Midnight at the Museum

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:22)

In December 2012, Dallas opened the doors to Perot Museum of Nature and Science dedicated to the “religion” of evolution. Recently a couple of friends and I ventured out to explore “the talk of the town.”  The place was replete with technologically enhanced exhibits designed to “wow” patrons and to captivate the minds of young children.  One such display, logistically placed at the beginning of the self-guided tour, depicted the origin of our universe.  One young lad called out to his friends, “Hey! Come here!  It’s the Big Bang!  This is how it all started!”  The display projected a video program from above onto a convex reflective surface below.  The narrative began by discrediting the “creationist” view in lieu of “the facts” we now “know” about the origins of the universe.

That was just the beginning.  Throughout the museum, evolution was presented as undeniable fact.  One signboard encouraged the visitor to “Imagine you are a paleontologist…” and then stated that “Paleontologists solve fossil mish-mashes by referring to studies of anatomy and evolution.”  The bias could not be more clearly stated; the starting place is “evolution” and the possibility of creation is not even up for discussion.  A display of mammal fossils proclaims that “We mammals distinguish ourselves by our ability to grow hair and suckle our offspring. Most also give birth to live young” (emphasis added)  This seemingly innocuous statement equates humans with animals, rather than a special and distinct creation of God.

Another exhibit traced the evolution of dinosaurs to birds.  The placard read: “When did modern birds emerge?  It is difficult to pinpoint.  The transition from ‘pre-bird’ to bird took tens of millions of years with many steps along the way.”  However, omitted from the narrative is the fact that no evidence exists in the fossil record to confirm such a claim; even so it is presented as indisputable fact.  And according to the geology exhibit earth’s sedimentary rock layers “reveal the major events in the geologic history of a site … and the evolution of life on Earth.”  The truth is that the sedimentary rock layers only reveal fully formed plants and animals with no transitional forms at all.  In fact, the museum displayed many fossilized creatures that still exist today.

The biology section explained the importance of the cell.  “All living things are made up of tiny, self-contained units called cells.  Cells perform essential functions, such as taking in nutrients, converting energy, or enabling reproduction.” What is omitted from the message is how highly complex even the most simple cell is and the improbability of it having resulted from a random combination of inert matter.  In tracing the history of evolution one sign recorded that “As new evidence and observations mounted, evolution became an accepted theory (emphasis added).  Today, we continue to develop and test ideas about the way evolution works.”  Several misrepresentations are found in this statement.  First of all, there is no “evidence” for evolution.  Secondly, no “observations” of evolution have been undeniably documented, and they certainly have not “mounted” because all such “observations” keep collapsing on themselves.  Thirdly, one might conclude that the reason evolutionists “continue to develop and test ideas about the way evolution works,” is because it does not work, or, as they say out in West Texas, “they’re kicking a dead horse.”

The human evolution section displayed a replica of fossilized footprints discovered in Laetoli, Tanzania.  These footprints showed “a well-developed arch and heel-to-toe imprint.  This contrasts to our ape relatives which, when walking upright, place more pressure on the outside of the foot.”  The footprints, at least to this observer, were clearly human; however, the artist’s conception of the creatures that made the prints looked like naked, lanate, ape-faced hominids.  It is not difficult to see how they arrived at this conclusion, when one considers the evolutionist’s mindset.  Supposedly, the volcanic ash in which the prints were made was 3.6 million years old.  Modern humans, according to evolutionists, only evolved 100,000 years ago, so naturally the prints could not have been made by modern humans.  The unanswered question, or the question that is not raised is, what if the volcanic ash is not that old?

In all, the field trip to the museum was an enjoyable experience, but as the saying goes, “it’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”  For a place that is supposedly enlightened by “science,” it reveals the darkness brought about by the denial of the Creator (Romans 1:28).  The Institute for Creation Research addresses the topics covered here with a vast resource library of articles.  Below are just of few that I would encourage you to consider.

Suggested Reading:

Big Bang Explanations Fall Flat

New Research Undermines Key Argument for Human Evolution

Humans are Humans, After All

Archaeopteryx Is a Bird…Again

Stalling Over Transitional Forms

Bacteria Study Shoots Down ‘Simple Cell’ Assumptions

Who or What Made the Laetoli Footprints?

The Unasked Question