It is simply insulting that the government of the most materialist society in the world now imposes biblical explanations onto visitors of the Grand Canyon. Naive versions of Creationism are accepted as a “credible alternative” to geological facts accepted all over the world. The crass dictates of right wing politics is imposed by a hypocrites. And all in the name of the “word of God”. Go figure. No wonder Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett tend to prosetylize about Reason over religious faith.
Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
“In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”
The National Park Service promised a high-level policy review of the issue three years ago. Apparently, that never occurred. What a surprise.
