence which show this to be wrong.

How can you claim that dinosaurs and humans co-existed together? Not only does this theory have no grounding in common sense, it is also unfounded. Fossils of dinosaurs which have been uncovered have been carbon dated and found to be far older than 6000 years old. How do you explin this away, and how does it feel to know that you are damaging school childrens education by presenting such outrageous theories as fact.

—N. M., UK

Quite frankly I hope you are ashamed of yourselves, because I am in you.

Actually we’re not ashamed of the Word of God; rather, we are proud of the Gospel, and we will continue to proclaim it as He allows us. Why is it that you are ashamed of us? On what basis do you feel ashamed? In an evolutionary worldview there is no basis for “shame.” However, in the biblical worldview there is a basis for shame found in Genesis 3.

Dont get me wrong, I have no problem with religion, or religioius people.

Then why the contradicting statements? It seems quite clear that you do not have any problem with religious people as long as they agree with your religion. But we are not “religious,” for the sake of being religious—we are in a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not about “religion” or “religious people” anyway. It’s about what the Creator of all things said He did. It's about truth and history. Did you know that evolutionism is foundational to some religions, too?

I do however take very strong exception when you begin claiming that your religion is scientific fact.

However, we have claimed that science is only possible because there is a logical and orderly God who created natural laws of the universe. For example, scientific inquiry is only possible because of the uniformity of nature (i.e., experiments can be repeated and produce the same results). Only the Christian worldview can consistently, logically, and correctly account for this phenomenon. However, if the earth and universe were just a random cosmic accident, what reason would there be for it to follow any sort of natural laws? Any view apart from the biblical worldview cannot account for this. Even Ken Miller, an ardent evolutionist and anti-creationist, realizes this:

Let’s ask a question that people in science don’t generally ask: “Why does science work? Why can we figure anything out?” Einstein once said the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. It’s a typical Einsteinian statement in that it has many layers of meaning, but why should the universe be organized in a regular way that enables us to do science and allows us to make sense of it? I think one way to look at and understand that is to say that the universe behaves in what we might call a rational way because there is reason behind it. And if you're a believer, if you're a theist, the source of that reason ultimately is the creator—it’s God. God is the ultimate explanation for why reality is the way it is, and what makes science possible.1

In fact, if it wasn’t for creationists most branches of science would not have been started when they did. Such scientists are Isaac Newton, Gregor Mendel, Louis Pasteur, Lord Kelvin, Robert Boyle, Blaise Pascal, Johann Kepler, Galileo Galilei, and Dr. Raymond V. Damadian (just to name a few).

How dare you show such an abomination to school children. How dare you damage their education in that way.

This particular tactic is a logical fallacy known as “emotive language.” No facts are offered to back up these assertions, just personal biased opinion. Actually, by declaring the museum is an abomination you are again appealing to some form of authority that describes what is good and what is bad. This is inconsistent with an evolutionary worldview in which there is no logical basis for “good” or “bad.” You are borrowing morals from the Christian worldview and the Bible in order to claim something is an “abomination.” So the above statements are actually self-refuting.

Additionally, in what way is the Creation Museum an abomination? How are we damaging children’s education? If anything we are helping their education. Rather than just being taught the subset religion of Secular Humanism, known as evolution, we are teaching them a more logical approach to the origin of the universe and life on earth. As Dr. Jason Lisle once said in a debate with atheist Eugenie Scott:

“I mean, is the evolution model so weak that its adherents feel the need to suppress any alternatives?”2

So what are evolutionists so afraid of? If evolution is true, then the limited time children spend with our arguments wouldn't have much impact. All students hear in school, on TV, and in other museums is “billions of years.” On the other hand, we want children to learn about evolutionary ideas, and here at the Creation Museum, they will see what evolution teaches, the problems with it, and how it compares to what the Bible says. So, they are actually getting a more thorough education.

Teaching children that they are just rearranged pond scum and that anything goes (i.e., morality is subjective) what message are we sending them? (See “What Message Should be Passed on to Our Children?”)

How dare you use a museum to try to recruit them to your faith.

Actually, the majority of children that will be coming to the museum will be brought by parents who already agree with what the Bible says. Besides, what right do the public schools, museums, and universities have to try and convert children to their faith? Some communities in Canada are even being forced to send their children to public schools so that they have to learn molecules-to-man evolution.

We can’t “force” anyone to embrace Christianity (John 6:44). Our purpose is to show them that they can trust the Bible, and that they can believe in a loving, merciful God that has paid the penalty to set them free from sin and death.

Note that we are a voluntarily-funded-and-attended museum clearly stating our Christian “bias” (if you will) up-front. As such, should we be mandated legally to teach them that there is no moral authority, that this life is all there is, and that there is no hope, as they hear in so many other museums (which, by the way, are tax-funded)? Of course not. We will teach them the truth and pray they will be set free by it (John 8:32).

I am crrently studying physics and find it offensive, and unforgivable

Wait a minute, if you are not a religious person as you claim (even though, in fact, you are religious whether you know it or not, as evidenced by your email) why are you talking about something being “unforgivable”? Have we “sinned” against you? Remember, these are “religious” terms, and for someone to claim they are not religious and use them doesn’t make sense. On what basis are you able to judge anything as offensive or unforgivable? Within a naturalistic, evolutionary worldview such things that are offensive or unforgivable are subjective and therefore different for each person—mere chemical reactions in our brains. I could just as easily say that your email is offensive and unforgivable. And if I get a big enough group together, we can decide that we think you’re wrong about what you think is offensive and unforgivable. The combined random chemical reactions in our brains are the majority, which then makes you wrong . . . until another majority comes along. We could go back and forth all day saying this one is right or that one is right.

As silly as this scenario sounds, this is one of the only arguments evolutionists have for anything that resembles morality. Absolute morals only make sense in a Christian worldview because they come from someone who knows what is good and is the standard for good. The only One who fits that description is the God of the Bible, the Creator of the universe.

that you would choose to ignore a thousand years worth of scientific evidence.

Actually, we embrace the past 6,000 years worth of scientific evidence. Which would be all of it, since the entire earth and universe came into existence only that long ago. And then there was the worldwide flood in Noah’s day, about 4,350 years ago, that laid down most of the geologic layers and fossils we find today. We don’t need to ignore the evidence, because it is all evidence that confirms what the Bible has already told us.

It is due to these reasons that I am requesting that you close down your newly opened creationism museum.

Sorry, but we will have to refuse your request. We will keep the museum open for several reasons. First of all, the museum was privately funded. Secondly, we could play this game and also request that all the natural history museums close down because we find their interpretations to be flawed. Thirdly, there is no logical reason for us to shut it down just because others disagree with God's Word and apparently don't want anyone to hear the Truth.

Nevertheless, I encourage you to come and check out the museum for yourself. I would be more than happy to give you a tour. I would also be happy to introduce you to some of our scientists: an anatomist, a geneticist, a geologist, and an astrophysicist (all with PhD’s in their respective fields, granted them by evolutionists at respected universities).

I would like it very much if you could provide me with some 'proof' that the universe is 6000 years old.

First, let’s start with a helpful analogy. If you come into a bathroom and find that water from the faucet is dripping into the tub at a rate of two drops per minute, you could measure the volume of the water in the tub, and based on the current rate that the water is dripping, you could extrapolate how long it took the tub to fill up. However, let's say that someone else who was there before you has left a note in the bathroom that says, “I turned the water on full blast for 5 minutes and then let it drip the way that you see it now.” If you read and believed it, you would realize that your extrapolations were flawed because now you have an eye-witness account of what really happened. However, you could choose not to believe this account, of course, but ignoring it does not change its truthfulness. This is similar to what we have concerning the origin of the universe as well. If we base our beliefs about the past on what we see in the present but ignore the account of the One who was there and created it, then there is no objective way to know what happened and when.

God, Himself has provided us with written documentation from which we learn that He created about 6,000 years ago. There’s no better source or proof than what comes from the Creator, Himself. So the proof is God’s Word. Also, for some scientific confirmations of the earth and universe’s young age (at least compared to secular ideas) please read “Evidence for a Young World.”

I would also like to know how hard you have to work at ignoring the countless amonts of evidence which show this to be wrong.

As I said before we embrace all the evidence. It is actually the evolutionists who ignore evidence and/or (incorrectly) reinterpret it to fit their worldview.

How can you claim that dinosaurs and humans co-existed together?

Because the Bible tells us they did. Dinosaurs were land animals and all land animals and man were created on Day 6 of the creation week. Therefore, from the beginning man and dinosaur lived together. Also, the Bible tells us about a few of them in Job 40:15–24 and Job 41.

Not only does this theory have no grounding in common sense, it is also unfounded.

The Bible’s account is actually the most logical conclusion given the eyewitness accounts (God’s Word) and the evidence: petroglyphs on cave walls, Bishop Bell’s brass behemoths, dragon legends, ancient historical documents, and so on. See Get Answers: Dinosaurs.

Fossils of dinosaurs which have been uncovered have been carbon dated and found to be far older than 6000 years old.

Actually they don’t carbon-date dinosaur fossils because carbon-14 dating can only give a maximum age of about 100,000 years, and within the evolutionary worldview dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago. It wouldn’t make any sense (at least in an evolutionary worldview) to carbon-date fossils—-not to mention that, since they’re fossilized, there should be no more organic material (i.e., anything containing carbon) anyway. So according to the evolutionists it is futile to carbon-date fossils. So, then, how are fossils dated? A bit of circular reasoning is utilized:

The age of a rock is determined from the age of a fossil, and, in turn, its age is determined by the current model of evolution; then, the proof for evolution is the age of the rocks in which the fossil is found. (Dizzy yet?)

“Contrary to what most scientists write, the fossil record does not support the Darwinian theory of evolution because it is this theory (there are several) which we use to interpret the fossil record. By doing so, we are guilty of circular reasoning if we then say the fossil record supports this theory.”3

How do you explin this away, and how does it feel to know that you are damaging school childrens education by presenting such outrageous theories as fact

As we’ve said, what concerns us is that children within the public school systems are being brainwashed by evolutionary religion. Children are being taught that they are just evolved pond scum, that there are no absolutes, and that they can decide what is right for them. I hope this concerns you, since you care what children are taught. Without absolutes, children will do what feels good and right for themselves (likely at the expense of others).

But if we teach children that they can believe the Bible for earthly things (i.e., creation, geology, dinosaurs, etc.), then they can believe the Bible for heavenly things (i.e., salvation, morality, etc.). And if they believe God’s Word and put their faith in Jesus, then they will live outwardly the change Christ has made in them. Don’t you want to see a generation of children brought up to believe in and live out honesty, hard work, caring for others, being good stewards of God’s creation, and loving their enemies? Only good can come from preaching the truth of God’s Word. (This is not to say that Christians can’t do wrong, but when they do, they are being inconsistent and will have to acknowledge their sin before the God they believe in.)

I hope and pray you will consider what I have written, but more importantly look into what God’s Word says and trust Him for your salvation. And I look forward to your visit to the museum.