Creationist Museum - Before Adam, "All creatures were vegetarian."

By Cernig

I don't know whether to laugh, cry for the utter waste of good brains or get angry at the derailling of a nation's education, but you have to read or listen to the BBC's "From Our Own Correspondent" today. Reporter Martin Redfern visits the "Answers in Genesis" creationist museum in Kentucky - in the company of Eugenie Scott, director of the National Centre for Science Education.

It is the dream of Ken Ham, President of Answers in Genesis, a Christian ministry that promotes the idea that the Biblical book of Genesis should be taken literally in describing the creation of the world, life and humans as carried out by God over a six-day period a few thousand years ago.

...He came to the US from Australia 20 years ago, founded Answers in Genesis and never left.

He lectures or broadcasts almost daily and clearly has the charisma to raise $27m (£14m) for this ambitious museum.

He is also not afraid to show us what is inside, and turns on the Animatronic dinosaurs.

...On a rocky ledge, there is a pair of small theropods - young T. rexes we're told. And near to them ("hold onto your hat," says Ken, anticipating our disbelief) there are two human children playing by a stream.

Most geologists would say humans and dinosaurs were separated by more than 60 million years.

And those dinosaurs have very sharp teeth!

"So do bears", says Ken. "But they eat nuts and berries! Remember, before the sin of Adam, the world was perfect. All creatures were vegetarian." One of the dinosaurs lets out a rather contradictory roar.

...Though the Bible does not mention them directly, Ken Ham thinks there is no reason to suppose that dinosaurs were not still around at the time of the flood.

Indeed, he speculates that two of each may have been taken aboard the Ark (newly hatched dinosaurs are quite small so fitting them in would not have been a problem).

And what about the animals from other continents? Did Noah sail to Australia to drop off the kangaroos?

No, the flood waters lubricated a process called runaway subduction in which the continents subsequently drifted apart at a sprint!

Twenty. Seven. Million. Bucks.