Northern Ireland’s culture minister Nelson McCausland wrote recently to the trustees of the National Museums Northern Ireland, urging them add alternative views on the origin of the universe.

In an interview McCausland said, “There are a range of perspectives and I want simply to have in there consideration given to reflecting the diversity of views in Northern Ireland.

“It’s also in fact a human rights issue and an equality issue because culture rights, the rights of people in Northern Ireland, should be implemented.”

McCausland also asked museums to give more prominence to Ulster-Scots and the Orange Order, the BBC reported.

While his letter did not specifically mention creationism, it does open the door to the option of a creationism exhibit.  McCausland’s party colleague and North Antrim assembly member Mervyn Storey has actively campaigned to urge museums in Northern Ireland to add exhibits on creationism, according to The Guardian.

God gives the divine spark to Adam. Northern Ireland's culture minister urges national museums to include alternative views on universe's origins

McCausland noted that around one third of Northern Ireland’s population believed in creationism and intelligent design.

He said, “I have had more letters from the public on this issue than any other issue,” according to The Guardian.

In his letter, McCausland said he had “a common desire to ensure that museums are reflective of the views, beliefs and cultural traditions that make up society in Northern Ireland,” The Guardian reported.

McCausland’s letter has prompted strong opposition from some members of the media, the academe, and the government spheres.

Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist said “Scientific evidence can’t be democratically decided,” according to The Guardian.

Social Democrat and Labor Party spokesman Thomas Burns said it was “a mark of a liberal society that its cultural institutions should be free of party-political interference,” the BBC said.

Storey, who has chaired the Northern Ireland assembly’s education committee, has denied that man descended from apes, according to The Guardian.  He believes in creationism and intelligent design.

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Scientists have long believed that over the course of millions of years, aquatic animals evolved into four-legged vertebrates (tetrapods) such as this and eventually crawled from sea to land.

Dr. Fazale “Fuz” Rana of science-faith think tank Reasons to Believe recently commented on the newly discovered tetrapod (four-legged vertebrates) footprints found in the Holy Cross Mountains of southeastern Poland by noting that they may disprove evolutionary origins theories, according to “The Christian Post.”

“This is a huge discovery,” said Rana.

“[It’s] another example of a supposedly well-established evolutionary story, that has presumable fossil evidence to support it, that is now blown out of the water by a single find.”

CNN’s exclusive coverage followed the work of paleontologist Per Ahlberg of Uppsala University in Sweden.

Ahlberg and his fellow Polish scientists trekked into a Holy Cross Mountains quarry carrying a life-size replica of an early tetrapod, a four-legged fish which more closely resembles a salamander.

Their goal was to match the replica’s footprints to those found in the quarry.

Ahlberg, who has been working in the field since the mid-1980s and has been published more than 20 times in  “Nature,” told CNN, “This is the most important paper that I have ever worked on. In the course of a single afternoon, I found myself revising the entire understanding that I had of my own field of research.”

Scientists note that it is the age of the tracks which make their discovery so groundbreaking.

Evolutionary science previously placed the appearance of tetrapods on earth some 375 million years ago.

The prints, however, are dated at 397 million years.

Despite Creationists’ belief that the Earth is only thousands of years old, this discovery could serve to put a dent in evolutionary theory, almost like throwing a “monkey wrench” into the evolution machine, according to Rana.

“Transitional forms are appearing in the fossil record after the appearance of the forms that they presumably evolved into and that simply doesn’t make any sense.”

He also added, “At this point there’s no evolutionary explanation in my mind for how land animals appeared.”

Rana believes that scientists will soon begin searching for fossilized forms of the animals responsible for the footprints.

Either way, Creationists and those who subscribe to Intelligent Design beliefs may have the upper hand for now.

After all, as Dr. Rana noted, this find is significant enough to be a “paradigm buster.”

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Darwin pictured here at the age of 51, during the time he would have been writing "Origin of Species"

A theatrical production centering on the life, work and theories of 19^th Century naturalist Charles Darwin is slated for an expanded tour across the United Kingdom, according to a recent Christian Today press release. Written by award-winning screenwriter Murray Watts of “The Miracle Maker” (2000) fame and starring actor Andrew Harrison, Mr. Darwin’s Tree first debuted to the public in its November 2009 premiere at Westminster Abby.

Self-professed UK public theology think tank Theos is the driving force behind the production and says it is a larger component of their Rescuing Darwin project. The group for the past several months has been raising awareness concerning Darwin’s historical lack of interest in issues of faith, spirituality and theology.

Theos argues there is little reason for religious organizations and churches to continue to attack and/or view Darwin as the manifestation of all that is anti-Creationism. British daily newspaper The Guardian recently featured an online article written by Theos Director of Studies Nick Spencer. In his piece, Spencer posits that “The public has been turned off [to] evolutionary theory by its false association with reductionism, nihilism, atheism and amorality.” If successful, the production will serve to portray Darwin in a different light across several multicultural venues.

In fact, in May of this year over 800 people gathered at Westminster to view a public Theos debated entitled “Did Darwin Kill God?” Asserting the compatibility between Darwinism, evolution and belief in God, the controversial debate stirred mixed feelings among several religious groups and devoted Creationists.

As an organization, Theos declares that their perspective “is that faith is not just important for human flourishing and the renewal of society, but that society can only truly flourish if faith is given the space to do so,” according to their official web site. They also declare to “reject notions of a sacred-secular divide.”

Director of Theos Paul Woolley described the production as “A powerful and deeply moving piece of theatre,” adding that “the play explores Darwin’s questions about his science, himself, God and suffering, creating an intimate portrait of the man, his life and his work.” Woolley also added that the historicalness of the production is largely based on Darwin’s own personal diaries and foreign correspondences.

The long term social, political and cultural effects of the production remain to be seen, particularly in venues across the U.S. In the 2008 documentary film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”, longtime comedian Ben Stein addressed the controversies surrounding the teachings of Intelligent Design in public education institutions.

In the film, Stein notes the amount of scientific research that has developed since Darwin’s 150-year-old theory of evolution and his writing of “Origin of Species.” This research has caused “a growing number of scientists to reconsider the simple view espoused by Darwin that life is random, purposeless, chance occurrence,” according to the official web site for “Expelled.” The site also adds that “The universe and life itself—is turning out to be far more complex and mysterious—than Darwin could possibly have imagined.”

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FOX News: Fri. October 9, 2009

Atheistic scientist Richard Dawkins attending the 35th annual Atheists Convention.

Evolutionary scientist, best-selling author and self-professing atheist Clinton Richard Dawkins has a new book out. And you should know about it. In an exclusive appearance on the FOX News Network’s The O’Reilly Factor today, Dawkins debated with conservative political commentator Bill O’Reilly about the existence of God, evolution versus Creationism and everything in between. The discussion also included news of his most recent bestseller “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution.”

Dawkins has a longstanding history of adamantly speaking out against the theory of Intelligent Design in nature and is known for criticizing religion and faith in a “higher power” at every opportunity. And he is good at what he does.

In the 2008 documentary film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”, longtime actor and comedian Ben Stein investigated the controversial issue of academic freedom in regards to Creationism and Intelligent Design. Dawkins was interviewed by Stein, among several other notable scientists, on the possibility of Intelligent Design in nature.

The famed atheistic professor naturally denied any such notion. However, by the end of their intense discourse, even Dawkins was unable to account for the origins of certain microbiological processes in creation. He did, however, remain steadfast in his belief that faith in an intelligent Creator is complete lunacy.

In his previous book “The God Delusion” (2006), Dawkins went so far as to claim that the very notion of the existence of a supernatural Creator is absurd and actually qualifies as a psychological delusion.

Today’s mainstream media and the education establishment of the U.S. are becoming increasingly intolerant of professors and scientists who assert even the possibility of Intelligent Design in nature. Countless university level teachers, professors and faculty have either been reprimanded or completely cut for merely suggesting such a theory.

We live in a world where science and God, science and religious faith, have been separated. Many believe the conjunction of the two is simply politically incorrect. Unfortunately, you cannot have science without God or God without science. Not to mention that any science professor has the right to at least present Creationism in their classroom as a possibility for the origins of life, just as Evolution is presented.

There is a cultural call to Christians everywhere to guard their minds against Dawkins and others like him and to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” and “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV).

Research, study, learn and be prepared to defend your beliefs and faith whenever needed.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction…Happy is the man that finds wisdom and gains understanding.” (Proverbs 1:7 and 3:13).

You can watch the official square-off between Dawkins and O’Reilly in this YouTube re-post of the interview.

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On Friday more than 280 atheists and agnostics converged on the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY.

creation museum adam and eve

The Creation Museum is a museum dedicated to the Biblical creationism, and is an arm of Christian apologetics ministry Answers in Genesis.

The purpose of the trip according to the Secular Student Alliance, a network of more than 145 student groups atheist and agnostic student groups, was to explore “a worldview with which they largely disagree,” not to cause a disturbance or disrupt the museum’s usual operation.

“It should be great fun. I’ve got a long list of questions to ask,” said PZ Myers before going on the trip. “I’m going to have to prune it down a lot.”

When the 285-strong SSA arrived at the Creation Museum, they were indeed well-behaved though some members of the group mocked several of the museum’s displays and astrophysicist Dr. Jason Lisle’s lecture at the museum.

“We frequently come across blog comments from atheists and agnostics who visit the museum with

their minds already made up and prepared to mock,” said Creation Museum co-founder and chief communications officer Mark Looy.

“But we note that they scoff at anyone who believes in a god, whether that person accepts the historicity of the Bible or not,” he said.

“These are people who would probably not even think about attending church, and here, they got the Gospel message. We are grateful for the opportunity to share with them.”

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