July 8, 2005
Creationist reversal in Tulsa
On July 7, 2005, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Park Board voted 3-1 to reverse its June 7 decision to add a display depicting the Biblical account of creation at the Tulsa Zoo. Supporters of the display argued that the zoo already contains religious items, including a statue of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha outside the elephant enclosure and a globe carrying a Native American maxim, "The earth is our mother. The sky is our father." The idea of adding the creationist display was roundly criticized both during the June board meeting and afterwards; writing in the Tulsa World (June 26), the president and the executive director of the Oklahoma Museum Association decried the board's interference with the zoo's displays, warning, "The question that museums across the state and across the nation are facing today because of this decision is: 'Where does it stop?'" And a newly formed coalition, Friends of Religion and Science, organized to oppose the display, obtaining over 2000 signatures on a web petition. Although the decision to add a creationist display was reversed, Tulsa mayor Bill LaFortune broached the idea of removing the existing supposedly religious items from the zoo; no action was taken on his suggestion at the July meeting.
Story in the Washington Post [Link broken]