Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Ulster Museum and Creationism

Fionola Meredith of the Irish Times is reporting that the Ulster Museum is changing some of its exhibits:

But as the museum gears up for business again in the summer, it says it has no intention of slotting in Adam and Eve alongside Charles Darwin – despite born-again Christians in the North demanding that the new evolutionary science exhibits be offset with a literal reading of the origins of life straight from Genesis I in the Bible.

DUP Assembly member Mervyn Storey, a vocal advocate of creationism and intelligent design, and chair of the Stormont education committee, says it’s a matter of fair play, tolerance and equality.

“All I’m saying is that there should be a balance because there are other views out there. I am not against the museum promoting Darwin’s theory, but I think it would be in the public’s interest to give them an alternative theory as well,” says the North Antrim MLA.

“Because of the anniversary we are being bombarded with Darwin’s theory but there are other equally credible scientists who question that. Those interpretations should be on a par with the perceived wisdom of evolution, and heard in publicly funded institutions like the museum.”

I wonder what Mr. Storey's background in science is? As we have seen from Don McLeroy in Texas, the complete lack of scientific knowledge does not disqualify you from being the head of a school board. As more of these stories crop up, it becomes painfully clear that the talking points of the creationists and ID supporters make it into the general public ten times better than any talking points that practicing biologists might have.

No comments:

Post a Comment