The San Diego Museum Council is a coalition of local museums that work together to “increase awareness of and attendance at the diverse museums in the region.” The coalition includes the likes of the La Jolla Historical Society, Lux Art Institute, and the San Diego Air and Space.

And they were thisclose to bringing the Museum of Creation and Earth — a pro-Creationism “museum” — into the mix.

There are so many problems with this story:

1) The Museum of Creation and Earth needed 21 votes to be admitted to the Council… they got 19. Which is 19 more than it should have received.

2) The reason given by the president of the Council for why the Museum of Creation and Earth was rejected had nothing to do with Creationism:

Danielle Susalla Deery is president of the San Diego Museum Council. She said the museum’s membership was not rejected because of its mission but because of other factors. “Like their animal care and the protocol and care of their exhibitions and storage. They had a lot of areas that were not in line with membership guidelines. They have a staff member on the board of directors and that’s not good governance,” Deery said.

What about the fact that it spreads lies?! How is that not a factor into the decision-making here?!

3) The Museum of Creation and Earth’s president Tom Cantor assumes this is because of anti-theist bigotry:

“I’m afraid we are being opposed for nothing more than the old prejudice against God,” Cantor said.

No! You should’ve been voted down because museums are supposed to document reality and history — and Creation Museums exhibit neither!

4) Cantor went even further, comparing his fight to that of the great civil rights leaders:

“It’s like we’re in Selma, Alabama in the 1950s and I want to have a museum on black Americans,” he said. “Do you think I’ll be accepted by the council of museums in Selma, Alabama?”

No! It’s like you’re in Selma, Alabama in the 1950s and you want to have a museum dedicated to the idea that racism is a lie! (You know what? Just stay away from Selma. Your grandiose analogies aren’t helping your case at all.)

5) The Museum of Creation and Earth says it’ll just re-apply for membership next year. Because there’s still a chance it could be admitted!

…

There’s a simple reason allowing the Museum of Creation and Earth to join the Council would be disastrous: It would devalue all the other museums in the bunch. A building that showcases Young Earth Creationism isn’t worthy of respect. It’s a building dedicated to promoting a fairy tale. It’s a museum whose mission contradicts that of the other museums in the Council. It wouldn’t be anti-Christian to reject it; in fact, doing so would be pro-education.

It’s a museum that needs to be rejected simply for the bullshit ideas it tries to propagate. The San Diego Museum Council, if it wants to have any authority at all, shouldn’t even be considering this place’s inclusion. Yet, last week, it was two votes away from becoming obsolete, a relic of its own making.

(Thanks to Masada for the link)



