I’ve written extensively about the Creation Museum because it represents the ‘peak’ of creation ‘science’. Here is a museum that takes a serious stance as to the value of scientific understanding; which is to say they see little to no value in the principle. It’s ironic, of course, that the museum uses the latest in robotics and animatronics technology (itself a product of our scientific endeavors) to support their literal interpretation of the Bible.

Modern creationists don’t even realize the debt they owe to science. During the time when the Bible was written, simple infections that are routinely treated today would have been deadly. The child mortality rate was about 300 deaths for every 1,000 births, meaning that the odds were good that if you had three kids, one of them would not live past the age of 5. Modern germ theory has given us the tools to bring the number of child death down to a tiny 6 every thousand, making child mortality a rare (though still tragic) occurrence.

You cannot fully grasp modern germ theory without first understanding the process of evolution. Deadly pathogens, bacteria and other small invaders evolve far more rapidly than any other organism due to their speed of reproduction. Luckily, as we learn more, we create potent vaccines that prepare our bodies for the onslaught of these tiny intruders. In developing countries, measles, a disease which can be eradicated with a successful vaccination campaign, still kills an estimated 500,000 people a year, many of them children.

The very fact modern Christians have the luxury to teach nonsense to their own children is due entirely to the tireless efforts of scientists to improve our understanding of the natural world, which in turn allows us to develop new and better ways to protect ourselves from its onslaught. Nature may be cruel, but as our scientific understanding grows, we have increasingly softened it.

Atheist PZ Myers is planning a visit to the museum with his posse, and in response, director Ken Ham says he has a surprise for them; a supposedly irrefutable argument that supports their literal interpretation of the Bible. It’s a chestnut we’ve heard often from Ken, and it’s always met with dismal failure. Why would this time be any different? Ken and his ilk don’t understand the first thing about science; they don’t realize that the cars they drive to work, the tap water they drink, and the tools they used to build their temple to ignorance are only possible because of our growing scientific sophistication and understanding. They prefer to live in the bliss of their own ignorance, and their aim is to drag us all down to their level. I like the view from up here just fine, Ken.