A WHILE back I received an email from someone called Terry in Bristol regarding a creationist zoo in his area. He wrote:
I thought readers might be interested in this little titbit. Â Last month, I was wandering through Broadmead, which is the main shopping drag in Bristol. Posters for Broadmead’s competitions and events were on display prominently, including one for a Summer of Surprises.
I noted with interest that one of the prizes being given away to the lucky competition winners is a day at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Somerset. Â This project is a front for creationists and biblical literalists.
Our local listings magazine, Venue (Bristol’s version of Time Out), once recommended parents avoid taking their children to the Noah’s Ark Project, because of the indoctrination that takes place there.
One of the 'anti-science' signs at the zoo
I am not sure which organisations in the secularist movement bring pressure to bear on the commercial sector having too many ties with religious extremists, but I thought you would be the best people to follow through my “tip off” that Broadmead has seemingly gotten into bed with a very far-right Christian project.
I forwarded Terry’s email to a number of contacts – and today I learned, via the BBC, that the British Humanist Association has made a move against the north Somerset zoo. It has called on tourism boards to stop promoting the zoo, as it undermines the teaching of science.
For example, a sign at the zoo says animals hunt and kill food because “man rebelled against God”.
A spokeswoman for the zoo said they viewed the natural world as a product of both God and evolution.
The zoo’s website explicitly rejects Darwinism, describing it as “flawed”, and claims scientists are afraid to talk about “design” in the natural world.
BHA education officer Paul Pettinger visited the zoo, where he:
Found lots of creationist and pseudo-scientific beliefs. They ask you to pray for animals, and so on. We’re very concerned because it will undermine education and the teaching of science.
But Noah’s Ark’s owner Anthony Bush, a former evangelical preacher, says his zoo simply presents a variety of views, one of which is creationist.
I think God created life. I have no idea when. There are a lot of people who believe in Genesis who don’t want to come out of the woodwork – they don’t want to come out of the closet because of the Thought Police.
A spokeswoman for the zoo said:
We hold a view that the natural world around us is the product of both God and evolution. Although technically creationists, we do not hold the stereotypical creationist views that the world was created in 6,000 years, and that there is no evolution.
Tourism body Visit England has said it only checks the zoo under its Visitor Quality Assurance Scheme and has no opinion on content.
The zoo is visited by 120,000 people every year, including members of school parties.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
August 27th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
"we do not hold the stereotypical creationist views that the world was created in 6,000 years, and that there is no evolution."
Young Earth Creationists don't believe that the Earth was created in 6000 years – they believe it was created in six days, 6000 to 10,000 years ago. This is a classic – not only are Creationists ignorant of science, they are also ignorant of Creationism!
Those at the zoo merely believe that all the adaptations of carnivorous animals arose after the Fall of Man – a view which would actually require faster rates of evolution than that posited by evolutionary theory itself! Idiots.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I went to Noah's Ark zoo last year with my girlfriend and her kids. In fairness, the kids enjoyed it and ignored most of the creationist nonsense there, but by the end I was grinding my teeth in fury. Certainly, none of the blurb made it clear this was a creationist zoo – ok, ok, so the name should have been a clue, but I thoughtit was just a quirky name for a kids' zoo….I thought that over here we had grown up beyond such nonsense.
The best (worst) bit was a display explaining the contradiction between biblical timescales and carbon dating – their "arguement" is that carbon dating gives innacurate results as back then the decay of carbon-14 was much quicker because the speed of light was much higher ?! I'm no physicist, but even I could smell the bullshit….
Rog
August 27th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
P.S. I think you might want to retitle this post – when I first saw it, I thought you meant THE Bristol Zoo, which is a highly regarded centre of zoological research…
Rog
August 27th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Good point, Rog. Heading's changed!
August 27th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
"The best (worst) bit was a display explaining the contradiction between biblical timescales and carbon dating – their "arguement" is that carbon dating gives innacurate results as back then the decay of carbon-14 was much quicker because the speed of light was much higher ?! I'm no physicist, but even I could smell the bullshit…."
They don't just believe the speed of light was much higher – they believe that about 7000 years ago the speed of light was actually infinite. Bullshit indeed.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I went to chester zoo with my wife and new baby this week, and I could stomach the weirdness of them having an ark as a logo and a noah's ark restaurant and an ark play area for kids, as everything else was pretty much decent science and evolutionary information, and the ark is a childrens story above all else.
I mulled about it for a bit, somewhat uncomfortable with the imagry, yet respectful of the zoos 1930's origins – as I find the ark story, a kind of ideological benchmark for twattism.
Literal belief in it divides christians into 2 groups – the lunatics and the dangerous lunatics.
"There are a lot of people who believe in Genesis who don’t want to come out of the woodwork – they don’t want to come out of the closet because of the Thought Police"
No mate, it's the fucking dickhead police you need to worry about.
And closet is a euphemism for summat else FYI!
August 28th, 2009 at 4:33 am
I live just down the road from this place and I don't really have a problem with what they think as long as its not passed off as education. My kids went there recently ( with some muslim friends of ours ) I warned my kids beforehand to be aware that its all fairy tales and bullshit and that maybe its the owners and staff that should be in cages, they thought the place was hilarious!
I also asked them to pick me up any literature available so I could have a good laugh when they got home but strangely there was none.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Sigh, I wouldn’t mind if there was a huge flood that destroyed that zoo. Or at least a thunderstorm with several surgical shots in the right places.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Another insidious attempt by the xtains twats to get at vulnerable children’s minds; how many impressionable people are taken in by this bullshit?
As for a faster speed of light changing Carbon 14 decay rate – priceless!
For the non Physicists on this forum and any religious morons looking:
The isotope Carbon 14 decays at a constant rate with a half life of 5730 years + or minus 40 years and it appears in all organic material at about 1 part per trillion. The velocity of light in a vacuum is constant at about 300 000km/s or 186 000 miles/sec in old money but it does slow when passing through our atmosphere or stuff like glass. Here endeth the lesson!
August 28th, 2009 at 10:29 am
When challenged a while ago, Bush admitted that they didn't advertise their creationism outsize the zoo for fear of putting people off!
They're a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (biaza.org.uk) who have been told on numerous occasions about the creationism. Unfortunately, they just get irritated and will do nothing about it. However the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria have told Noah's lot that they can't be members.
http://community.bcseweb.org.u.....t=2…
There's also been a petition on the No10 web site. It's now closed, but no response from the government has been forthcoming.
http://petitions.number10.gov......Zoo…
August 28th, 2009 at 11:22 am
A couple more links for anyone interested in the goings on on the ark:
http://www.bcseweb.org.uk/inde.....Ark… – a general account.
http://tinyurl.com/btggqg – an account by a couple of unimpressed families.
Oh yes and if you go to the zoo's web site they have a couple of workbooks for primary school children. Both have R.E. sections. How many people would expect to get that from a visit to a zoo?
http://www.noahsarkzoofarm.co......on/…
August 28th, 2009 at 11:55 am
There are a lot of people who believe in Genesis who don’t want to come out of the woodwork – they don’t want to come out of the closet because of the Thought Police.
I'm always amused when the religious lunatics rant about "Big Brother" and the "Thought Police", usually in reference to government or people who question/criticize their ridiculous beliefs. They support the *ultimate* notion of Big Brother and Thought Police–a deity who knows and sees all (including what you think), and will punish you for eternity if you don't kowtow to his demands.
Orwell would be proud of their ability to engage in doublespeak and blackwhite thinking.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I don't think that we should get excessively worried about this kind of thing. Yes children are vulnerable to batty ideas, but as long as they get a rounded education, get to meet people who think in different ways and get to make their own decisions, the vast majority will grow up seeing this nonsense for what it is.
It is disappointing that the association of zoos can't show some balls and kick them out.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
But you're overlooking one important fact there, RS: God can do anything – QED!
August 28th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
I thought that as well, Barry! It reads much better now!!
August 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Have those of you with children or grandchildren come across Lion Publishing? They produce very high quality "educational" books, similar to the Dorling Kindersley type of thing, on various topics, but all carrying a fundamentalist message. Here is a sample from the opening paragraphs of "Wonders of Creation" (bit of a giveaway title, I know!): "As scientists come to realize how complex the universe is, and yet how orderly it is, many have come to the conclusion that it cannot have come about by accident." Later on the book instructs us that "God made things in an orderly way. And he made man to look after them and be in control of them." Every page is laced with these sort of tendentious statements. For instance, when we come to the unusual properties of water, this can be explained either in terms of its molecular structure, OR as an illustration of the "planning of the Creator God who made the world and all that is in it." The writer (surely the Nutty Professor!) says: "As a twentieth century chemist, and a Christian, I would accept both these explanations as valid." (Cont.)
August 28th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
The only place for such balderdash is the bonfire, but keep an eye on your children's own and school libraries to make sure that they are not reading this blatant Christian propaganda dressed up as educational literature!!
August 29th, 2009 at 5:56 am
I might just add that it is a favourite tactic of fundamentalists, especially evangelical Christians, to donate to libraries material which promotes their deluded views – indeed, they are encouraged so to do. They know this is devious, but as with "lying for the Lord" they will quote "The Apostle", who does instruct Christians to use guile and cunning in their endeavours to "save the lost". I think librarians and schoolteachers may be a little wiser about this tactic now than they once were, but keep your eyes open!
August 29th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Two Rogs – aren't you guys lucky!
I think those creationists shouldn't even attempt to twist physics to their purposes – it all boils down to divine edict – as has been said before god can do anything, therefore the rules of physics don't apply to creation…. When they do try to apply science to creationism (with a healthy disregard of popper) for some reason they almost look as if they are making it up as they go along, to fit in with their dogma
August 29th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I'm not sure that a public book burning would convey a positive message about secularists
and yet….. it's not like the Xian-mob doesn't stoop to paranoid pyromania… maybe the best flames for those works are searing rebuttals.
August 29th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Living here in the USA, I haven't been to this zoo, but I've heard good things about it. With all due respect to the BHA, when a group like them acts the way it is, getting all upset when someone even challenges their beliefs, one has to question the strength and validity of their beliefs. When they arrogantly claim that THEIR view is "established" — without any room for debate — then I tend to even more strongly question their viewpoint. The Noah's Ark folks are doing it right, simply opening up the "debate" on Creationism or Darwinism. Zoo-goers see both sides and are then left to decide for themselves. What's wrong with that?
Allen Nyhuis, Coauthor: America's Best Zoos
August 30th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
"Making it up as they go along"? Surely not, Rog!
August 30th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I bet no shaft of light has ever penetrated Anthony Bush's brain, Angela_K!
August 30th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
That thought did occur to me, Rog, but this is blatant propaganda, and once these seeds have been sown in childrens' minds some will take root, as the nutters well know! Some kids may see through it all, but the majority are not so sophisticated or perspicacious!!
August 30th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I can't believe what I have just read here, AN! Have you completely lost your marbles? This is pure religious propaganda "dressed up" as science – it's not a serious alternative to established beliefs. There is no evidence for most of their claims outside of the Bible – which says it all, really. And by choosing the very name Noah's Ark Zoo they are giving away their true motives, which are to brainwash children with their bizarre views and sow the seeds of doubt in their young minds. I'd close the place down for these reasons, if I had my way!!
August 30th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
"simply opening up the "debate" on Creationism or Darwinism."
As was mentioned about the physics aspect of 'creation' there is not a "debate" to be had – one side relies on -biblical evidence- that in their eyes automatically trumps any insight that study into the natural world might reveal. There is no middle ground with creationists, as there is only on conclusion they are willing to accept & their pathetic attempts at science exist only to bolster this stance in the eyes of believers. Real science tests hypothesises against evidence and then goes through peer review, in a cycle of refinements.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Oh, it seemed that that link about the speed of light slowing down shows the increasing accuracy of measurement attempts over a two hundred year period – this is certainly not evidence of a change in the actual speed of light!
August 30th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Yes – it's laughable, Rog! All that that graph they've reproduced in their own literature proves is that Twentieth Century measurements of the Speed of Light are a tiny fraction lower than those using more basic methods in the past (big deal!), and that the results now show an almost perfect correlation!!
August 30th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
And this seems an appropriate time for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jt7zJzkNQ
:¬) I love this song!
August 30th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
oh and not to forget: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGNRYNdVT7g
Fuck the creationists……
August 31st, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Allen Nyhuis' comment illustrates why it's so important to clamp down on antiscience wherever it's found. The creationist nonsense peddled by Noah's Ark Zoo has no scientific basis – and they know it. The fact that they're not up front with their creationism (nor, incidentally, with the "flood geology" found on their website) is evidence of their insidious intentions. The BHA is not upset that "someone is challenging their beliefs" – they are rightly concerned that Noah's Ark Zoo are promulgating untruth and disguising it as legitimate education. It's not a question of debate – there is no debate. Evolution is as near a scientific fact as you can get.