From: slinke@sdcc3.ucsd.edu (Steven Linke)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,talk.origins
Subject: I visited the ICR in person (3 of 4)
Date: 29 Aug 92 09:18:29 GMT
Followup-To: sci.skeptic

EXHIBIT #7: THE ICE AGE
==============================
This room has blue, contoured walls that look somewhat like a
glacier.  There are large sculptured icicles hanging from the
ceiling.  An air conditioner blowing down from the ceiling gives
the physical feeling of cold as you walk through and read the
seven plaques about the creationist post-Flood Ice Age.
 
The first four plaques discuss the causes of the ice age, the
Bible's discussion of the Ice Age, high volcanism during and
after the Ice Age, and the fact that there was only ONE Ice Age
(not multiple ones), respectively.
 
Human and Animal Migration (Plaque 5)
-------------------------------------
"During the `Ice Age,' so much water was frozen that sea level
was lowered several hundred feet.  Ice shelves covered much of
the oceans poleward of 45 degrees.  This made all the continents
accessible, thus allowing migration to occur...Human migration
was enforced by the confusion of languages at Babel.  The `Table
of Nations' in Genesis 10 informs us of the basic migration
patterns."
 
At this point, a mother with her small child walked into the
room, and as I copied down the above quote, I listened to her
describe to her daughter how the oceans dried up allowing
kangaroos to get to Australia, and how ice covered the oceans
allowing all the animals to get to America.
 
Environmental Effects (Plaque 6)
--------------------------------
"The continual snowfall and frequent volcanism, each on a scale
far beyond anything in recent history, would leave records
difficult to understand today.
 
Since the seasons would not be as regular and predictable as
today:
 
  Would trees only add one tree ring per year?  [picture of
cross-section of tree trunk showing rings]
  Would thick build-ups of ice show a pattern similar to but of
different origin than the summer/winter patterns of today?
[picture of ice cores]
  Would the lack of equality in the production and decay rates of
Carbon-14 cause problems in dating?
 
All are areas of current research at ICR, and are of primary
importance in deciphering the past."
 
Effect on Human Life (Plaque 7)
-------------------------------
"Weaker, smaller, less technologically capable groups would
probably reside in caves, use stone tools, and live a
`hunter/gatherer' type of lifestyle."
 
EXHIBIT #8: POST ICE-AGE CIVILIZATION
=====================================
This room had a very "Egyptian" look to it.  In the center is a
two-foot model of the Tower of Babel encased in glass.  Track
lighting in the ceiling illuminated the many wall plaques with
various colors of light.  There were several skulls of numerous
evolutionary ancestors of humans, although they are dismissed as
apes or modern humans in the museum.  I don't know if they are
real or just mock-ups.  For each of the species, the plaques
contain the "Evolutionist Interpretation" and the "Creationist
Interpretation."  Here are some of the Creationist
interpretations:
 
Homo Erectus
------------
Probably true humans.  Some may be extinct apes.  Along with
Neanderthal and Archaic Homo sapiens, they probably represent
post-Flood ethnic and/or language groups, demonstrating man's
diversity.
 
Australopithecines
------------------
"An extinct ape not ancestral to humans."
 
Neanderthals
------------
Short, thick, muscular individuals not unlike cold-adapted modern
man such as Eskimos (consistent with the Ice Age theory following
the Flood and the Tower of Babel).
 
"Many Neanderthal features are similar to those in elderly humans
today.  Since humans lived to great ages in the initial
generations after the Flood and Babel, perhaps the features are
primarily due to advanced age...They were true human beings,
descendants of Adam and Noah."
 
Archaic Homo Sapiens
--------------------
True humans of post-Flood era.
 
Cave Man
--------
Weaker, degenerate descendants of those migrating away from
Babel.
 
Laetoli Footprints
------------------
A mock-up of the Laetoli footprints were displayed as an
evolutionary effort to make the data fit their "preconceived
theory."
 
The Rosetta Stone
-----------------
A mock-up of the Rosetta Stone was also in the room.  The plaque
next to it read: "Rosetta stone from near Rashid (Rosetta), Delta
Egypt; 196 B.C....This inscribed stone slab was discovered in
1799 by..."  Nowhere did the plaque indicate that this wasn't the
ACTUAL stone.  In fact, from the language it seemed that I was
standing before the real thing.  The museum had become quite
busy, and as I wrote the above quote some people walked by and
marveled that the ICR museum had this artifact.  I was amused,
but broke their hearts when I tapped on the hollow cardboard
"stone" and indicated that it was just a photograph.
 
Origin of Races
---------------
"The separate language groups no longer could intermarry freely
with the rest of mankind.  As in-breeding and lack of access to
the larger pool of genes occurred, ethnic characteristics
developed.  Furthermore, each local environment tended to favor
selection of certain traits, and eliminate the others.  Ethnic
characteristics, such as skin color, arose from loss of genetic
variability, not from origin of new genes through mutation as
suggested by evolution.
 
"THE CONCEPT OF RACE IS AN EVOLUTIONARY IDEA.  Scripture teaches
that `God has made of one blood all nations,' Acts 17:26.  All
humans possess the same color, just different amounts of it.  We
are all descendant from Adam and Noah."
 
Dinosaurs and Dragons
---------------------
"Dinosaurs lived before the Flood, and most dinosaur fossils are
remains of those buried in flood sediments...Representatives of
the land `kinds' must have been present on the Ark, and lived for
some time after the Flood."
 
There were many small ancient artifacts such as daggers, oil
lamps, etc. in display cases.  I don't know if they were
legitimate.  The museum seemed to praise archaeology.  One
exhibit quoted an archaeologist as follows:
 
Accuracy of Biblical Records
----------------------------
"`No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical
reference.  Scores of archaeological findings have been made
which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical
statements in the Bible' (Nelson Glueck, Dean of Palestinian
Archaeologists [not a Christian] in his book Rivers in the
Desert)."

-- 
Steve Linke
Salk Institute (Gene Expression Lab)
La Jolla, CA
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,talk.origins