Ken Ham and his mighty band of young-earth creationists at the Ark Encounter have developed a plan to attract children to their monument to ignorance in Williamstown, Kentucky. The Ark Encounter is an Evangelical amusement park geared towards reinforcing creationist dogma for adults and indoctrinating children in the myth of Noah’s Ark. Prior generations of Evangelicals had only the Bible as their guide. Today, creationists have the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, both of which give visual life to the first nine chapters of the book of Genesis.
Ham knows that financial ruin awaits him unless he finds new ways to attract and entertain fellow young-earth creationists. This year, Ham plans to admit children free to the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum. While dutiful Evangelical parents — who know how important it is to indoctrinate children when they are young — will insist that their children go with them to visit both facilities, I am sure they are grateful for Ham adding new attractions to his been-there-done-that amusement park. Children bore easily, so providing new and exciting things for them to see and do will likely help Evangelical parents who have to deal with children who say, “Really, Dad, the Ark Encounter AGAIN? Can’t we go to Cedar Point or King’s Island this year?”
What, you ask, is Ham doing to attract children to the Ark Encounter? In a recent Answers in Genesis news story titled, Bring the Kids and Think Bigger!, Ham wrote:
I believe you’ll be amazed, thrilled, and astounded—and will praise the Lord for what he is doing in this cutting-edge ministry. A hint: think Paddington Bear, giraffes, children, and a bathtub.
….
Over the years, many Christian leaders have told me that the quality of the Creation Museum and its exhibits has set a very high bar for the Christian world. Many reporters have told me that because the museum is a Christian facility, they expected it to be “cheesy”—they recognized that the Christian world is not known for having a Disney-like quality.
We’ve also had dozens of visits from Christian organizations who were (or are) building Christian facilities, and they tell us they hope to attain the same quality.
When the Ark Encounter opened in 2016, people weren’t surprised at the level of excellence they experienced at the Ark, having seen what was done at the Creation Museum.
Many Christians told me it was so refreshing for them to visit Christian facilities of such high quality—particularly because we are so bold about biblical authority, the gospel, and a truly Christian worldview.
….
Now, it’s one thing to build such facilities, but people need to be informed they exist. World-class attractions like Disney and Universal Studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing and promotion. We, too, recognize that we need to do our best to market the Creation Museum and Ark so that people will know they exist, and then we need them to come and experience the proclamation of the truth of God’s Word and the gospel in an engaging way!
Before the Creation Museum opened, the Lord led us to a marketing agency, Joseph David Advertising (JDA—www.jdaworldwide.com/). Its Christian ownership wanted to work with us to develop marketing ideas that would be equal to or better than what the secular world does.
….
Over the years, their experts have worked tirelessly with us to produce award-winning billboards, television advertisements, and other marketing tools. Many people have commented on how professional this marketing effort has been and how it really captured their attention. Many of you may have seen our ads on the Fox News Channel and many other networks.
We have also conducted a lot of market research through JDA to find out how we can best reach those likely to visit the Creation Museum and Ark. Through the help of JDA’s creativity and resources, we have been able to market our attractions in powerful and effective ways.
A few months ago, we met with JDA’s marketing team and discussed how we were going to market the Ark and Creation Museum for 2020. We also discussed the incredible war against children that is happening in our culture in regard to abortion, forcing the LGBTQ worldview on kids in schools, the war on the family, increasing talk about allowing pedophilia, and so on.
What’s happening is so evil. It motivated us to come up with a plan to help reach more kids by allowing all children 10 years old and under into our attractions for free. Yes, that offer began January 1, 2020. We’ve actually restructured the ticket pricing.
Our marketing agents then came up with an idea that we thought was beyond our reach financially. But they worked out a way for this to happen—so remarkable!
You may have seen the family movie featuring the character Paddington Bear. Now, while this bear is an animated creature, the animation is done so well that it looks real as the bear interacts in the real world with real people!
Then we asked ourselves, “What animal is most associated with the Ark?” And of course, it was the giraffe! That’s because most modern depictions of Noah’s Ark in children’s books (not those from AiG, of course!) have Noah’s Ark pictured as a sort of overloaded bathtub with giraffes sticking their necks out the top!
Put all this together for a 30-second television advertisement with the same quality as the Paddington movie, but with giraffes—four of them: mom, dad, and the two kids—plus a bathtub ark and a visit to our true-to-the-Bible Ark, while promoting that kids go free. Combine that with a quaint story line, and there you have it: an extremely high quality, captivating, and stunning television ad that will market the Ark Encounter and free admission for children in 2020.
What Mickey Mouse and other characters are to Disney, these giraffes (named George, Gloria, Gracie, and Junior) will be to the Ark Encounter. I believe kids will fall in love with the giraffe kids, Gracie and Junior.
When I saw the first draft of this TV ad, I immediately thought of Super Bowl quality. In fact, I think it is better than many Super Bowl ads I’ve seen. Personally, I think the ad would win an award if played during the Super Bowl! But for $5.6 million dollars to run just one 30-second Super Bowl commercial, we certainly couldn’t do that. But this high-quality TV ad will be shown on many channels and across our social media.
….
JDA partnered with several Hollywood studios to create the giraffe characters we’ll all see on TV soon. These specialized studios are the same as those behind the animation in films like The Avengers, Wonder Woman, and Mary Poppins, and also popular TV shows like Star Trek and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, the VFX supervisor hired to produce our characters was the former Pixar supervisor who oversaw the creation of the character Jessie in Toy Story 2.
Since the TV commercial was shot in the same live-action style as Paddington (i.e., “animation over film”), JDA partnered with Whitestone Motion Pictures from Atlanta to build a custom set (see at right) and film the giraffe family in their living room. As complicated as the animation was to create, plus shooting blank frames 18 feet in the air in a custom-built 25-foot-tall living room designed for giraffes, it was nothing short of spectacular.
All in all, the talent JDA was able to bring to the table on our ministry’s behalf was outstanding. I think you’ll agree once you see the spot!
So there ya have it, Ham is producing cute promo spots he hopes will spur children to say to their parents, “Mommy and Daddy, can we go to the Ark Encounter?”
What follows is one of the new Ark Encounter TV ads. It’s 30 seconds long. I hope you will take the time to watch it.
Cute TV ad, which is sure to speak to children everywhere. What’s missing, of course, is, to quote Paul Harvey, “the rest of the story.” Ham wants to suck children in with adorable animated animal figures, all the while hiding the fact that the story of Noah’s Flood is really about an angry, vengeful God who drowned millions and millions of men, women, teenagers, children, babies, fetuses, and innocent animals.
Why did the Christian God commit genocide? Why did God drown millions of animals? Genesis 6:1-7 says:
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
According to the aforementioned text, God drowned everyone because the “wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In particular, “the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them.” This odd passage of Scripture suggests that fallen angels were having sex with women, producing hybrid devil children. (And yes, I am aware of other interpretations.) Talk about a made for HBO storyline!
Why not make a TV ad that shows God drowning everyone? Maybe put a big lifesaver on the side of the ark, with a message imprinted for those who are drawing their last breaths, “Smile, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” How about an ad more geared towards Evangelical adults? You know, one with a Game of Thrones-like sex twist; one that shows fallen angels seducing women or righteous Noah getting drunk and exposing himself to his son Ham? (Genesis 9) Why not tell the whole story instead of hiding behind cute animated giraffes? Surely, Evangelical children deserve the truth.
About Bruce Gerencser
Bruce Gerencser, 62, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 41 years. He and his wife have six grown children and twelve grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.
Are you on Social Media? Follow Bruce on Facebook and Twitter.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section. If you are a first-time commenter, please read the commenting policy before wowing readers with your words. All first-time comments are moderated. If you would like to contact Bruce directly, please use the contact form to do so.
Donations are always appreciated. Donations on a monthly basis can be made through Patreon. One-time donations can be made through PayPal.
One of the most traumatic things from my childhood was getting a “children’s Bible” with all sorts of wonderful illustrations. There was the one of people and animals dying in the flood while the ark sailed merrily away from them. There was a horse pulling a chariot, being whipped bloody by the driver (as someone who loves horses, this was a nightmare). Can’t forget poor Adam and Eve, clutching bloody animal skins to themselves while a scary vengeful god drives them into a barren wasteland, complete with lightning bolts. Oh, and Cain standing over the body of his dead brother. To top it off, creepy Nordic Jesus makes an appearance; platinum blond hair, cold ice-blue eyes, and a weird resemblance to Charles Manson. Even as a child I thought that was ridiculous. Another book of child’s religious stories showed people pounding on the ark doors while drowning. It also had a picture of the End Times; London was burning while the righteous were being greeted by angels. I was age 5 when I saw that, and it gave me nightmares (still does occasionally). I knew London was a real place since I visited family there. I wondered what would happen to my Hindu uncle in London.
Yeah, they have to go cutesy in this ad. If they showed images like the ones I grew up with, only the seriously brainwashed Fundies would show up. It won’t work in the long run. Most of the kids I’ve seen still love dinosaurs, fossils, and cave people too much. An interest in paleontology, geology, and ancient civilizations is what saved me.
Uuuuuummm …. Aren’t we forgetting the bigger picture here? Who cares about Ham’s pithy, silly Ark? Why aren’t WE doing it? Build a monster museum that would dwarf “the Ark”. Oh. Wait a minute. We would have 2 give up our “socialist” attitudes towards “Free Enterprise Competition”. Look at Elon Musk. An atheist. “Capitalism with a Social Conscience”. He can do it! Why can’t we?
Why do I get this pithy feeling in my stomach that I’m going to regret sending this post?!?
Dale, we already have “monster museums” all over the world. You can start with Washington, DC’s Smithsonian, a bastion of science and truth. There are museums in most cities, science centers especially for kids in many cities, and planetariums in others, all of which contain overwhelming evidence that runs counter to the mythology and nonsense of the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter. Take your kids to those, and shun anything connected with Ken Ham. If you haven’t been to a museum/planetarium/science center for a while, take yourself.
‘…forcing the LGBTQ worldview on kids in schools, the war on the family….’ well, that gave me a laugh. It’s OK for Ham to force his worldview, that a man called Adam had sex with his girlfriend…shouldn’t there be a certificate of marriage before engaging in coitus? And much incest ensued. And the talking snake’s punishment was to lose its legs, which doesn’t seem to have incapacitated the many snakes who’ve slithered ever since. I’m also laughing at a commenter on Patheos/Non-religious this week who said some Ham-ists will tell you that after the flood the 2 penguins got back to the Antarctic and the 2 kangeroos back to Oz because volcanoes erupted and propelled them there!
The ad was cute, but their billboards that I have seen around the South aren’t very good.
It’s sad to realize that grown-ass adults believe this mythology and refuse to accept the overwhelming mountains of evidence against it. Worse, they are teaching their children this ignorance and the bigotry spouted by these anti-LBGTQ peddlers of lies.
Absolutely, the evidence is so great that the Noah’s Ark story is mythical, both at the physical level but also philosophically it makes no sense, that one wonders what the original writers (and I realise there are flood stories in many cultures, from which Noah was copied) thought they were trying to say. Though, when I think about it, I suppose it’s just yet another example of scientifically illiterate men trying to make sense of an incomprehensible world.
Allowing children to be exposed to the Ark museum and allowed to think it represents fact is bordering on abuse.
So, if, as the Evangelicals have it, the animals entered the Ark “two by two,” who is going to get left behind to drown? Mom and Dad, or Gracie and Junior? I’d bet on Gracie and Junior, since Mom and Dad have already proven themselves to be a successful breeding pair. I hope the kids who see this don’t think about it very hard, or they’re going to have some serious questions.
It is an effective ad that works on 3 levels. First it will attract attention of kids. The animation is very well done and kids will be drawn to it immediately. Then it gets out the message “kids free!”, (oh well no mention that they jacked up the price for everyone else! AND it’s only kids 10 and under!) And lastly it gives kids a model for begging their parents to go.
And yeppers you only have to get their butts on the Ark Encounter once. Most families won’t want to go again, but you already got their $116.96 (price for two adults including tax and parking…yikes!)
Bruce, you and I are about the same age (I’m 65) and we both were indoctrinated with religious beliefs from a very early age. In my case it was catholicism, which I rejected
at the age of 19. You and I currently seem to have very similar views about religion now,
but what mystifies me is why it took you so long to recognize what a sham religion is.
On the one hand, your de-conversion when you were around 50 gives me hope that maybe
some of my siblings and friends who still cling their religious beliefs will someday have the courage to give it up, just as you did. On the other hand though I can’t help but wonder, why in the hell did it take you so long to see what seems blindingly obvious to me? No offense intended.
I guess it just shows how malleable the human mind is, especially children’s minds. Organized religions start indoctrinating kids as early as possible because they know that if beliefs can be installed at an early age it is more likely that the person will continue to hold those beliefs for the rest of their lives.
I’d like to see a law forbidding the teaching of any religious dogma to anyone under the age of 16 so that only those old enough to rationally evaluate the garbage spread by organized religions could be exposed to it.
Casey, I think the answer to your question lies in the post entitled “The Danger of Being in a Box and Why it Makes Sense When you are in it.” I suspect Bruce was an all-in Christian from the very beginning, and didn’t hear, or refused to hear, dissonant voices. When you put your head down and go to work supporting your cause, you can ignore a lot of outside flack.
Good subject for a blog post. ?
Thanks for the suggestion regarding the post I should read for more insight on this.
As an ex-Catholic myself, I would also offer that the constant threat of Hell is not nearly intense for most Catholics as it is for Fundagelical Christians. We had an out; we could go to confession regularly and be absolved of our sins, and there was the temporary punishment of Purgatory for those of us who were truly followers of Christ but didn’t adhere to the mandates of our religion with saint-like skill and enthusiasm. Plus, the practice of infant baptism means that Catholic children have time to learn about their religion and absorb it in age-appropriate ways without their parents panicking that they’ll go to hell if they die before they’ve answered an altar call yet.
So, jokes about Catholic guilt and mean nuns aside, I think Catholic and mainstream Protestant children have a much easier time with religion growing up. For some, that makes it easier to stay with the religion as adults and not think too much about it, without anyone guilting you about not being a sufficiently dedicated Christian. For others, it makes it easier to think through your theology and eventually leave.
I’ve read Bruce’s blogs for a few years now. To your answer, “what took you so long?” it seems to me that Bruce has always been a seeker as well as an avid reader. He changed denominations several times. It’s a bit like rolling over and over on a lumpy bed and then finally going to another bed in the next room.
I was talking to a Christian friend recently about the flood story. Just about every children’s ministry in the world has some version of it painted on a wall somewhere in the children’s ministry area. Like others have said, it’s not about the cute animals getting on the big boat. It’s about God wiping out the human race in one of the most frightening ways possible. I read missimontana’s post at the top and the memory of the same Bible came flooding back! Yes! I remember that as well. Wow.
So yeah. All the cute arc depictions in churches all over the world is a reminder (or celebration) of the genocide of the human race by god, who is love. Ugh.
Once I started using my brain and did a little research (when I was still a Christian but finding all kind of things wrong with the Bible), I found what ObstacleChick said. Overwhelming mountains of evidence that it never happened. Logic and reason. Yep, logic and reason.
I think I was a born skeptic so I never actually believed much of what the nuns told us
about Jesus and the sacraments and Noah and Moses etc etc. There were just too
many improbabilities and inconsistancies in the bible and dogma. So you’re probably
right about it being easier for me to leave the church since for all those years I had
just been going through the motions of attending mass and going to confession
because it was expected of me, not because I ever felt “Jesus” in my heart.
Thatotherjean …. I’ve worked in these museums and palaeontology most of my life. The point I was trying to make is that these were mostly in the Northern States. Museums in the deep South have nothing like the Smithsonian or AMNH in NYC. They have Ham’s “Ark”. It’s all about showmanship in a ready made market. Ham’s people have no time for factual evidence or truth. It is little more than say, having a State that is “Harry Potter” crazed. So long as the parents approve, a Harry Potter Theme Park would have no more problems than a “Creationist” one or “King Arthur’s Castle of the Round Table”. You can make anything work so long as it’s a positive experience. Let me put it to you by the numbers.
The N.Y. City AMNH is the largest museum building in the world. It is a monument to Darwin. It is situated in a “metropolitan core” of some 8.6 million New Yorkers (we’re not talking about the entire New York State here), That museum brings in some 5 million visitors/ yr. That’s 59% of NYC. Impressive? Maybe.
Now let’s look at something similar to a Ken Ham project (only much, much more massive, situated in my country’s Bible Belt …. Alberta). This project was started in 1980 and is ongoing. It was started by 4 Christian Iranians. As far as I know, they R creationists. They built 5 exhibit centers in Edmonton Alberta and linked them together. The exhibits make no sense but R a hodge-podge of totally unrelated things …. some quite cringe worthy BUT a lot of “fun”, apparently.
Now, the numbers : Edmonton has a population of only 1.3 million. The visitor numbers to this exhibit center R approximately 1 million paying customers EVERY TEN DAYS !!! You heard me correctly! 34 million customers/ yr. So, they built a 2nd one in the States that was larger and slightly more successful. The projects? West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America. Where Ham failed, was to be located next to a metropolitan city of 1 million, more or less, and include store fronts on a massive scale. His “Ark” is an option to go see. The Mega Malls R not. They’re a necessity of life.
Dale M, please provide us with the names of these museums in Edmonton. A cursory Google search did not reveal any such museum as you describe, so perhaps I am Googling the wrong search terms. Please enlighten me.
Casey Bell …
A law that would prohibit children from being taught religion before the age of 16, is not like serving under-aged minors alcohol. How would U stop religious parents from speaking to their children? Unless U want to put 20 million people in jail …. No. The only way is to set up a private “secular” school system and have your people in your State gov’t back it up. Teach children good secular morals. Have them report on their parents if their parents diss those secular morals or teachings at home as anti-American. Parents would first be lectured. 2nd conviction a fine. 3rd conviction a much heftier fine. 3rd conviction would result in very minor prison time (a month). 4th conviction …. removal of their children for a limited time (up to 3 months). Parents would be considered as unfit and contributing to child delinquency. 5th conviction … removal of their children (one year) and imprisonment of the parents for up to 6 months under the section headed “child abuse”. 6th conviction …. strip parents of citizenship, forced sterilization and removal from the country. The children would then be constantly praised for their actions on reporting their unfit parents. Every conviction would result in an achievement award for the children.
Now. Some of U may think this a bit harsh. When U let things like this slide, U end up with a shattered country as it now reflects that today (anything goes with religion …. it is untouchable and can be used to attack secular people as well as force them to comply with stone age rules and regulations).
So. Herein lies the meat of the problem. U either consider religion a criminal enterprise or …. leave it alone to continue to do its damage for generations to come. In other words … act like Democrats. Republicans could also be thought of as people at the helm of a Party endorsing criminal behavior.
Now waiting for the flack ….
Sure sounds like Orwell’s 1984 to me. As a proponent of freedom, I would oppose and work against your proposals were they ever proposed by our government. Conversion by force is never the answer.
Bruce ….
It certainly is George Orwell’s 1984. But it has already been established by evangelicals. This is precisely what they do. If you R going to go after criminals, U can’t afford to B soft, otherwise, they will B running the prisons (country). I would have no problem bringing these “people” to justice if I acquired the power to do so.
“Conversion by force is never the answer?” Well. It certainly seems to have worked for evangelicals. The vast majority of U.S. Christians R now pretty much “Trumpians”. Part of being in the Free Enterprise System is to exapt anything and everything in your environment that works to give you the advantage in the struggle for survival. We R surely at war with this enemy from within. If there’s another way, I haven’t seen it in action.
I am always reminded of the Jews. They allowed the Nazis to roll over top of them. They didn’t want to believe they were at war with the 3rd Reich. “President” Hitler said that most of his Party did not consider Jews as real Germans. Remind U of anybody? The German Constitution was the strongest in Europe during that time. When the Nazis came to power, one of their 1st Acts was to suspend “temporarily” that Constitution until the unbelievers “those that weren’t true Christians and avid supporters of the Party” could be taken care of, once and for all. When the Jews realized their mistake, millions of their family were incarcerated and disappeared. Then and only then, with their backs up against the wall …. did they come out fighting. But the damage was already done. They paid a terrible price for their inaction.
There R many States in the South that, have little unknown “sleeper” laws that would prohibit Secular people from acquiring gov’t work. All they require is a couple of Presidents announcing that secular people R not true Americans (I know. I know. That would never happen). Then the creation of a “special” act that would identify them as a 5th column of potential terrorists. They would be identified as “non-Patriotic”. This act would be powerful enough to suspend the American Constitution “temporarily” until that “little problem” is fully dealt with. Oh, lets give it a fictional name for the sake of argument …. say …. ummmmmm …. “Patriot Act”?!?
I’m going with history as my guide, Bruce. I know human behavior. Fight fire with fire! Eventually, the secular world will demand a strong, dynamic leader. Humans do that when their backs R up against a wall. Democrats R not strong leaders. But we might all get lucky this time around. But what exactly happens Bruce, if they fail? What then? What’s the back-up plan?
Step by step, the “New Jews”, secular people, R being systematically corralled through the accumulation of Byzantine Laws. Oh, I should add that, before the Nazis made their final move, they stacked their Supreme Law courts with like-minded people who would openly claim the Jews, LGBTQ-like people, atheists and gypsies were criminals. But do you really believe that it could never happen here? Hmmmm …. okaaaaay ….
Giving any leaders of a group, or a government, the right to force their view on others can easily cause trouble later on. What if a group which is against those who started the laws gain power which allow the new group leaders to push their views on everyone creates a back and forth of punishing the “other”. This has happened in history between protestants and Catholics, between shia an sunni, between Christians and islam etc.
I feel threatened right now also because I am an agnostic. However I would rather join together with other people who act for freedom than push my view on others except in a few cases where eventually we can all agree. (Such as limiting population growth so we do not ruin the Earth).
Look at history, Barbara. Be real. When a group gets wiped out (Indigenous Native Americans/ the Jews of Europe/ the Pecheneg people of the Mediterranean/ the Turkish Armenians …..), the conquerors shed crocodile tears much later BUT R always left in place. They can now AFFORD to B magnanimously gracious. An apology sometimes follows. BUT, they R left IN PLACE. The dirty deed is done. It will never B reversed. Unfair? Then get religion. In Nature, that is a foreign concept. If fairness were real, why would U have to defend your freedoms?
The question now comes down to one simple query …. Who has the balls to strike first??
If we make laws which allow the leaders of the group (whether government or not) and we have a democracy, if these allow the leaders of the group to conform to our practices, the leaders of the opposite group may be voted into power, and then the laws created could be used against us.
Barbara …
Those laws that could be used against U, have already been created. My reasoning is to use those laws against the ones who actually created them. A First Strike! Democrats won’t do it. They can’t. They’re part of the problem.The Republicans may have already done us a favor by creating the Patriot Act. The ultimate key to overthrowing evangelicalism, after a First Strike with the Patriot Act, is the establishment of a better education system (privately operated) and economic targeting of impoverished areas (by the private sector as well).
I want readers to know that I do NOT support Dale’s views. Not-in-the-least.
Grammar Gramma …..
These are not “museums”. They R at best Theme Parks like the ‘ARK” [West Edmonton Mall/ Mall of America]
Grammar Gramma ….
Oops! I seem to have misread what U asked me for. The Edmonton museum is the R.A.M. (Royal Alberta Museum). 34 years ago, when I worked there, I put in about 10 years. I was with the dinosaur program under Prof. Dr. P.J. Currie. All the original staff R long gone save 1 or 2 people. At that time, it was known as the P.M.A.A. (Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta). It split into two institutes back in the early 80s. One remained (R.A.M.), while the other morphed into the P.M.R.I. (Palaeontological Museum and Research Institute — the precursor of the R.T.M.P. (Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology). I worked back in the 1970s and up to the mid 1980s on dinosaurs and the Ice Ages. I am writing a children’s series on the latter and doing a massive International Art Exhibition on the former.
Hope that answers your question.
Yes, along these lines, as a Christian, I would also be troubled as I read the Bible and saw such bloodshed ( all over the O.T escpecialy) ; although I would try to justify it in some God way but, ultimately it’s a hard thing to get over. For example it is written that God sent the Israelites to genecide complete villages even women and children and babies. And I would think what a terrible situation for the Israelites to have to be forced to do such a despicable, heinous and gruesome act upon humanity by God himself. And then there is Solomon offering up of all those thousands of sacrifices seemingly to show God how “dedicated” he is to him ( when you REALLY think about it that scene is just horrible for those poor animals!). So many, too many scenens like that in the Bible. You wonder how some can even call it; how some say, God ‘s love love letter to us. This past about 2 years now I have made great strides in getting out of “The Book”; and man the layers of liberation are expanding seemingly daily! I feel much less stressed. Really feeling more free than I can remember. Also I would like to give credit to sites like this that give the knowledge. And to see a way out.
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho,
Jericho, Jericho.
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
And four hundred eighty people were killed, Hallelujah!
I should add one more comment here. Its a personal one to all readers of this blog. I have met very few humanists who share my more extreme views. I always play the devil’s advocate. I believe in the kinder, gentler humanist world. I am often thought of as one of those extremely rare militant types in the humanist movement.
I am often reminded of that one poignant saying which has a ring of truth to it and I sincerely hope it is the answer. “In order to utterly destroy your enemy ….. make them your friend.” I will reiterate this once again in case anyone has forgotten ….. some of my dearest friends R evangelical Christians who loathe Trump. Part of my family is also evangelical and pretty decent people.
Nevertheless, I am somewhat disturbed at what happened in Yugoslavia recently. Tito had held completely disparate people together by FORCE. Peace reigned for decades. When Tito died, Yugoslavia flew apart. Different people of different faiths tore each other apart in a bloody civil war. The U.N. had to intervene with FORCE. Finally, each of the different faiths and belief systems set up their own “pocket nations”. Once again, Peace reigns supreme BUT this time, people R NOT held together by FORCE. It seems that their differences were too great to mix.
I see the same in the U.S. The differences seen by this outsider appear too great. Is it possible that the true end of hostilities south of the 49th parallel before a real civil war breaks out, is for Americans to separate into 2 distinct nations? Live and let live? That would surely trump my militancy. And I would be more than happy to see us all friends again. Most Canadians would never give up on either side of the Dixie Line. They don’t even know why there is a Dixie Line.
That’s my 2 cents. And that’s about all it’s worth.
49th parallel? That’s somewhere in Northern Canada! I don’t understand what you are referring to. Secondarily it’s called the Mason Dixon line. It’s not pegged to a latitude, but follows the lines of the states that did, and did not withdraw from the union. Finally, the US is a highly complicated beast. In order to break up along current cultural divides we would need to form 3 countries, New York, New England and New Jersey in one section, California, Oregon and Washington State and perhaps Nevada in another. And Jesusland in the middle. And that would still leave lots of people scrambling to be in the right place!
Hey Autumn, I live on the 50th parallel, just north of the U.S. border in B.C. Not northern Canada by any means unless you are talking to somebody who grew up on the Mason-Dixon and always thought Canada was igloos. We sport some cactus in this region and all kinds of wild sage! We also have redneck haters who believe in God or don’t and it don’t make no nevermind: Haters’l hate!
Perhaps the old USA is already a number of countries. Seems that all there is in terms of glue is whacko religion(s) and flag-blind patriotism that is taught from the first day of school, if not from the womb.
The USA is undone, Trumped. It will be a long road back after the narcissist is sent back to his gold tower. It’ll take a real miracle worker working in an office that will never again be the same.
An American I work with in Canada is a Republican and says the hope is to raise up another Republican to unseat the big baby presently eating hamburgers in the White House.
I remember so well the passage in the Bible where Jesus sits with his marketing analysts and advertising agency to develop a plan to lure children into his cult. And by the way, that spot sucked. Even small children are not going to be conned by that.
Autumn …
Please recheck your geography. You will find that British Columbia/ Alberta/ Saskatchewan/ Manitoba R due North of the 49th Parallel. From our perspective here in Canada, Washington/ Idaho/ Montana/ N. Dakota/ Minnesota R South of us on the 49th Parallel.
Mason Dixon Line is correct and proper usage. We Canucks just refer to it as the Dixie Line.
There R some 11 distinct cultures making up the U.S.A. comprised of several States each. They R very different but NOT at war with each other … even verbally much less physically.
The old Confederacy does make up a strange hodge-podge of States. There is an intense, unremitting war of words and philosophy with the rest of the States. Its a problem for Canada. I personally see Canada as just a small part of North America as a whole. So. I see myself more as a true, blue North American. I was created in the city of Winnipeg (pop. under 1 million). That city is the dead center of the North American continent. It’s not like we’re all isolated up there in the Arctic Circle surviving in igloos or something. Even in Alaska, good igloo country, those Americans don’t live in igloos either. So, if America Prime were ever to shatter, no doubt, Canada might also catch this separation virus and fly apart as well.
I wonder if we would still identify as North Americans?
Bruce Gerencser ….
I have a question that only you could answer with any real validity because of your deep immersion in evangelicalism. Indoctrination aside, what R the real reasons and fears that make up the evangelical community?
I’m trying to understand this more fully. Is it because of the fears inherent in Self Preservation? Is it tied to the instinct of SURVIVAL? Admittedly, atheism is really quite nihilistic, if I’m truthful about my personal beliefs. It’s one thing to say what Jesse Ventura, former State Governor of Minnesota said ….. that people who need religion in their lives R weak and have never learned to stand upright on their own two feet. After a comment like that, he won by a landslide. My interpretation was that he might have been referring to religion as some sort of socialist utopia. So, is it a fear of a nihilistic ending? Is this what keeps it going?
Or is it something even deeper like, never seeing your loved ones again?
It may have nothing to actually do with a god but rather that they were taught that this god of theirs promises to deliver (but never does).
If that is really the case, then the failure is NOT theirs. It is ours, for pointing out to them that to join us, U give up all hope and try to enjoy a sweet short existence. While this MIGHT be true, I find it very self-serving. It is fine for anyone to say that with a smile who is not suffering due to poor health, physically or mentally. As an extremist in the humanist world, I find this interpretation of atheism downright cheap ….
Sin, death, Heaven, Hell, God, fear, judgment, purpose, meaning, certainty, love, peace, human connection, these are the words that give life to Evangelicals. Certainly, some Evangelicals are nominal believers, but millions of Evangelicals are committed followers of Jesus. Their worldview is informed by the Bible — their interpretation of it anyway. Many adult Evangelicals grew up in Evangelical homes. Others went through crisis conversions.
Evangelicalism is a way of life, and not just what believers do on Sundays.
Bruce Gerencser …
So it’s virtually everything …. a philosophy of sorts. Yet, I find it so peculiar that they R so bent on the most extreme form of socialism (smashing and obliterating the States and the rest of the world in order to replace it all with a divine one-world-gov’t and desperately wanting to prostrate themselves 24/7 to an equally divine Master. This wish would necessitate the obliteration of money, capitalism, Free Enterprise, freedom, with each receiving according to their needs (all the dreams inherent in global Marxism), no freedom to do what you want, when you want, where you want, how you want …… no need to work, it would all be handed to you freely, forever.
Everybody would be a happy little robot. I see why that would be so appealing. It would truly be the end of Charles Darwin’s theory of “Natural Selection by Free Enterprise Competition”!!! What’s worse and would be a dagger in the back …. Karl Marx would have the last laugh! He was right! Fighting his theory established in his “Das Capital” would be fighting against the Jesus Empire. Yet Marx could not understand the similarities any more than Christian Evangelicals. Perhaps Karl Marx should be placed on the Left hand of God??
My grandparents generation would best be described as evangelical. For me, living under them, those were my happy days and I honestly miss them dearly. But they were no socialists. They were hard working Capitalists through and through. You only have to live on the farm during the 1940s – 50s to see that.
So. Why the dreams of Socialism-On-Steroids ???
comment deleted, violation of commenting guidelines.