The young-earth creationist ministry Answers in Genesis opened the doors of its lavish creation museum in northern Kentucky during the Memorial Day weekend. Here is a sampling of memorable quotes from the press coverage:
"Taking the Bible seriously doesn't mean you have to take it literally or reject evolution." -- Mendle Adams, pastor of St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Cincinnati, quoted in the Chicago Daily Southtown (May 27, 2007)
"It is important to remind our teachers, our education leaders, our public officials, our legislators, concerned parents and ourselves that a commitment to science education is essential for bolstering America's faltering leadership in science and technology globally. Supporting the creationist museum instead of supporting rigorous science education will not help us achieve this leadership goal." -- Thomas Gregg, Jnanendra K. Bhattacharjee, and Gary Janssen, all professors of science at Miami University, writing in the Cincinnati Enquirer (May 26, 2007)
"Twenty-seven million is a lot of money. I wonder what that would do for real education. This is shameful." -- Edwin Kagin, organizer of the Rally for Reason, quoted [Link broken] in the Cincinnati Post (May 29, 2007)
"This may be fascinating, but this is nonsense ... It's fine for people to believe whatever they want. What's inappropriate is to then essentially lie and say science supports these notions." -- Lawrence M. Krauss, a professor of physics and astronomy at Case Western Reserve University and a board member of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon), quoted in the Washington Post (May 27, 2007)
Asked to rate the museum on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best: "I'd give it a 4 for technology, 5 for propaganda. As for content, I'd give it a negative 5." -- Lawrence M. Krauss, a professor of physics and astronomy at Case Western Reserve University and a board member of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon), quoted [Link broken] by the Associated Press (May 29, 2007)
"No qualified spokesperson or group for the scientific community recognizes any part of this as a museum." -- Steve Rissing, a professor of biology at the Ohio State University and a board member of Ohio Citizens for Science, quoted in the Dayton Daily News (May 26, 2007)
They will get kids coming into classrooms saying, 'My mom took me to this great, fancy museum this summer, and they say you're lying to me' ... This is not a good way to start the science class." -- NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott, quoted [Link broken] in the Cincinnati Post (May 25, 2007)Also worth a visit are Martha Heil's discussion of the media coverage at The Panda's Thumb blog, P. Z. Myers's extensive collection of blog reactions to the museum's opening on his Pharyngula blog, and Lawrence M. Krauss's creation museum guide "Top 10 Reasons Why the Universe, the Sun, the Earth, and Life are not 6000 years old" (PDF) [Link broken].