The latest salvo in creationism’s increasingly ferocious battle with evolution is about to be fired in Lancashire. Not in a fiery sermon preached from the pulpit, but in the form of a giant Christian theme park that will champion the book of Genesis and make a multi-media case that God created the world in seven days. The AH Trust…has identified a number of potential sites in the north west of England to build the £3.5m Christian theme park…
Peter Jones, one of the Lancashire theme park’s trustees, said the emphasis would be on multimedia rather than the costume re-enactments of famous biblical scenes favoured at Holy Land. ‘It will be a halfway house for youngsters,’ Jones said. ‘Today all they do is binge drink. We will be able to offer them an alternative.’
The trust…plans to apply for government grants and European funding to help it realise its dream of turning the television studio into ‘an international leader in promoting family-oriented Christian programmes’.
No reason why they should limit their hustle to individual nutters. Get taxpayers in Britain and Europe to pick up some of the tab. Right?
We can’t keep this to ourselves?
“Wigan council slammed the door in our faces. You mention the C [Christian] word, and people don’t want to know,’ Jones said.”
Well, good for Wigan. There’s actually something more than pies inside politics there.
So when people die on the rides, can they blame it on “act of God?”
Not much different from Disneyland. Bad things happen all the time there.
Boing Boing book review
I had an interesting discussion at dinner tonight with friends regarding Christian fundamentalism and creation.
To start with, we could not exactly define what Christian fundamentalism is as the deeper you go, it tends to be all Jewish – ten commandments old testament.
It seemed to all of us that the only (very) vocal group for promulgating genesis creation is ill defined fundamental Christians as we seem to never hear of Jewish creation activists.
We came to the conclusion that there is a direct relationship between creation activism and money. The more Christian groups are vocal regarding creation the more money is involved. The irony is Jews are stereotyped as being money centric but why isn’t there a Jewish Broadcasting Network with a Matt Reubinson and the 700 Oyveh Club? 😆
Cheers
Jews and Christians aren’t really that much different. Jesus was a Jew after all, it wasn’t till after he died people wanted to be Christians. Both worship the same God, except most Jews dismiss Jesus, but it’s the same God basically.
I have to admit there are a ton of indicators out there that would support intelligent design or creationism. I suppose if we really think about it there should be a certain amount comfort in this realization.
I love that billboard.
No-one but ALMIGHTY GOD could have created this universe
Presumably because no one could have fucked things up so badly.
Of course:
No-one but ALMIGHTIER GOD-CREATOR could have created the ALMIGHTY GOD that created this universe
No-one but ALMIGHTIERER GOD-CREATOR-CREATOR could have created the ALMIGHTIER GOD-CREATOR that created this universe
No-one but ALMIGHTIEREST GOD-CREATOR-CREATOR-CREATOR could have created the ALMIGHTIERER GOD-CREATOR-CREATOR that created this universe
etc.
Besides, why is it always the most insistent theists that most flatly refuse to question where their god came from? Wouldn’t they want to know more about this god character they revere so highly? Wouldn’t this be a wonderful line of inquiry? Why is there such a strong ‘pay no attention to the man behind the curtain’ kind of an attitude? Is it that somewhere in the backs of their own minds they know it’s a heaping steaming mound of dung?
Scott, Scott, Scott,
you should already know, it’s elephants all the way down.
😉
J/P=?
Never have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
I wanted to jump in on this, then I realized you can NOT use logic and reason to explain why Thor or Jesus aren’t real. Magic is magic. You believe because you want to believe. You can’t “argue” why creationism is bogus anymore than you can argue why Isis isn’t real.
Until any one religion’s god(s) come back and show up on Larry King or just announce their presence to everyone on earth at the same time in a cool booming voice, we’ll just go with the stories about them and assume they’re true if we choose.
When I was an impressionable youth, the school organized a train trip 3,000 miles (as they then were) to Expo 67 for a week in Montreal. My favourite pavillion (to attend, not to look at) was:
http://expo67.ncf.ca/expo_sermons_p1.html
“Sermons from Science”
which I went to at least once a day (they had different shows). I was fascinated by the Science, not the least of which was the guy crackling like a Roman candle with 1,000,000 volts going through him. If you follow the link, you’ll see their bias. But I carry absolutely no recollection of being preached to. At the time, I thought it was all Science, that Sermons from Science meant the same as Science Immersion.
So yadda yadda the point of this is: assuming this isn’t just a Canadian anomaly, haven’t the Christian Fundamentalists (of whom one sort are the Biblical Creationists) lost a lot of subtlety in four decades?
I guess there are other explanations, like:
–Expo 67 wouldn’t have allowed them anything too overt;
–As Science knows more, year by year, the position of Creationists is less and less defensible, so rational people have deserted their camp, leaving a nubbin of nutcases to lead their cavalry (sic) charge.
#10 If we could all agree on those points you raised then everyone would be better off.
The idea that because we cannot understand the complexity of the universe is proof of a god proves our ancestors needed a god to explain even simple things they could not understand while it is is common knowledge for us. EG Headaches caused by daemons.
Cheers
If anyone wants to give me £3.5 million I’ll happily build “Evo-land: The Place When Evolution Comes Alive”…..
…. I promise I won’t just take the money and move to Brazil…. really, I won’t….
‘It will be a halfway house for youngsters,’ Jones said. ‘Today all they do is binge drink. We will be able to offer them an alternative.’
I’m picturing an alternative with cocaine and heroin. In a safe environment. With clean needles. And medical staff.
If you have enough sex, there is no need for chemicals.
#9 – J/P,
My book says turtles all the way down!! Now, you must die, infidel!
#8, Scott,
Love the comment.
#11, jbellies,
Yesterday I was flipping between football games. I pass this “religious” channel between the games when I saw this newspaper being held up with a large headline, “DOLLY CLONED” (or words to that effect). I stopped and listened to the woman explaining it all. She was telling her audience that if scientists could clone an animal, why would so many people have a hard time understanding “god” created all living beings.
Now, if I remember correctly, didn’t fundies have an issue with “playing god” by creating life? Don’t they still have a “moral” problem with stem cell research to save lives? But, as you point out, they will gladly pervert science for their own purpose when it suits them.
BTW, I missed a GB TD for the minute or two I stopped. Damn those Christians !!!
I’m not feeling like another round of religion bashing/logical analysis. Like the universe, it would be endless and pointless.
Instead, you say “The latest salvo in creationism’s increasingly ferocious battle with evolution is about to be fired in Lancashire.”
Whats ferociious about building a theme park? Fun is fun.
I laugh to myself when I hear some Christian Fundie stating that the bible is the absolute word of God.
So, I wonder. Who wrote the English version you are spouting from? If the original was written in ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic (sp?). Then who translated it? How do you know that they translated it correctly? How do you know that King James got it right? Have you ever read the original and compared the two?
If God wrote the Bible, as they claim. Then you would think that a modern English version would magically and spontaneously appear on earth, just like life did. If God can make life, the universe, and everything. Then he can certainly write, publish, and distribute a book.
And, if he is what they claim. Then he would have installed us with a common, concise, and clear language that he could communicate to his subjects with. He would have established a clear protocol. Burning bushes just doesn’t hack it for me as a communication medium for the almighty.
But, you can’t win with logic. When my sister went through her Christian Fundie phase, I asked her this question. She answered some BS about the Tower of Babel as a punishment for man’s sins. She can’t read ancient dead languages. So she doesn’t know.
Man… they will drive you insane with their twisted “logic”.
#19 – Ron,
The translators all had babelfish in their ears. So, the translation was perfect.
If Earth is ever visited by aliens looking for intelligent life, this creationist theme park is going to be just one more huge embarrassment 😉
Not everyone who believes in Creation believes it was done in 7 literal 24 hour days. I believe in Creation and that beofre man was created the Biblical account allows for bilions of years for the earth itself to develop BEFORE man himself was created.
Everybody worships the same god, blah blah. God is allah, god is god, god is krishna, god is Crom, god is buddha, god is spirit fairy queen, god is spaghetti monster blah blah blah.
If thats the case, then humans should stop killing each other over god.
God certainly thinks small if there are untold billions of galaxies in the universe (that we know of), yet he makes us obsess over a small piece of beachfront property in palestine on an obscure blue water planet at the edge of an insignificant galaxy in a rather unexciting corner of the universe.