New creation museum sparks debate in Alberta
05/06/2007 11:42:45 AM

Canada's first permanent creation museum is opening its doors on Tuesday and is already sparking criticism from evolution experts.

The Big Valley Creation Science Museum, located in small-town Alberta, is a tiny building that explains evolution, geology and paleontology through a biblical lens.

The museum cost $300,000 to build and houses a number of displays that present a Bible-based alternative to evolution.

The museum's co-owner Harry Nibourg, says creationism is just another theory that gives more insight into human history.

"Evolution, I found, out is a theory, as is creation, but they are both based on face. Neither of us was there," Nibourg told CTV Calgary.

"Bacterial Flagellum and DNA" is an interactive display designed to refute the process of evolution at the museum.

"The flagellum, a simple bacterial motor, is so complex. That doesn't happen by chance," Nibourg said.

Other displays include "Evidence From Genealogy" that traces the ancestry of Queen Elizabeth back to Adam and Eve.

The "Fossils and the Flood" display "presents the answer to why fossils are profound evidence for the flood of Noah."

As for the "Terrible Lizards" display, it claims to "demonstrate dinosaurs were one of God's greatest creations."

The museum opening comes on the heels of a new creation museum that opened this May in the U.S.

The US$27-million Creation Museum in northern Kentucky also refutes the evolution theory with anatomic dinosaurs, a rollercoaster and underwater exhibits.

But the Big Valley Creation Science museum, nestled in a village of just over 300 people, has some strong evolutionary critics to contend with.

"There is no science behind it. What they're doing is presenting their idea and marshalling support by showing specimens and drawings that make it look like it agrees with what they are saying, but they haven't actually tested their idea," Jessica Theodor, a paleontologist with the University of Calgary, told CTV News.

"People go to that and they don't have the adequate background to see the problems and the logical flaws in what they are seeing," Theodor said.

The new creation museum is also drawing attention from the Royal Tyrrell Museum, located in the fossil hotbed of Drumheller, Alta., is a mere 40-minute drive south of Big Valley.

Its website states "There's been life on Earth for more than 3.9 billion years, so we have a lot to show you!"

However, Nibourg says his museum has a lot to show people as well, as long as they come with an open mind.

With a report from CTV Calgary's Cynthia Roebuck

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