Dinosaurs, humans coexist in US museum

Petersburg (Ky), Jan 15: Ken Ham's sprawling creation museumisn't even open yet, but an expansion is already underway in thestate-of-the art lobby, where grunting dinosaurs and animatronic humanscoexist in a Biblical paradise.

A crush of media attention and packed preview sessions haveconvinced Ham that nearly half a million people a year will come toKentucky to see his Biblically correct version of history.

''I think we'll be surprised at how many people come,'' Ham saidas he dodged dozens of designers working to finish exhibits in time forthe May 28 opening.

The 27 million dollar project, which also includes a planetarium,a special-effects theater, nature trails and a small lake, is privatelyfunded by people who believe the Bible's first book, Genesis, isliterally true.

For them, a museum showing Christian schoolchildren and skepticsalike how the earth, animals, dinosaurs and humans were created in asix-day period about 6,000 years ago not over millions of years, asevolutionary science says is long overdue.

While foreign media and science critics have mostly come tosnigger at exhibits explaining how baby dinosaurs fit on Noah's Ark andCain married his sister to people the earth, museum spokesman andvice-president Mark Looy said the coverage has done nothing but drum upmore interest.

''Mocking publicity is free publicity,'' Looy said. Besides, USmedia have been more respectful, mindful perhaps of a 2006 Gallup Pollshowing almost half of Americans believe that humans did not evolve,but were created by God in their present form within the last 10,000years.

Looy said supporters of the museum include evangelical Christians,Orthodox Jews and conservative Catholics, as well as the localRepublican congressman, Geoff Davis, and his family, who have touredthe site.

From 'Jaws' to Eden

While the debate between creationists andmainstream scientists has bubbled up periodically in US schools sincebefore the Scopes ''monkey trial'' in nearby Tennessee 80 years ago,courts have repeatedly ruled that teaching religious theory in publicschools is unconstitutional.

Ham, an Australian who moved to America 20 years ago, believescreationists could have presented a better case at the Scopes trail ifthey'd been better educated but he's not among those pushing forcreation to be taught in school.

Rather than force skeptical teachers to debate creation, Ham wantskids to come to his museum, where impassioned experts can make theircase that apparently ancient fossils and the Grand Canyon were createdjust a few thousand years ago in a great flood.

''It's not hitting them over the head with a Bible, it's just teaching that we can defend what it says,'' he said.

Ham, who also runs a Christian broadcasting and publishingventure, said the museum's Hollywood-quality exhibits set the projectapart from the many quirky Creation museums sprinkled across America.

The museum's team of Christian designers include theme park artdirector Patrick Marsh, who designed the ''Jaws'' and ''King Kong''attractions at Universal Studios in Florida, as well as dozens of youngartists whose conviction drives their work.

''I think it shows (nonbelievers) the other side of things,'' saidCarolyn Manto, 27, pausing in her work painting Ice Age figures for adisplay about caves in France.

''I don't think it's going to be forcing any viewpoint on them,but challenging them to think critically about their evolutionaryviews,'' said Manto, who studied classical sculpture before joining themuseum.

Still, Looy is upfront about the museum's mission: to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers.

''I think a lot of people are going to come out of curiosity ...and we're going to present the Gospel. This is going to be anevangelistic center,'' Looy said. A chaplain has been hired formuseum-goers in need of spiritual guidance.

The museum's rural location near the border of Kentucky, Ohio andIndiana places it well within America's mostly conservative andChristian heartland. But the setting has another strategic purpose:two-thirds of Americans are within a day's drive of the site, andCincinnati's international airport is minutes away.

The project has not been without opposition. Zoning battles withenvironmentalists and groups opposed to the museum's message havedelayed construction and the museum's opening day has been delayedrepeatedly.

The museum has hired extra security and explosives-sniffing dogs to counter anonymous threats of damage to the building.

''We've had some opposition,'' Looy said.

Reuters>