May 05, 2004
Dinosaur Adventure Land
Ah, those playful creationists. They've begun to realize that debating evolutionary scientists in public forums and newspapers isn't really the way to go -- it's too "intellectual". No, the real way to convince people of your religio-scientific theories is to build a Disney-like theme park. And thus it was that minister Kent Hovind in 2001 created Dinosaur Adventure Land in Florida, offering dinosaur exhibits upon which kids can romp and read about how "God made dinosaurs on Day 6 of the creation as described in Genesis, 6,000 years ago."
The New York Times wrote a story about it yesterday, and it quotes a parent who was "bitterly disappointed" by her visit to a Disney dinosaur theme park last year, since it dated all the brachiosauruses and apatosauruses to prehistoric times:
"My kids kept recognizing flaws in the presentation," said Mrs. Passmore, of Jackson, Ala. "You know — the whole `millions of years ago dinosaurs ruled the earth' thing."
Dinosaur Adventure Land, on the other hand, offers no such pernicious liberal illusions about the duration of time and space:
At Dinosaur Adventure Land, visitors can make their own Grand Canyon replica with sand and read a sign deriding textbooks for teaching that the Colorado River formed the canyon over millions of years: "This is clearly not possible. The top of the Grand Canyon is 4,000 feet higher than where the river enters the canyon! Rivers do not flow up hill!"
You can't find stuff like this in The Onion. Indeed, I almost wondered if this were a Joey Skaggs media prank -- some deeply subtle attempt to discredit the creationist movement by pushing its already-ludicrous arguments right off the edge of the flat earth. But then I checked the Dinosaur Adventure Land web page, and I gotta say, it looks real. If you poke around the site, you'll find such gems as their page on "The Giant" -- a leg bone purportedly from a 12-foot-tall human of Biblical vintage:
Come and see this great big leg bone found in Egypt that belonged to a person who was almost 12ft tall! This is a great way to show that before the flood, people were living to be much larger and also much older. Many things have changed since the creation, this is an example of how much the world, and people have changed as a result to the fall of man. Goodness, we are so tiny now!
As it turns out, the founder Kent Hovind not only doesn't believe in prehistory -- he doesn't believe in taxes. Last week some IRS agents got a warrant to extract some documents from his home and offices, saying Hoving had stopped paying Uncle Sam.
Posted by Clive Thompson at May 05, 2004 02:10 PM
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Religious obscurantism is the very same, whatever the religion!
Clive,
"I'll pray for you." :)
By the way, "My giant imaginary friend in the sky can beat up your giant imaginary friend in the sky, infidel!"
Out of Topic:
Cool! You actually say "infidel" (out of the latin word "fide" I guess) instead of something like "unfaithful" or "faithless"...
Clive, read some of the work by Lee Strobel. He is a former journalist and might have some answers to some of your questions. Feel free to e-mail me.
Dude, your email address is "Bonermeister"! And you're sending Clive advice about Christianity? Just sayin'.
I confess I sorta wondered about that myself.
Have you ever noticed how hateful the evolutionists are to people who have a different viewpoint than they do? In case you have forgotten, evolution is just a theory! When your theory is exposed as having flaws you try to discredit the creationists in order to make yourself look better. If Evolution were true and there was strong evidence to prove it, the creationists would not be such a pain in your side.
David, you need to study and understand what a scientific theory is. And as for "hateful evolunionist", I think you have that totally backwards. The fundamentalist/creationists Christians can be the most hateful people out there. They can't resolve the issues intelligently, so they attact either the individual or the process, as well as lie and use deceitful practices. Real followers of Christ those fundamentalist/creationists.
i happen to like hoven's stuff....i've never been to dinosaur adventure land but i wanna go...i watched some of his video's in church and he totally supported everything i beleived....i always believed in the lockness monster and i've always thought dinosaurs were still around...i mean where do you get crocodilles and alligators and komodo dragons...they are alll lizards..what do you think dinosaurs were oh wait excuse me...are? and if sooo many people have reported seeing the lockness monster then it has to be true there has to be something. i don't think dinosaurs went extinct at all...i think that after the floodthe ones that were still alive...from the ark and swimming under water ones just got smaller over time....yes i do think there is an evolution but not the kind evolutionists beleive in i beleive in evolution of the KINDS of animals...other wise known as variation. and you can't say i'm just a stupid kid who doesn't know what they are talking about because i have many friends who believe in evolution and support it with a passion....i know my stuff. i liked the "imaginary friend in the sky" thing...my lil sis always says that. heheh
