Monday, August 26, 2013

If you call down the thunder...


If it bends it's comedy.  If it breaks, it's tragedy.

I believe Woody Allen said words to that effect.  If true, then what happened at the Creation Museum in Kentucky qualifies as definite comedy. 

Lightning struck a man who was operating a zip line at the museum.  Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, but I'm trying to decide what I find more chuckle-worthy: the fact that the museum devoted to God was hit by a bolt of electricity from the heavens or that the museum has a zip line ride for patrons.

As one might imagine, the museum is dedicated to furthering the idea that the world came about exactly as described in the Book of Genesis (no, not the one written by Phil Collins.  Quit being a punny bastard) despite whatever that scientific gobbledygook has to say about it.  The museum itself was founded by a man named Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis.  If you'd like to see an interview with Ken, check out this clip from Bill Maher's Religulous.  Among the many "gee, I didn't know that" moments one can have at the museum are learning that dinosaurs were indeed on Noah's Ark and therefore coexisted with humans, despite evidence to the contrary.  Again, scientific gobbledygook.  I understand a few of these dinosaurs even had saddles.  In all fairness, I've been enamored of that idea for a while now.

Speaking of dinosaurs, I guess the museum features a replica Tyrannosaurus Rex that is dragging its tail on the ground in an upright position.  This action would have broken its spine in real life.  Also, according to the merry troubadours that guide you through the museum, the T. Rex developed its six-inch, blade-like teeth so that it could open coconuts.  Right.  The fact that it was carnivorous had nothing to do with its dental structure.  It's coconuts.

And they want to teach this in schools.  Get me the hell off this planet.

What was it Isaac Asimov once said?

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'

There is one question that the lightning saga begs to ask.  We are constantly being told that natural disasters (and even dead soldiers and children, according to the preachings of Westboro fundies) are God's punishment for our having turned away from Him. 

So...what does the lightning strike mean?



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1 comment:

  1. On Facebook, MelissaPOE said: "Yes. Just yes."
    And "Chuckling after a reread this morning. "

    Wow. That's like...two more comments than I usually get. lol

    ReplyDelete

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