As I mentioned in my previous blog, I covered the preview of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., a suburb of Cincinnati, last weekend and wrote an article about it for The Blade. The story wound up at the top right corner of the front news page, A-1 -- the holy land for ambitious reporters.
I expected to get a lot of flak for this particular story, which essentially presented the museum's purpose and strategy without the usual mainstream media slam on Creationism. After all, we've heard the arguments against biblical Creationism countless times. But I decided not to get into too much detail about the details of the evolution-Creation debate and just focus on the herculean effort that led the Creation Museum to be such a top-notch facility. I did, of course, offer brief counterpoints every time I described a Creation belief.
Evolution obviously dominates our culture, especially in academic and news circles. Whether that's because of true science or because it's been fed to generations as fact is a matter of debate. A surprising number of people believe in the literal interpretation of Genesis and the six-day Creation but don't have a voice in the media. Evidence of the widespread popularity of Creationism is the fact that $15 million of the $27 million cost of the museum came in the form of gifts of $100 or less.
Whatever one thinks of Creation Science, this museum was paid for with private donations and people have the right to go or not to go. Nobody is putting a gun to anyone's head and forcing them to ingest Creationist beliefs. If anything, it's the opposite: Tax dollars used in schools promote evolution to millions of youngsters without anyone crying foul.
Creationists realize they are mocked around the world by many scientists and many people who think only a lunatic could actually believe the earth was created in 6 days and is 6,000 years old. The museum even addresses such viewpoints with a humorous touch in its "Special Effects Theater."
Anyway, I did my best to write a straight and fair news story without the usual media bias.
To my surprise, museum founder Ken Ham singled my story out in his blog today, a fact that was pointed out to me by a reader in Australia.
To be honest, whenever I get such praise from someone it makes me a little nervous -- I don't want to be a publicist, I want to be a journalist. After looking things over and giving it more thought, however, I decided that Mr. Ham's praise was inspired by my fairness, which surprised even him after years of reading slanted stories in the mainstream press.

Here's a copy of Ken's blog:

Tremendous secular article on Creation Museum

There have been many great articles in the secular press about the Creation Museum. Most have reported our statements very accurately—which we are thankful for. An article I tread in the Toledo Blade is one of the best I’ve read from an accurate reporting perspective.

It begins:

PETERSBURG, Ky. - Ken Ham welcomed the world’s media and hundreds of invited guests to the $27 million Creation Museum here yesterday, calling it a “historic event in Christendom.”

The 60,000-square-foot facility in suburban Cincinnati, which opens to the public tomorrow, is designed to offer a biblical perspective not just on the origins of the universe, but on the meaning of life. And it does so in a way that competes with major theme parks in its entertainment quality, with exhibits created by former Universal Studios designer Patrick Marsh.

Life-size animatronic dinosaurs twist and growl, for example; Noah turns his head as he gives instructions to workmen building the Ark, and seats shake and spray visitors with mist in the Special Effects Theater.

Mr. Ham, 56, a founder of the museum and president and CEO of Answers in Genesis, the nonprofit ecumenical Christian group that built the museum, said the mission is to “challenge people concerning God’s truth and the Gospel.” A native of Australia, where he taught high school science, Mr. Ham said the Creation Museum uses 21st-century technology “to take on a particular paradigm that permeates the world,” referring to evolution.”

You can also read the entire article (here). I have also included photographs of the sign “DefCon says thou shalt not lie” as it was flown back and forth across the Museum skies by the opposition.

I basically did radio, newspaper, and magazine interviews all day today—from New Zealand, Australia, and USA.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying

Ken