Sunday, June 29, 2014

Grand River Museum, Lemmon, SD - 2014 Author Tour, Part 4C

(To start at the beginning of this series of posts about my 2014 Author Tour, go here)

I want to step delicately here, since I'll admit that I went into the Grand River Museum in Lemmon, South Dakota as a bit of a lark. I knew going in that it was a creationist museum. You know, one of those places that promote the "science" of the bible. For example, they believe the earth is only 6,000 years old, that people and dinosaurs co-existed, and that dinosaur fossils were placed in the earth by God.

But while the sculpture under the museum's sign captures this sentiment, you also gotta admit, it's a fun sculpture; a cowboy riding a triceratops. Plus it's a cool sculpture. My photo doesn't do it justice, since you can't see much detail in it, but the closer you get to the sculpture, the more it leaves your jaw hanging. The artist who did it - John Lopez - uses scrap metal for his pieces, and his pieces are amazing. Take a look at some of his work here to see his incredible sculptures in way better detail than you can see in my photo. Go ahead, I'll wait a moment.


Okay, you're back? Great!


The museum has excellent displays on some of the area's history. They have actual dinosaur fossils, too. The museum owners have found a bunch of fossils on their property. And the curators are really nice folks, too. They're in the process of adding a huge addition in the back that will have more displays on ranching and western art, and there will apparently be more of John Lopez's sculptures.

They also have this:


And this - Noah's ark:

They do make it fun for kids, since it's filled with little models, and you have to guess which items weren't really around at the time of the ark. Since, you know - accuracy is important, and all that.
So I feel a bit like an asshole for harping on the place, since 1 - if people want to believe in Creationism despite all evidence to the contrary, that's their prerogative. And 2 - they bought copies of my book for their gift shop. So you see, I feel like I'm getting into some 'cutting off my nose to spite my face' territory here.

What do you think? Was it wrong to offer my books for sale at their gift shop even though I find the whole Creationism thing laughable? I'm really not sure how I feel about the whole thing…

On that note…onto part 5!

5 comments:

  1. People have smaller brains than God. Maybe that is why you can't imagine how a divine being can use supernatural powers to create something out of nothing. His use of time, space, energy and matter when moving "creations" from one "spiritual dimension" to another is far beyond your ability to comprehend. Simply rely on "faith" if you desire insight into the physics of God when ancient bones suddenly appear in unexpected places.

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    1. Hi James - first of all, thanks for checking out my blog and leaving a comment - I appreciate that! Second, I feel that God created us with brains so that we could think and figure out things for ourselves. But again, I appreciate your viewpoint.

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    2. Yes, He expects us to use our brains to figure out things He's done; but not just 'for ourselves,' but mainly and foremost to bring Glory to God Himself! Most, if not ALL Folks who criticize us 'Creationists' so heavily have never, ever Studied the Holy Scriptures to the extent that we have; basically for all of our lives...?!? And furthermore, the few of those that have studied some portions of Holy Scripture almost always take it completely out of Context, and (of course!) never in the light of true Christian Faith; (otherwise they'd Believe!) and in the Interpretation(s) via the time-tested and time-honored Teachings of the 2,000+ year old (true) Christian Church, nor do they even have a clue what being taught via the Holy Spirit is about either, nor what it means...?!? Therefore, (unbeliever's) it's their 'conclusions' about creation, time, space and matter that don't match up with the Truth(s) of Scripture... Yes, the Bible teaches that God Almighty made everything in this vast Universe out of nothing, can our puny, 'intellect' even grasp that concept in it's entirety...?!? - NO, I think not... So, IF God want's to create this Universe out of nothing, and do it an Instant of time, placing Adam and Eve here as our Great, great, great... Grandparents, approx. 6,000-8,000 years ago, YOU, nor anyone else can't say otherwise, as YOU weren't there when it happened; (nor was I!) so we must believe the Scriptures by Faith in Him and what He says, (otherwise) so then by YOU and other unbeliever's 'contradicting' the Holy Scriptures, God laughs at you (see Psalm 2) and allows you to keep yourself in the dark, as it were, because of your unbelief. Even the Orthodox Jewish Community (who doesn't believe in Christ as their Savior/Messiah yet...!) has it right; as they are calling this the Year of 5776...! Therefore, without Faith it is literally impossible to please God, and what better way than to believe ALL of Scripture are God-Breathed and fully sufficient to 'educate' us on His true Character and Nature, His Creation, and not to 'presume' otherwise, in our 'worldly ways and thoughts' that don't come from belief strictly in Him, but from our fallen, sinful nature that only "see's" with the natural eyes, and not by Faith in Him...?!? -jbm

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    3. Hi J.B. Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you have it all figured out. Plus, I'm always happy to give God a good laugh.

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