Creationism, again

Since last evening, I have received three disquieting e-mails that bear on creationism, in one form or another. I will give the links in the order in which I received them. Because I have not asked permission, I will not identify any of the senders; they are of course at liberty to identify themselves in the comments section.

Here below the figurative fold are the three links:

Last night, a penpal of mine sent me an e-mail detailing how the Kentucky government is promoting creationist theme parks. Specifically, the Louisville Courier-Journal announced a Religious tour of Kentucky: Faith Trail offers a new way to see the Bluegrass State, by Jolene Almendarez and Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, subtitled,

Some of the sites are the Ark Encounter, the Creation Museum and the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

The Faith Trail will be funded by a $305,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Kentucky to the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau. There will be 11 stops on the Faith Trail, only two of them explicitly creationist, as far as I can tell, but yes, Answers in Genesis will receive free publicity from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Next, this morning another occasional penpal sent an article called Politically correct creationism, by Elizabeth Weiss. The subtitle to the article tells you almost all you want to know or maybe do not want to know:

New York's [American] Museum of Natural History presents indigenous origin myths and religious stories as scientific fact.

The article, published in the conservative magazine City Journal, claims that the Museum now calls shamans “doctors,” a shortened form of witchdoctor. It is one thing to be sensitive to the religious traditions of indigenous peoples, but the museum seems to blur the distinction between fact and fiction when it writes, “By wearing masks that contained the spirits, doctors tapped into their power,” or appears to present creation myths as if they were history. I think it would be interesting if any of our readers have seen this exhibit.

And, finally, yet another penpal sent me How Mike Johnson helped open the door to creationism in Louisiana public schools, by Paul Blumenthal in the Huffington Post. Subtitles must be all the rage these days; this article is subtitled,

The House speaker is known for his work as a Christian-right operative. This is how he became the "legal go-to guy" to put creationism into public schools.

Mike Johnson is the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Moment. Mr. Blumenthal notes that not only did Johnson represent the Ark Park, but also the represented religious-right forces that spurred the passage of laws allowing creationism into public-school classrooms in Louisiana. He also, according to my reading of the article, bullied the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education into allowing teachers to bring supplemental materials that teach creationism into the state’s public schools.

I wonder what tomorrow’s e-mail will bring.