Answers in Genesis
Encyclopedia
Answers in Genesis is a non-profit Christian
apologetics
ministry with a particular focus on supporting Young Earth creationism
and a literal
interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The organization has offices in the United Kingdom
and the United States
. It had offices in Australia
, Canada
, New Zealand
and South Africa
, but in 2006 these split off to form Creation Ministries International
.
, and others as Creation Science Educational Media Services. Its founders believed that the established Christian church's teaching of the Bible was being compromised. The group merged with Carl Wieland
's Creation Science Association in 1980, becoming the Creation Science Foundation (CSF) that later became Answers in Genesis.
In 1987, Ken Ham was seconded by CSF to work for the Institute for Creation Research
in the United States, then in 1994 left ICR to found Answers In Genesis-USA. Later that year, CSF in Australia and other countries changed their names to Answers In Genesis so that all the sister organizations would share the same "identity".
Due to a "miscommunication, understanding regarding document submittals back in August of 2002," according to then-CEO Bill Wise, Answers in Genesis-US "did not meet all of the Better Business Bureau's
accountability standards" (emphasis in original) for 2003. Answers in Genesis-US has now been listed as meeting each of the Better Business Bureau's 20 standards for charitable accountability.
Following turmoil in 2005, by February 2006 Answers in Genesis-USA and the UK office withdrew from the AiG family, retaining the brand name and the Web site. The Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and South African branches rebranded themselves as Creation Ministries International (CMI). After some of AiG's comments in late 2006, Answers in Genesis became involved in a legal dispute with CMI. CMI has accused AiG-USA of damaging and publicly defaming their ministry. In 2007, CMI filed suit against AiG-USA alleging a variety of wrongdoings.
CMI opened offices in the UK and US during 2006, initially as a distribution point for their periodicals, Creation magazine and the Journal of Creation In June 2006 Answers in Genesis launched Answers. as a replacement to CMI's Creation magazine. AiG-US and AiG-UK no longer distribute Creation or the Journal of Creation in the United States or the United Kingdom. Answers in Genesis started an on-line journal, Answers Research Journal, in 2008 which was widely criticized in the media and in scientific circles. Also in 2006, the National Religious Broadcasters
awarded Answers in Genesis their Best Ministry Website award.
In May 2007, AiG launched the Creation Museum
, a 60000 square feet (5,574.2 m²) creationist museum in the United States designed to promote young Earth creationism. The museum received criticism from groups like National Center for Science Education
and petitions of protest from scientists.
In December 2010, AiG announced plans to build a full-scale version of Noah’s ark as part of the Ark Encounter “themed attraction” in Northern Kentucky. The Ark Encounter will be built and managed by a for-profit corporation called Ark Encounter, LLC, at a total cost of $150 million. Currently, the attraction is set to open in the spring of 2014.
Financing and fundraising has been an important part of the ministry. Its US revenue in 2005 was $13.7M. According to Charity Navigator
, in FYE 2006, Answers in Genesis had $13,675,653 in total revenue and $12,257,713 in expenses. In 2006, Answers in Genesis was also listed by Ministry Watch
, an independent organization which reviews Christian ministries for transparency and financial accountability among other things, as one of their Shining Lights "top thirty" exemplary ministries.
AiG employs a staff of Christian evangelical
s, three of whom have doctorates
from secular universities, including AiG's science director Georgia Purdom in genetics (Ohio State University
, 1999), David Menton in biology (Brown University
, 1966) and Jason Lisle in astrophysics
(University of Colorado
, 2004).
, geology
, linguistics
, paleontology
and evolutionary biology in favor of a worldview which sees the universe, the Earth and life originating about 6,000 years ago. AiG claims their views of origins, based on a literal interpretation of the Bible
, define what should be considered "good science". They consider it positive that the intelligent design movement
has produced resources supporting the biblical creationist viewpoint, but are critical of intelligent design
for failing to mention the Christian God
and the age of the Earth.
Answers in Genesis emphasizes a presuppositional
rather than an evidentialist
approach to apologetics
. The "About Us" section of their web pages states:
This is not to say that they deny the role of scientific evidence, but that they believe that all scientists start with axioms or presuppositions, which govern how the evidence is interpreted. Thus their view is a form of critical realism.
Since their methodology rejects naturalistic scientific explanations of the origin of the universe in favor of the supernatural, creation science is considered to be a religion by the National Academy of Sciences
.
.
A young universe is challenged by the distant starlight problem, which presents the dilemma of how light from objects millions or billions of light years away could be observed in a young universe. Some creationists have attempted to answer this with explanations involving God creating light en-route
, or by claiming that the speed of light was faster in the past, an argument also referred to as c-decay. Answers in Genesis rejects both of these proposed solutions and tentatively prefers a model proposed by creationist physicist Russell Humphreys
called "White Hole Cosmology". This creationist cosmology
requires that the Milky Way
lies near the center of the universe, a suggestion which AiG believes is supported by claims of quantized redshift
s. Creationists Hugh Ross
and Samuel R. Conner have rejected Humphreys' model on scientific grounds.
The idea of the Milky Way existing near the center of the universe is similar to modern geocentrism
, but AiG has intentionally distanced themselves from claims that the planet Earth is the exact center of the universe. AiG believes that the creationists' distant starlight problem is similar to the historically significant "horizon problem
" of the Big Bang theory. While the general consensus
of cosmologists is that the horizon problem is solved by inflationary theory
as a model for the universe, there is no creationist consensus on the solution to the distant starlight problem.
is that the two processes must be “differentiated in technical resources” but that they are “connected in philosophical assumptions and are not entirely separate as some evolutionists claim.” In science, abiogenesis is an independent hypothesis from evolutionary theory, which takes it as axiom
atic that self-replicating life existed in the distant past, whatever its origin. Answers in Genesis include in their critique of evolution the claim that a naturalistic origin of life is virtually impossible, where life is defined as the first cell. They refer to the idea of spontaneous generation
of cells being all but abandoned after Louis Pasteur
's work, and conflate it with abiogenesis. They calculate the probability of a cell
spontaneously coming into existence as less than 1 in 101057800, similar to estimates of some other creationists, such as Michael Denton
, and believe this requires a better explanation than what they call "mere chance". As is common, they cite a calculation by astrophysicist Fred Hoyle
. Critics assert these calculations and claims are based on a number of errors, calculating on the basis of "mere chance" which is not part of the relevant theory, misunderstanding what probability calculations mean, underestimating the possibilities and inevitably failing to produce a meaningful calculation.
Answers in Genesis proposes 'baraminology
' to classify life forms based on the description in Genesis 1 to reproduce “after their kind”.
Answers in Genesis believe that evolution by natural selection or genetic drift
can only cause variability by reducing the genetic information or shifting existing information around. Answers in Genesis has written a number of articles about natural selection
. They state that "...It cannot be stressed enough that what natural selection actually does is get rid of information.", citing an example of natural selection removing genes for short fur in cold climates. Biologists hold that mechanisms such as gene duplication
and polyploidy
provide new information and that duplicate genes can mutate rapidly, which may change their function. Answers in Genesis denies that copying genes provides new, usable information, arguing that such duplicated genetic information is merely an additional copy of the original information.
Novel adaptations corresponding to what Answers in Genesis creationists would claim necessarily require an "increase in information" appearing in an organism's genome have been described by scientists, one example being nylon-eating bacteria
that evolved a new enzyme to digest nylon
, a polymer that wasn't invented until 1935. Scientists repeated these results in the laboratory when they forced a strain of Pseudomonas
to evolve nylon-digesting enzymes by leaving them in an environment which contained no nutrients other than the man-made by-products of nylon. AIG denies these findings, claiming that "there are good reasons to doubt the claim that this is an example of random mutations and natural selection generating new enzymes, quite aside from the extreme improbability of such coming about by chance."
of using "subtle tactics" to slip in "evolutionary content". Movies and television programs they have criticized for doing this include The Munsters
, Lilo & Stitch
, Bugs Bunny
cartoons, Fantasia
, and Finding Nemo
.
calls "top-down attempts" by "battering away at the education system, or the politicians, or the media", he would prefer to see influence driven by the "changing the hearts and minds of people within ‘God’s army’, the Church". AiG is opposed to what they consider censorship of educators who want to teach evidence they consider contradictory to the theory of evolution or why there is controversy
regarding this subject. They also want Christian colleges to expand the teaching of creationism.
stance on abortion
because they regard individual life as beginning at fertilization. Thus they argue that the circumstances of the fertilization are irrelevant to its status as a human life which should be protected, so oppose abortion for rape and any other case, except to save the life of the mother. They are also strongly opposed to euthanasia
, and embryonic stem cell research, but support somatic/adult stem cell research which does not require the destruction of fetuses. AiG supports the death penalty.
is a sin
, Answers in Genesis has cited writings by the Apostle Paul in and as well as the Old Testament Law
given to Israel which called for the punishment by death for those who commit homosexual acts in . Answers in Genesis believes that the punishments described in the Old Testament, such as Leviticus 20:13, were only valid under Old Testament law and served at that time to demonstrate what a serious departure these sins were from God's design. AiG "reject the implication that we are proposing any sort of ill-treatment of homosexuals, or rejection of the sinner, as opposed to the sin."
cited in and .
and racial theories
which supported the policies of Nazi Germany
in its prosecution of the Holocaust. AiG also claim Joseph Stalin
's reading of Darwin influenced his brutal leadership of the Soviet Union
. However, according to Robert Conquest
, there is a consensus among historians that the later Soviet claim that Stalin read On the Origin of Species is not true as the story fails on "several obvious" accounts.
In dealing with Christendom's own violent history, AiG asserts that anyone using the Bible to justify atrocities (such as during the Crusades
, the colonization of the New World, pogrom
s, the burning of witches, the Wars of Religion
etc.) are "completely contrary to the teachings of Christ".
AiG's Creation Museum
is a museum displaying a young Earth and has received much criticism from the scientific and religious community. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Answers in Genesis in the United States started planning and constructing a Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky
, near the Greater Cincinnati International Airport. According to Ham, "One of the main reasons we moved there was because we are within one hour's flight of 69 per cent of America's population."
Amongst its various displays and exhibits, the museum includes life-size animatronic
(animated and motion-sensitive) dinosaur
s, large movie screens showing a young-earth history of the world, and a planetarium
depicting creationist cosmologies
and creationist interpretations of quantum physics. Model dinosaur
s in the Garden of Eden
are also depicted, as well as dioramas depicting humans and dinosaurs co-existing peacefully A. A. Gill
reported on his visit, "This place doesn't just take on evolution — it squares off with geology, anthropology, paleontology, history, chemistry, astronomy, zoology, biology, and good taste. It directly and boldly contradicts most -onomies and all -ologies, including most theology."http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/02/creation-museum-201002
The Museum opened May 27, 2007 at a cost of 27 million dollars raised entirely by private donations. The museum displays were created by Patrick Marsh, known for work on Universal Studios attractions for King Kong
and Jaws
.
, at a proposed site in Grant County, Kentucky
. Steve Beshear
, the governor of Kentucky
, stated that he was in favour of tax incentives for the project, and investors submitted an application for sales tax reimbursements under the state's new tourism development initiative.
Beshear's announcement of potential incentives for the park cited a feasibility study predicting 1.6 million visitors in the first year. However, it was later revealed that neither Beshear, nor state officials, had seen the Ark Encounter, LLC-commissioned study. Following policy, the Tourism Development and Finance Authority commissioned its own study that was paid for by Ark Encounter LLC. Consultant Rob Hunden, of Hunden Strategic Partners, said the project is expected to draw nearly 1.4 million visitors a year, and may require the state to widen the Interstate 75 interchange at Williamstown at an additional cost to the state of about $11 million.
In May 2011, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority voted unanimously to grant sales tax rebates of up to 25 percent of project capital costs over a 10-year period up to $43.1 milllion for the $172 million project that's otherwise being financed by a group of private investors. Ark Encounter will not receive any money up front, but will get a rebate of the sales tax collected after the first year and every year after that for ten years. Groundbreaking for the $172 million Ark Encounter project is expected in August, 2011, at the Grant County site because of approval for tax rebates.
Organizations concerned with the separation of church and state
are divided on the question of subsidies for the project. The Americans United for Separation of Church and State
state that "[t]he government should not be giving tax incentives for religious projects. Religion should be supported by voluntary donations, not the government." The American Civil Liberties Union
state "[c]ourts have found that giving such tax exemptions on a nondiscriminatory basis does not violate the establishment clause, even when the tax exemption goes to a religious purpose".
In an editorial in late December 2010 The Courier-Journal
questioned the potential cost to the state government of the project, including highway upgrades and the likelihood that increases to hospitality industry
infrastructure would seek further subsidies.
which "does not use any scientific reasoning." Consequently, scientific and scholarly organizations, including United States National Academy of Sciences
, the Paleontological Society
, Geological Society of America
, Australian Academy of Science
, and the Royal Society of Canada
have issued statements against the teaching of creationism. As a result, the National Center for Science Education
, a science advocacy group, criticize AiG's promotion of non-science. In direct response to AiG, No Answers in Genesis is a website maintained by members of the Australian Skeptics
and retired civil servant John Stear for the purpose of rebutting claims made by AiG. In June 2005, AiG-Australia staff accepted an invitation for an online debate with representatives from the Australian Skeptics in Margo Kingston
's section of the Sydney Morning Herald. Also the website talk.origins
includes scientific responses to claims made by AiG's authors.
The Louisville Courier-Journal reported, "Cincinnati Zoo and the Creation Museum launched a joint promotional deal last week to draw attention to their holiday attractions."http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081201/NEWS01/81201045 But following an outcry of criticism, the zoo ended the relationship after two days.
's organization Reasons to Believe, a progressive creationist
organization, is a critic of Answers in Genesis. Ross has publicly debated Ham on the age of the Earth
and the compatibility of an old Earth with the Bible, as well as other AiG staff. Young Earth creationist Kent Hovind
criticized AiG after the group called his claims "fraudulent." Hovind removed a link to AiG from his website and said AiG was "misguided" for criticizing other creationists, including Hovind's alleged "cure for cancer." Hovind also claims they "overreacted" and "misunderstood" issues and Hovind criticized AiG for claiming he wrote something that he did not.
, a prominent evolutionary biologist at Oxford University. Segments of the interview were included in From a Frog to a Prince, a video distributed by Answers in Genesis, and posted on their web page. AiG asserts the video shows Dawkins nonplussed and pausing for 11 seconds when asked by the interviewer to "name one example of an evolutionary process which increases the information content of the genome
". The video then shows Dawkins apparently giving a long, convoluted answer that fails to answer the question.
This is discussed in Chapter two, Essay three of A Devil's Chaplain
, a collection of selected essays by Dawkins, as follows:
The Australian Skeptics
claim the film was carefully edited to give the false appearance that Dawkins was unable to adequately answer the question and that the segment that shows him pausing for 11 seconds was actually film of him considering whether to expel the interviewer from the room (for not revealing her creationist sympathies at the outset). Dawkins reported to the Australian Skeptics that the interviewer shown in the finished film was not the same person as the person who had originally asked the questions. Dawkins and Barry Williams also said that the question had been subsequently changed to make it look like Dawkins, who was answering the original question put to him, was unable to answer.
Gillian Brown, AiG producer of the segment, responded in the 1998 Prayer News article: Skeptics choke on Frog: Was Dawkins caught on the hop? Brown claimed Dawkins had been made aware of the interviewer's creationist sympathies. AiG also claim that the raw footage shows that Dawkins, after pausing for 11 seconds, asks that the recording company stop recording the video. On the AiG video, the question is asked by a person who was not present at the recording. According to Brown, this was not deceit, but "Because my question was off-camera and off-mike (though clearly audible on the tape), it could not be used in the finished production. That is why the presenter was recorded later, repeating my question as I had asked it."
("CMI") filed a lawsuit in Supreme Court of Queensland
against Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis seeking damages and accusing him of "unbiblical/unethical/unlawful behaviour" in his dealings with the Australian organisation.
Prior to the split, the Australian group had been producing magazines, "Creation Magazine" and "Journal of Creation", which were then distributed within other countries by local groups. The Australian group had no access to the list of subscribers in the USA. AiG discontinued the distribution arrangement, and produced a new magazine of their own, called "Answers Magazine" and represented that to subscribers as a replacement. Creation Ministries International is claiming $252,000 (US) in damages for lost revenue by misleading and deceptive conduct in relating to lost subscriptions. The case also concerns use of the trademark "Answers in Genesis" within Australia, and misuse by Ken Ham of his position as a director for the Australian group to cause them detriment.
In comments to news reporters, Ken Ham dismisses CMI's accusations as "totally preposterous and untrue". Creation Ministries has made a large collection of documents available detailing their side of the case. An editorial analysis of the situation, including reference to estranged co-founder John Mackay's allegations in 1986 of necrophilia and witchcraft against Ken Ham's personal secretary is offered in an account in the Reports of the National Center for Science Education.
In February 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
ordered Australian-based Creation Ministries International into arbitration with Answers in Genesis over copyrights and control of affiliates in other countries (Answers in Genesis had asked for arbitration).
In April 2009 the ministries reached a settlement and ended their dispute.
(the rhetorical appeal to phrases such as "natural selection", "the struggle for existence" or "the survival of the fittest", in furtherance of a social ideology) AiG contends that this indicates that school massacres are in part created by the teaching of evolution in public schools.
In March 2011, the Board of Great Homeschool Conventions, Inc. (a Young Earth Christian group) voted to "disinvite" Ken Ham and AiG from "all future conventions" due to Ham's words about other Christians being "unnecessary, ungodly, and mean-spirited statements that are divisive at best and defamatory at worst." In letter to Ham and AiG, the Board wrote, "We believe that what Ken has said and done is un-Christian and sinful." AiG responded: "It is sad that a speaker and ministry, which stand boldly and uncompromisingly on the authority of God’s Word, are eliminated from a homeschool convention."
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
apologetics
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
ministry with a particular focus on supporting Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism is the religious belief that Heavens, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago...
and a literal
Biblical literalism
Biblical literalism is the interpretation or translation of the explicit and primary sense of words in the Bible. A literal Biblical interpretation is associated with the fundamentalist and evangelical hermeneutical approach to Scripture, and is used almost exclusively by conservative Christians...
interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The organization has offices in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It had offices in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, but in 2006 these split off to form Creation Ministries International
Creation Ministries International
Creation Ministries International is a non-profit young Earth creationist organisation of autonomous Christian apologetics ministries that promote a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis...
.
History
Answers in Genesis resulted from the merging of two Australian creationist organizations in 1980. One was founded in the late 1970s by John Mackay, Ken HamKen Ham
Kenneth Alfred Ham is the Australian President/CEO of Answers in Genesis USA. He is a vocal advocate for a young Earth and a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis, and his cross-country speaking tours and many books make him one of the better known young-Earth...
, and others as Creation Science Educational Media Services. Its founders believed that the established Christian church's teaching of the Bible was being compromised. The group merged with Carl Wieland
Carl Wieland
Carl Wieland is an Australian young earth creationist, author and speaker. He is currently the Managing Director of Creation Ministries International , a Christian apologetics ministry...
's Creation Science Association in 1980, becoming the Creation Science Foundation (CSF) that later became Answers in Genesis.
In 1987, Ken Ham was seconded by CSF to work for the Institute for Creation Research
Institute for Creation Research
The Institute for Creation Research is a Christian institution in Dallas, Texas that specializes in education, research, and media promotion of Creation Science and Biblical creationism. The ICR adopts the Bible as an inerrant and literal documentary of scientific and historical fact as well as...
in the United States, then in 1994 left ICR to found Answers In Genesis-USA. Later that year, CSF in Australia and other countries changed their names to Answers In Genesis so that all the sister organizations would share the same "identity".
Due to a "miscommunication, understanding regarding document submittals back in August of 2002," according to then-CEO Bill Wise, Answers in Genesis-US "did not meet all of the Better Business Bureau's
Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau , founded in 1912, is a corporation consisting of several private business franchises of local BBB organizations based in the United States and Canada, which work through their parent corporation, the Council of Better Business Bureaus .The Better Business Bureau, through...
accountability standards" (emphasis in original) for 2003. Answers in Genesis-US has now been listed as meeting each of the Better Business Bureau's 20 standards for charitable accountability.
Following turmoil in 2005, by February 2006 Answers in Genesis-USA and the UK office withdrew from the AiG family, retaining the brand name and the Web site. The Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and South African branches rebranded themselves as Creation Ministries International (CMI). After some of AiG's comments in late 2006, Answers in Genesis became involved in a legal dispute with CMI. CMI has accused AiG-USA of damaging and publicly defaming their ministry. In 2007, CMI filed suit against AiG-USA alleging a variety of wrongdoings.
CMI opened offices in the UK and US during 2006, initially as a distribution point for their periodicals, Creation magazine and the Journal of Creation In June 2006 Answers in Genesis launched Answers. as a replacement to CMI's Creation magazine. AiG-US and AiG-UK no longer distribute Creation or the Journal of Creation in the United States or the United Kingdom. Answers in Genesis started an on-line journal, Answers Research Journal, in 2008 which was widely criticized in the media and in scientific circles. Also in 2006, the National Religious Broadcasters
National Religious Broadcasters
National Religious Broadcasters is an American organization that represents Christian religious broadcasters on American television and radio, including several high-profile televangelists and Christian radio show hosts. It claims a membership of more than 1700 organizations...
awarded Answers in Genesis their Best Ministry Website award.
In May 2007, AiG launched the Creation Museum
Creation Museum
The Creation Museum is a museum near Petersburg, Kentucky that presents an account of the origins of the universe, life, mankind, and man's early history according to a literal reading of the Book of Genesis...
, a 60000 square feet (5,574.2 m²) creationist museum in the United States designed to promote young Earth creationism. The museum received criticism from groups like National Center for Science Education
National Center for Science Education
The National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is the United States' leading anti-creationist organization, and defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes...
and petitions of protest from scientists.
In December 2010, AiG announced plans to build a full-scale version of Noah’s ark as part of the Ark Encounter “themed attraction” in Northern Kentucky. The Ark Encounter will be built and managed by a for-profit corporation called Ark Encounter, LLC, at a total cost of $150 million. Currently, the attraction is set to open in the spring of 2014.
Financing and fundraising has been an important part of the ministry. Its US revenue in 2005 was $13.7M. According to Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Its stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."-About:...
, in FYE 2006, Answers in Genesis had $13,675,653 in total revenue and $12,257,713 in expenses. In 2006, Answers in Genesis was also listed by Ministry Watch
Ministry Watch
Ministry Watch is an independent evangelical Christian organization whose purpose is to review Christian ministries for financial accountability and transparency, and to provide independent advice to Christians considering making donations to them...
, an independent organization which reviews Christian ministries for transparency and financial accountability among other things, as one of their Shining Lights "top thirty" exemplary ministries.
AiG employs a staff of Christian evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
s, three of whom have doctorates
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from secular universities, including AiG's science director Georgia Purdom in genetics (Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, 1999), David Menton in biology (Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, 1966) and Jason Lisle in astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
(University of Colorado
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...
, 2004).
Views on science
Answers in Genesis rejects modern scientific consensus on cosmologyCosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and evolutionary biology in favor of a worldview which sees the universe, the Earth and life originating about 6,000 years ago. AiG claims their views of origins, based on a literal interpretation of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, define what should be considered "good science". They consider it positive that the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
has produced resources supporting the biblical creationist viewpoint, but are critical of intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
for failing to mention the Christian God
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
and the age of the Earth.
Answers in Genesis emphasizes a presuppositional
Presuppositional apologetics
In Christian theology, presuppositionalism is a school of apologetics that presumes Christian faith is the only basis for rational thought. It presupposes that the Bible is divine revelation and claims to expose flaws in other worldviews...
rather than an evidentialist
Evidentialism
Evidentialism is a theory of justification according to which the justification of a belief depends solely on the evidence for it. Technically, though belief is typically the primary object of concern, evidentialism can be applied to doxastic attitudes generally...
approach to apologetics
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
. The "About Us" section of their web pages states:
This is not to say that they deny the role of scientific evidence, but that they believe that all scientists start with axioms or presuppositions, which govern how the evidence is interpreted. Thus their view is a form of critical realism.
Since their methodology rejects naturalistic scientific explanations of the origin of the universe in favor of the supernatural, creation science is considered to be a religion by the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences commonly refers to the academy in the United States of America.National Academy of Sciences may also refer to :* National Academy of Sciences of Argentina* Armenian National Academy of Sciences...
.
Cosmological views and the distant starlight problem
Answers in Genesis believes that all stars and planetary bodies, including the Earth, were created around 6,000 years ago. They reject most of the mainstream scientific thinking behind dominant theories of cosmologyPhysical cosmology
Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution. For most of human history, it was a branch of metaphysics and religion...
.
A young universe is challenged by the distant starlight problem, which presents the dilemma of how light from objects millions or billions of light years away could be observed in a young universe. Some creationists have attempted to answer this with explanations involving God creating light en-route
Omphalos (theology)
The Omphalos hypothesis was named after the title of an 1857 book, Omphalos by Philip Henry Gosse, in which Gosse argued that in order for the world to be "functional", God must have created the Earth with mountains and canyons, trees with growth rings, Adam and Eve with hair, fingernails, and...
, or by claiming that the speed of light was faster in the past, an argument also referred to as c-decay. Answers in Genesis rejects both of these proposed solutions and tentatively prefers a model proposed by creationist physicist Russell Humphreys
Russell Humphreys
Dr. David Russell Humphreys is an American physicist and creationist author. He has offered a young Earth creationist cosmological model to deal with the distant starlight problem.-Education and affiliations:...
called "White Hole Cosmology". This creationist cosmology
Creationist cosmologies
Creationist cosmologies encompass a variety of theories of Young Earth creationists that are designed to support the religious belief that the universe is only a few thousand years old, in line with a literal reading of Genesis...
requires that the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
lies near the center of the universe, a suggestion which AiG believes is supported by claims of quantized redshift
Redshift quantization
Redshift quantization is the hypothesis that the redshifts of cosmologically distant objects tend to cluster around multiples of some particular value...
s. Creationists Hugh Ross
Hugh Ross (creationist)
Hugh Norman Ross is a Canadian-born astrophysicist and creationist Christian apologist.He has a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics, and later established his own ministry called Reasons To Believe, that promotes progressive and day-age forms of old Earth creationism...
and Samuel R. Conner have rejected Humphreys' model on scientific grounds.
The idea of the Milky Way existing near the center of the universe is similar to modern geocentrism
Modern geocentrism
Modern geocentrism is the belief held by some extant groups that Earth is the center of the universe as described by classical geocentric models. This belief is often based on Biblical verses...
, but AiG has intentionally distanced themselves from claims that the planet Earth is the exact center of the universe. AiG believes that the creationists' distant starlight problem is similar to the historically significant "horizon problem
Horizon problem
The horizon problem is a problem with the standard cosmological model of the Big Bang which was identified in the 1970s. It points out that different regions of the universe have not "contacted" each other because of the great distances between them, but nevertheless they have the same temperature...
" of the Big Bang theory. While the general consensus
Scientific consensus
Scientific consensus is the collective judgment, position, and opinion of the community of scientists in a particular field of study. Consensus implies general agreement, though not necessarily unanimity. Scientific consensus is not by itself a scientific argument, and it is not part of the...
of cosmologists is that the horizon problem is solved by inflationary theory
Cosmic inflation
In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation or just inflation is the theorized extremely rapid exponential expansion of the early universe by a factor of at least 1078 in volume, driven by a negative-pressure vacuum energy density. The inflationary epoch comprises the first part...
as a model for the universe, there is no creationist consensus on the solution to the distant starlight problem.
Origin of life and evolution
Answers in Genesis’ position on the separation of evolution from abiogenesisAbiogenesis
Abiogenesis or biopoesis is the study of how biological life arises from inorganic matter through natural processes, and the method by which life on Earth arose...
is that the two processes must be “differentiated in technical resources” but that they are “connected in philosophical assumptions and are not entirely separate as some evolutionists claim.” In science, abiogenesis is an independent hypothesis from evolutionary theory, which takes it as axiom
Axiom
In traditional logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proven or demonstrated but considered either to be self-evident or to define and delimit the realm of analysis. In other words, an axiom is a logical statement that is assumed to be true...
atic that self-replicating life existed in the distant past, whatever its origin. Answers in Genesis include in their critique of evolution the claim that a naturalistic origin of life is virtually impossible, where life is defined as the first cell. They refer to the idea of spontaneous generation
Spontaneous generation
Spontaneous generation or Equivocal generation is an obsolete principle regarding the origin of life from inanimate matter, which held that this process was a commonplace and everyday occurrence, as distinguished from univocal generation, or reproduction from parent...
of cells being all but abandoned after Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...
's work, and conflate it with abiogenesis. They calculate the probability of a cell
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
spontaneously coming into existence as less than 1 in 101057800, similar to estimates of some other creationists, such as Michael Denton
Michael Denton
Michael John Denton is a British-Australian author and biochemist. In 1973, Denton received his PhD in Biochemistry from King's College London.-Biography:...
, and believe this requires a better explanation than what they call "mere chance". As is common, they cite a calculation by astrophysicist Fred Hoyle
Fred Hoyle
Sir Fred Hoyle FRS was an English astronomer and mathematician noted primarily for his contribution to the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and his often controversial stance on other cosmological and scientific matters—in particular his rejection of the "Big Bang" theory, a term originally...
. Critics assert these calculations and claims are based on a number of errors, calculating on the basis of "mere chance" which is not part of the relevant theory, misunderstanding what probability calculations mean, underestimating the possibilities and inevitably failing to produce a meaningful calculation.
Answers in Genesis proposes 'baraminology
Baraminology
Baraminology is a creationist taxonomic system that classifies animals into groups called "created kinds" or "baramins" according to the account of creation in the book of Genesis and other parts of the Bible. It claims that kinds cannot interbreed and have no evolutionary relationship to one another...
' to classify life forms based on the description in Genesis 1 to reproduce “after their kind”.
Answers in Genesis believe that evolution by natural selection or genetic drift
Genetic drift
Genetic drift or allelic drift is the change in the frequency of a gene variant in a population due to random sampling.The alleles in the offspring are a sample of those in the parents, and chance has a role in determining whether a given individual survives and reproduces...
can only cause variability by reducing the genetic information or shifting existing information around. Answers in Genesis has written a number of articles about natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
. They state that "...It cannot be stressed enough that what natural selection actually does is get rid of information.", citing an example of natural selection removing genes for short fur in cold climates. Biologists hold that mechanisms such as gene duplication
Gene duplication
Gene duplication is any duplication of a region of DNA that contains a gene; it may occur as an error in homologous recombination, a retrotransposition event, or duplication of an entire chromosome.The second copy of the gene is often free from selective pressure — that is, mutations of it have no...
and polyploidy
Polyploidy
Polyploid is a term used to describe cells and organisms containing more than two paired sets of chromosomes. Most eukaryotic species are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes — one set inherited from each parent. However polyploidy is found in some organisms and is especially common...
provide new information and that duplicate genes can mutate rapidly, which may change their function. Answers in Genesis denies that copying genes provides new, usable information, arguing that such duplicated genetic information is merely an additional copy of the original information.
Novel adaptations corresponding to what Answers in Genesis creationists would claim necessarily require an "increase in information" appearing in an organism's genome have been described by scientists, one example being nylon-eating bacteria
Nylon-eating bacteria
Nylon-eating bacteria are a strain of Flavobacterium that is capable of digesting certain byproducts of nylon 6 manufacture. This strain of Flavobacterium, Sp...
that evolved a new enzyme to digest nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
, a polymer that wasn't invented until 1935. Scientists repeated these results in the laboratory when they forced a strain of Pseudomonas
Pseudomonas
Pseudomonas is a genus of gammaproteobacteria, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae containing 191 validly described species.Recently, 16S rRNA sequence analysis has redefined the taxonomy of many bacterial species. As a result, the genus Pseudomonas includes strains formerly classified in the...
to evolve nylon-digesting enzymes by leaving them in an environment which contained no nutrients other than the man-made by-products of nylon. AIG denies these findings, claiming that "there are good reasons to doubt the claim that this is an example of random mutations and natural selection generating new enzymes, quite aside from the extreme improbability of such coming about by chance."
Morality and social issues
AiG believes evolutionary theory "will inevitably lead to a magnification of the effects of sin," such as is the cause of social problems including abortion and racism. The organization has accused HollywoodCinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
of using "subtle tactics" to slip in "evolutionary content". Movies and television programs they have criticized for doing this include The Munsters
The Munsters
The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
, Lilo & Stitch
Lilo & Stitch
This article is about the movie. For the television series, see Lilo & Stitch: The Series.Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on June 21, 2002...
, Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
cartoons, Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
, and Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...
.
Science education
Answers in Genesis does not support laws or school board standards that would force the teaching of creationism in public schools. It is their position that forcing a teacher to present the idea of creation will only result in it being distorted by those who don't believe in it. Instead of trying to change how evolution is taught in the public schools in what former Answers in Genesis CEO Carl WielandCarl Wieland
Carl Wieland is an Australian young earth creationist, author and speaker. He is currently the Managing Director of Creation Ministries International , a Christian apologetics ministry...
calls "top-down attempts" by "battering away at the education system, or the politicians, or the media", he would prefer to see influence driven by the "changing the hearts and minds of people within ‘God’s army’, the Church". AiG is opposed to what they consider censorship of educators who want to teach evidence they consider contradictory to the theory of evolution or why there is controversy
Teach the Controversy
Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit evolution in United States public high school science courses...
regarding this subject. They also want Christian colleges to expand the teaching of creationism.
Abortion, stem cell research, euthanasia and death penalty
Answers in Genesis takes a strong pro-lifePro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
stance on abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
because they regard individual life as beginning at fertilization. Thus they argue that the circumstances of the fertilization are irrelevant to its status as a human life which should be protected, so oppose abortion for rape and any other case, except to save the life of the mother. They are also strongly opposed to euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
, and embryonic stem cell research, but support somatic/adult stem cell research which does not require the destruction of fetuses. AiG supports the death penalty.
Homosexuality
In claiming that homosexualityHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
is a sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
, Answers in Genesis has cited writings by the Apostle Paul in and as well as the Old Testament Law
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
given to Israel which called for the punishment by death for those who commit homosexual acts in . Answers in Genesis believes that the punishments described in the Old Testament, such as Leviticus 20:13, were only valid under Old Testament law and served at that time to demonstrate what a serious departure these sins were from God's design. AiG "reject the implication that we are proposing any sort of ill-treatment of homosexuals, or rejection of the sinner, as opposed to the sin."
Marriage
Answers in Genesis considers marriage to consist of one man and one woman for life, based on and which JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
cited in and .
Evolution and race
AiG states that belief in evolutionary theory contributed to eugenicsEugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
and racial theories
Racial hygiene
Racial hygiene was a set of early twentieth century state sanctioned policies by which certain groups of individuals were allowed to procreate and others not, with the expressed purpose of promoting certain characteristics deemed to be particularly desirable...
which supported the policies of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in its prosecution of the Holocaust. AiG also claim Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's reading of Darwin influenced his brutal leadership of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. However, according to Robert Conquest
Robert Conquest
George Robert Ackworth Conquest CMG is a British historian who became a well-known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union with the publication in 1968 of The Great Terror, an account of Stalin's purges of the 1930s...
, there is a consensus among historians that the later Soviet claim that Stalin read On the Origin of Species is not true as the story fails on "several obvious" accounts.
In dealing with Christendom's own violent history, AiG asserts that anyone using the Bible to justify atrocities (such as during the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, the colonization of the New World, pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s, the burning of witches, the Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
etc.) are "completely contrary to the teachings of Christ".
Creation Museum
Creation Museum
The Creation Museum is a museum near Petersburg, Kentucky that presents an account of the origins of the universe, life, mankind, and man's early history according to a literal reading of the Book of Genesis...
is a museum displaying a young Earth and has received much criticism from the scientific and religious community. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Answers in Genesis in the United States started planning and constructing a Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, near the Greater Cincinnati International Airport. According to Ham, "One of the main reasons we moved there was because we are within one hour's flight of 69 per cent of America's population."
Amongst its various displays and exhibits, the museum includes life-size animatronic
Audio-Animatronics
Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally in speech or song...
(animated and motion-sensitive) dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s, large movie screens showing a young-earth history of the world, and a planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
depicting creationist cosmologies
Creationist cosmologies
Creationist cosmologies encompass a variety of theories of Young Earth creationists that are designed to support the religious belief that the universe is only a few thousand years old, in line with a literal reading of Genesis...
and creationist interpretations of quantum physics. Model dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s in the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
are also depicted, as well as dioramas depicting humans and dinosaurs co-existing peacefully A. A. Gill
A. A. Gill
Adrian Anthony Gill is a British writer who uses the byline A. A. Gill. He is currently employed by The Sunday Times as their restaurant reviewer and television critic and Vanity Fair magazine as a restaurant reviewer...
reported on his visit, "This place doesn't just take on evolution — it squares off with geology, anthropology, paleontology, history, chemistry, astronomy, zoology, biology, and good taste. It directly and boldly contradicts most -onomies and all -ologies, including most theology."http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/02/creation-museum-201002
The Museum opened May 27, 2007 at a cost of 27 million dollars raised entirely by private donations. The museum displays were created by Patrick Marsh, known for work on Universal Studios attractions for King Kong
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
and Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
.
Ark Encounter
In December 2010, Answers in Genesis announced a project to build an 'Ark Encounter' theme park around a full-scale replica of Noah's ArkNoah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
, at a proposed site in Grant County, Kentucky
Grant County, Kentucky
Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1820. As of 2000, the population was 22,384. Its county seat is Williamstown...
. Steve Beshear
Steve Beshear
Steven Lynn "Steve" Beshear is an American politician who is the 61st Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A Democrat, Beshear previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1979, was the state's Attorney General from 1980 to 1983, and was Lieutenant Governor from...
, the governor of Kentucky
Governor of Kentucky
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
, stated that he was in favour of tax incentives for the project, and investors submitted an application for sales tax reimbursements under the state's new tourism development initiative.
Beshear's announcement of potential incentives for the park cited a feasibility study predicting 1.6 million visitors in the first year. However, it was later revealed that neither Beshear, nor state officials, had seen the Ark Encounter, LLC-commissioned study. Following policy, the Tourism Development and Finance Authority commissioned its own study that was paid for by Ark Encounter LLC. Consultant Rob Hunden, of Hunden Strategic Partners, said the project is expected to draw nearly 1.4 million visitors a year, and may require the state to widen the Interstate 75 interchange at Williamstown at an additional cost to the state of about $11 million.
In May 2011, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority voted unanimously to grant sales tax rebates of up to 25 percent of project capital costs over a 10-year period up to $43.1 milllion for the $172 million project that's otherwise being financed by a group of private investors. Ark Encounter will not receive any money up front, but will get a rebate of the sales tax collected after the first year and every year after that for ten years. Groundbreaking for the $172 million Ark Encounter project is expected in August, 2011, at the Grant County site because of approval for tax rebates.
Organizations concerned with the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
are divided on the question of subsidies for the project. The Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
state that "[t]he government should not be giving tax incentives for religious projects. Religion should be supported by voluntary donations, not the government." The American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
state "[c]ourts have found that giving such tax exemptions on a nondiscriminatory basis does not violate the establishment clause, even when the tax exemption goes to a religious purpose".
In an editorial in late December 2010 The Courier-Journal
The Courier-Journal
The Courier-Journal, locally called "The C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.- Origins :The...
questioned the potential cost to the state government of the project, including highway upgrades and the likelihood that increases to hospitality industry
Hospitality industry
The hospitality industry consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry...
infrastructure would seek further subsidies.
Mainstream critics
The scientific community considers creation science to be pseudosciencePseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
which "does not use any scientific reasoning." Consequently, scientific and scholarly organizations, including United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, the Paleontological Society
Paleontological Society
The Paleontological Society, formally the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland and was incorporated in April 1968 in the District of Columbia...
, Geological Society of America
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...
, Australian Academy of Science
Australian Academy of Science
The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The Academy is modelled after the Royal Society and operates under a Royal Charter; as such it is...
, and the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
have issued statements against the teaching of creationism. As a result, the National Center for Science Education
National Center for Science Education
The National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is the United States' leading anti-creationist organization, and defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes...
, a science advocacy group, criticize AiG's promotion of non-science. In direct response to AiG, No Answers in Genesis is a website maintained by members of the Australian Skeptics
Australian Skeptics
The Australian Skeptics is a non-profit organisation based in Australia which investigates paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies.-History:...
and retired civil servant John Stear for the purpose of rebutting claims made by AiG. In June 2005, AiG-Australia staff accepted an invitation for an online debate with representatives from the Australian Skeptics in Margo Kingston
Margo Kingston
Margo Kingston is an Australian journalist, author and commentator. She is best known for her work at The Sydney Morning Herald and her weblog, .Kingston was born in Maryborough, Queensland and was raised in Mackay...
's section of the Sydney Morning Herald. Also the website talk.origins
Talk.origins
talk.origins is a moderated Usenet discussion forum concerning the origins of life, and evolution...
includes scientific responses to claims made by AiG's authors.
The Louisville Courier-Journal reported, "Cincinnati Zoo and the Creation Museum launched a joint promotional deal last week to draw attention to their holiday attractions."http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081201/NEWS01/81201045 But following an outcry of criticism, the zoo ended the relationship after two days.
From creationists
Ham's beliefs and tactics have also been criticized by other Christians. Answers in Creation, an Old Earth creationist website, has called Ham willfully ignorant of evidence for an old earth and said he "deliberately misleads" his audiences on matters of both science and theology. Astronomer Hugh RossHugh Ross (creationist)
Hugh Norman Ross is a Canadian-born astrophysicist and creationist Christian apologist.He has a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics, and later established his own ministry called Reasons To Believe, that promotes progressive and day-age forms of old Earth creationism...
's organization Reasons to Believe, a progressive creationist
Progressive creationism
Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God created new forms of life gradually, over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of Old Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geological and cosmological estimates for the age of the Earth, but posits that the new "kinds" of...
organization, is a critic of Answers in Genesis. Ross has publicly debated Ham on the age of the Earth
Age of the Earth
The age of the Earth is 4.54 billion years This age is based on evidence from radiometric age dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples...
and the compatibility of an old Earth with the Bible, as well as other AiG staff. Young Earth creationist Kent Hovind
Kent Hovind
Kent E. Hovind is an American young earth creationist. Hovind speaks on creation science and aims to convince listeners to reject theories of evolution, geophysics, and cosmology in favor of the Genesis creation narrative as found in the Bible...
criticized AiG after the group called his claims "fraudulent." Hovind removed a link to AiG from his website and said AiG was "misguided" for criticizing other creationists, including Hovind's alleged "cure for cancer." Hovind also claims they "overreacted" and "misunderstood" issues and Hovind criticized AiG for claiming he wrote something that he did not.
Interview with Richard Dawkins
In 1998, Answers in Genesis filmed an interview with Richard DawkinsRichard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, a prominent evolutionary biologist at Oxford University. Segments of the interview were included in From a Frog to a Prince, a video distributed by Answers in Genesis, and posted on their web page. AiG asserts the video shows Dawkins nonplussed and pausing for 11 seconds when asked by the interviewer to "name one example of an evolutionary process which increases the information content of the genome
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
". The video then shows Dawkins apparently giving a long, convoluted answer that fails to answer the question.
This is discussed in Chapter two, Essay three of A Devil's Chaplain
A Devil's Chaplain
A Devil's Chaplain, subtitled Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love is a 2003 book of selected essays and other writings by Richard Dawkins. Published five years after his previous book Unweaving the Rainbow, it contains 32 essays covering subjects including pseudoscience, genetic...
, a collection of selected essays by Dawkins, as follows:
The Australian Skeptics
Australian Skeptics
The Australian Skeptics is a non-profit organisation based in Australia which investigates paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies.-History:...
claim the film was carefully edited to give the false appearance that Dawkins was unable to adequately answer the question and that the segment that shows him pausing for 11 seconds was actually film of him considering whether to expel the interviewer from the room (for not revealing her creationist sympathies at the outset). Dawkins reported to the Australian Skeptics that the interviewer shown in the finished film was not the same person as the person who had originally asked the questions. Dawkins and Barry Williams also said that the question had been subsequently changed to make it look like Dawkins, who was answering the original question put to him, was unable to answer.
Gillian Brown, AiG producer of the segment, responded in the 1998 Prayer News article: Skeptics choke on Frog: Was Dawkins caught on the hop? Brown claimed Dawkins had been made aware of the interviewer's creationist sympathies. AiG also claim that the raw footage shows that Dawkins, after pausing for 11 seconds, asks that the recording company stop recording the video. On the AiG video, the question is asked by a person who was not present at the recording. According to Brown, this was not deceit, but "Because my question was off-camera and off-mike (though clearly audible on the tape), it could not be used in the finished production. That is why the presenter was recorded later, repeating my question as I had asked it."
Legal controversy with Creation Ministries International
On May 31, 2007, Creation Ministries InternationalCreation Ministries International
Creation Ministries International is a non-profit young Earth creationist organisation of autonomous Christian apologetics ministries that promote a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis...
("CMI") filed a lawsuit in Supreme Court of Queensland
Supreme Court of Queensland
The Supreme Court of Queensland, which is based at the Law Courts Complex, is the superior court for the Australian State of Queensland and sits around the middle of the Australian court hierarchy...
against Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis seeking damages and accusing him of "unbiblical/unethical/unlawful behaviour" in his dealings with the Australian organisation.
Prior to the split, the Australian group had been producing magazines, "Creation Magazine" and "Journal of Creation", which were then distributed within other countries by local groups. The Australian group had no access to the list of subscribers in the USA. AiG discontinued the distribution arrangement, and produced a new magazine of their own, called "Answers Magazine" and represented that to subscribers as a replacement. Creation Ministries International is claiming $252,000 (US) in damages for lost revenue by misleading and deceptive conduct in relating to lost subscriptions. The case also concerns use of the trademark "Answers in Genesis" within Australia, and misuse by Ken Ham of his position as a director for the Australian group to cause them detriment.
In comments to news reporters, Ken Ham dismisses CMI's accusations as "totally preposterous and untrue". Creation Ministries has made a large collection of documents available detailing their side of the case. An editorial analysis of the situation, including reference to estranged co-founder John Mackay's allegations in 1986 of necrophilia and witchcraft against Ken Ham's personal secretary is offered in an account in the Reports of the National Center for Science Education.
In February 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
ordered Australian-based Creation Ministries International into arbitration with Answers in Genesis over copyrights and control of affiliates in other countries (Answers in Genesis had asked for arbitration).
In April 2009 the ministries reached a settlement and ended their dispute.
Controversies
In the spring of 2009, Answers in Genesis posted a billboard in Texas with a young boy aiming a gun towards the camera with the words "If God doesn't matter to him, do you?". The same image was used in a TV ad. AiG's justification for using this form of advertisement is concern over the rise of dramatic school massacres in America and around the world, and specifically one in Finland where the killer posted a video mentioning putting "natural selection back on track", an appeal to Social DarwinismSocial Darwinism
Social Darwinism is a term commonly used for theories of society that emerged in England and the United States in the 1870s, seeking to apply the principles of Darwinian evolution to sociology and politics...
(the rhetorical appeal to phrases such as "natural selection", "the struggle for existence" or "the survival of the fittest", in furtherance of a social ideology) AiG contends that this indicates that school massacres are in part created by the teaching of evolution in public schools.
In March 2011, the Board of Great Homeschool Conventions, Inc. (a Young Earth Christian group) voted to "disinvite" Ken Ham and AiG from "all future conventions" due to Ham's words about other Christians being "unnecessary, ungodly, and mean-spirited statements that are divisive at best and defamatory at worst." In letter to Ham and AiG, the Board wrote, "We believe that what Ken has said and done is un-Christian and sinful." AiG responded: "It is sad that a speaker and ministry, which stand boldly and uncompromisingly on the authority of God’s Word, are eliminated from a homeschool convention."
Official
- Answers in Genesis – Official website
- Creation Museum – Official website
Critical
- Answers In Creation Old-earth creationist site allegedly demonstrating numerous errors in the work of Answers in Genesis
- No Answers in Genesis website A site explicitly critical of Answers in Genesis
- National Center for Science Education
- Barry Yeoman. "Creation Nation", The Independent Weekly
- "Fellow Christians Aggrieved by Business Practices of Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis", Christian Faith and Reason May 27, 2007