Museums, Authority, and the Cultural Reproduction of Young-Earth Creationism Lindsay Marie Barone University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2015 The ewN Pulpit: Museums, Authority, and the Cultural Reproduction of Young-Earth Creationism Lindsay Marie Barone University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons, Library and Information Science Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Barone, Lindsay Marie, "The eN w Pulpit: Museums, Authority, and the Cultural Reproduction of Young-Earth Creationism" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 855. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/855 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE NEW PULPIT: MUSEUMS, AUTHORITY, AND THE CULTURAL REPRODUCTION OF YOUNG-EARTH CREATIONISM by Lindsay M. Barone A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2015 ABSTRACT THE NEW PULPIT: MUSEUMS, AUTHORITY, AND THE CULTURAL REPRODUCTION OF YOUNG-EARTH CREATIONISM by Lindsay M. Barone The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2015 Under the Supervision of Professor Benjamin Campbell Since the mid-twentieth century there has been increasing concern among evangelical Christians over the depiction of human origins in American education. For young-Earth creationists, it has been a priority to replace scientific information which contradicts the six-day origin story reported in Genesis 1 with evidence they claim scientifically reinforces their narrative. As this has failed in public education, creationists have switched tactics, moving from “teach creationism” to “teach the controversy”. The struggle over evolution education in the classroom is well-documented, but less attention has been paid to how young-Earth creationists push their agenda in informal educational venues such as museums. Given the authoritative nature of museums and the ubiquity of these institutions in American life, museums have become targets for the creation message. This project was undertaken to critically analyze the use of the museum form as an authoritative source which facilitates the cultural reproduction of young-Earth creationism. I propose a tripartite model of authority and museums is the best way to understand the relationship between young-Earth creationism and American museums, with the creation, contestation, and subversion of authority all acting as critical components of the bid for cultural reproduction. Assessing the utility of this model requires visiting both creation museums alongside mainstream natural history, science, ii and anthropology museums. Drawing from staff interviews, survey data, museum visits, and the collection of creation-based literature for secular museums, these sources combine to create a comprehensive picture of the relationship between young-Earth creationism and museums in the United States today. iii © Copyright by Lindsay M. Barone, 2015 All Rights Reserved iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………..viii List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………..…...ix List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………..x Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………xi Chapter 1. A Year in the Museum………………………………………………………...1 The American Creationist Museum ………………………………………………6 The DIY Museum…..................................................................................11 Creation Science, Cultural Reproduction, and the Museum Form………………15 What Makes a Museum? …………………………………………….......15 Creation and Museums ………………………………………………….18 Social Movements and Cultural Reproduction…………………………..20 Creation Science, Authoritative Tool……………………………………22 Research Questions and Methods......………………………………………...….24 Surveys…………………………………………………………………...25 Interviews………………………………………………………………...26 Museums and Associated Materials……………………………………...26 Chapter Previews………………………………………………………………...27 Chapter 2. Acceptance and Belief: Evolution and Creation in America…………….…..30 Understanding Creationism ……………………………………………………..30 Evolution Acceptance in the United States ……………………………………..40 Religious Affiliation……………………………………………………..42 Education ………………………………………………………………..43 Evolution Exposure ……………………………………………………..44 Politicization of Science ………………………………………………...45 Belief, Authority, and Knowledge ………………………………………46 Evolution Acceptance in American Museums …………………………………..48 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………50 Chapter 3. Creating Authority: Believers and the Creation Museum Concept…………..51 Evangelizing Education …………………………………………………………55 Establishing Scriptural Authority ……………………………………………….59 Parity and Legitimacy ………………………………………………...…60 Undermining Evolutionary Science ……………………………………………..64 Creating Doubt …………………………………………………………..65 Suppressing Scientific Truth …………………………………………….70 Deconstructing Scientific Fact………………………………………...…72 Historical vs. Observational Science ……………………………………73 A Young Earth …………………………………………………………..77 Dinosaurs and Humans ………………………………………………….79 v The Hominins……………………………………………………………85 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………87 Chapter 4. Contesting Authority: Creationist Visitors to Mainstream Museums ……….89 “Creationists Don’t Come Here”………………………………………………...93 Understanding Creationist Visitors ……………………………………...94 Exploring Affirmative Responses ……………………………………….97 Exploring Negative Responses ………………………………………...100 Contesting Authority …………………………………………………………...101 Indirect Contact with Staff ……………………………………………..103 Staff Interactions with Visitors ………………………………………...105 Stealth Opposition ……………………………………………………..109 Human Evolution in the Museum ……………………………………………...111 No Human Evolution in the Museum ………………………………….112 Staff in Opposition ……………………….…………………………….115 Religious Accommodation ……………………………………….…….117 Authority and Exceptionalism in the Museum ……………………………...…122 Human Exceptionalism in the Museum ……………………………..…124 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..127 Chapter 5. Subverting Authority: Creationist Tools for the Natural History Museum ..130 Visiting the Museum …………………………………………………………...131 Written Guides …………………………………………………………132 Museum Tours …………………………………………………………141 Technology and Creationist Visitors …………………………………..………149 On the Creation Trail …………………………………………………..149 Creation Vacations ……………………………………………………..151 The Virtual Museum Tour ……………………………………………..153 Internal Subversion …………………………………………………………….157 Intentional Subversion …………………………………………………157 Indirect Subversion …………………………………………………….158 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..160 Chapter 6. On Fire for the Lord…………………………………………...……………162 Summary of Major Findings …………………………………………………...163 Constructing Authority ……………………………………………...…164 Contesting Authority …………………………………………………...166 Subverting Authority …………………………………………...……...166 The Role of Creation Science ………………………………………….168 Biblical Creationism, Cultural Reproduction, and the Museum ……………….169 Study Limitations and Future Research………………………………………...170 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..172 References………………………………………………………………………………174 Appendix A: List of Creationist Organizations ………………………………………..190 vi Appendix B: Museum Survey ………………………………..………………………..197 Appendix C: Creationist Survey ……………………………………………………….200 Appendix D: Sample Interview Questions ………………………………………...…..204 Appendix E: Responses to Three Natural History Museum Survey Questions………..207 Curriculum Vitae ……………………………………………………...……………….208 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Triad of museum use for the cultural reproduction of young-Earth creationism……………………………………………………………………………….24 Figure 2: Map of museums with reported antievolution activities…….……………….102 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: International Creation Museums…………………………………………………6 Table 2: American Creation Museums……………………………………………………7 Table 3: Religious Affiliation and Belief in Special Creation…………………………...42 Table 4: Acceptance of Human Evolution versus Animal Evolution……………………49 Table 5: Creation Museums and their Missions…………………………………………54 Table 6: Museums Visited……………………………………………………………….91 Table 7: Survey Responses Regarding Human and General Evolution in Museums…..112 Table 8: General Creationist Museum Guides………………………………………….134 Table 9: Creationist Museum Guides for Specific Museums…………………………..138 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAM American Alliance of Museums AFSC Akron Fossils and Science Center AMNH American Museum of Natural History ASA American Scientific Affiliation AiG Answers in Genesis AV Authorized (King James) Version B.C. Tour Biblically-correct tour CMNH Cleveland Museum of Natural History CEHM Creation and Earth History Museum CMI Creation Ministries International CM Creation Museum CMOTO Creation Museum of the Ozarks CSRC Creation Science Research Center CS Creationist survey DMNS Denver Museum of Nature and Science DIY Do it yourself GDFM Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum ICC International Conference on Creationism ICOM International Council of Museums ICR Institute for Creation Research LWM Lost World Museum MS Museum survey NSRHO National Study of Religion & Human Origins SMM Science Museum of Minnesota YEC Young-Earth Creationism x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Benjamin Campbell. Without his support and advice I would not have been able to change course and develop a project