The Cincinnati Museum Center offers teachers and parents the neat opportunity to bring exhibits to kids via their “Science Programs-on-Wheels.” For example, one of the options includes “Evolution of Diversity: A History of Earth’s Changes,” which allows kids to “examine an Ordovician period diorama and fossil specimens from museum collections.”

That sounds all kinds of awesome… unless you’re a Creationist and you believe science referring to time periods that go back millions of years is heretical.

Jennifer Rivera, who works for the Creation Museum, urges parents not to let their children experience whatever the Cincinnati Museum Center is offering because it would steer kids in the wrong direction. Speaking of that Evolution of Diversity exhibit, she writes,

… children will supposedly be captivated by the evolutionary dioramas and fossil specimens, designed to convince them these faulty, man-made ideas are in fact true. Sadly, this is another example of indoctrinating children, with the use of visually alluring materials, into believing that everything came into existence through random processes over eons of time. If these children are just animals and the result of random accidents, then they have no purpose, no hope in life, and no basis for right and wrong.

Yeah, that’s how it works. If they accept the age of a fossil, they’ll go into an existential crisis before beginning their rampage of murder and pillage.

Rivera would rather you visit the Creation Museum’s programs since they use “the Bible as our starting point.” (As any real scientist would tell you, you never begin with your conclusion.)

What’s strange is that Rivera promotes an “Explore: Forensics” program that doesn’t even counter evolution. It just flat out ignores it.

Students will participate in a full day of hands-on forensic science activities on the following topics: fingerprint history and pattern recognition, understanding the difference between historical and observational science, fingerprint processing and lifting techniques, forensic hair analysis, and forensic entomology.

All of that is fine and legitimate, but notice the bait and switch. They’re essentially luring kids in with the promise of teaching them science — with microscopes and fingerprints and chemicals! — before telling them a lot of bullshit about how the universe was created in six days. It’s like, See?! We do science! Now trust us on everything else, too.

Rivera asks: “As a parent, consider which program would engage your child in learning science from a biblical worldview and teach them the truth of God’s Word.”

The obvious problem with that line is that the Creation Museum has no intention of teaching science at all. They’re teaching kids what to think. A real museum teaches kids how to think. It’s not like real scientists tell you a fossil is a certain age and you’re just supposed to accept that at face value. You can learn how they figured that out. With the proper techniques or skills, you can confirm it all for yourself. You can’t challenge anything in the Creation Museum, though, because no amount of evidence will ever convince Ken Ham or his staff that the book of Genesis isn’t meant to be literal. It’s right there in their name.

If you live in the Cincinnati area, and you’re wondering where to take your kids, the decision is easy: Take them to the museum, not the church masquerading as a museum.

(Image via Shutterstock)

