Time to fight back.

“”A promotional deal between the Cincinnati Zoo and the Creation Museum was scuttled Monday after the zoo received dozens of angry calls and emails about the partnership,” reported the Cincinnati Enquirer (December 1, 2008). The promotion involved a package deal for tickets to the zoo’s annual Festival of Lights and to a Christmas-themed event at Answers in Genesis’s Creation Museum. The museum, which opened its doors in northern Kentucky during Memorial Day weekend 2007, aims to illuminate “the effects of biblical history on our present and future world” — that is, to evangelize for Answers in Genesis’s particular brand of young-earth creationism.

On November 30, 2008, biologist and blogger P. Z. Myers complained about the promotion at his blog Pharyngula, writing, “the Cincinnati Zoo has betrayed its mission and its trust in a disgraceful way, by aligning themselves with a creationist institution that is a laughing stock to the rest of the world, and a mark of shame to the United States,” and urging his readers to write to the zoo to “point out the conflict between what they are doing and what their goal as an educational and research institution ought to be.” Other bloggers echoed his call, and the zoo was evidently flooded with calls and e-mails, prompting it to cancel the promotion because of the uproar. No refunds will be necessary, since no packages of tickets had been sold.

NCSE’s previous coverage of the Creation “Museum” includes Daniel Phelps’s review and overview and Timothy H. Heaton’s account of his visit. NCSE also sponsored a statement, signed by almost one thousand scientists in the three states surrounding the museum — Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana — expressing their concern about the effect of the scientifically inaccurate materials displayed there: “Students who accept this material as scientifically valid are unlikely to succeed in science courses at the college level. These students will need remedial instruction in the nature of science, as well as in the specific areas of science misrepresented by Answers in Genesis.”

Of course this is utter bathtub water. As many know I worked with Answers in Genesis back in the 90s and this type of slander of the many fine scientists who work for and with the organization has been going on for a while. Much like the “genius” that are still looking for the missing links to justify much of the hypothesis that makes up the majority of evolutionary belief, they cannot do anything but insult for they cannot defend.

The fact that they most often try these exclusionary tactics tells volumes about their endeavor to extinguish debate, which is a sign of the weakness of their arguments.

However, while run by the City of Cincinnati, and part of the school system the zoo and tax funded, it is nonetheless very also a privately-funded endeavor and as such it would be appropriate to notify those funders who may be disturbed by this type of discrimination.

Many donors are in fact evangelical Christians and may want to know as to properly distribute their funds elsewhere in the spirit of good stewardship.

I have secured a list of the funders and will be notifying them by mail and email. I’ve also alerted the media outlets in and around the city and there is an interest in covering the story. This will help to alert the country to this discrimination. Additionally we are blast emailing Christian churches in the Cincinnati area to have their members contact the city to demand that the decision be reversed.

UPDATE: It’s working. Local Christian Churches and radio will be making their voices heard on this in the coming days. Additionally if I’m reading this right, as the CZ is a tax payer funded, as well as privately funded, authority the former may preclude the exclusion. In other words they may have no choice but to reschedule the event.

Stay tuned