[escepticos] Los museos creacionistas cruzan el charco

[José María Mateos]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,331571315-102285,00.html

Creationists plan British theme park

A business trust is looking at sites for a Christian showplace to
challenge the theory of evolution
Jamie Doward
Sunday December 16, 2007

Observer
The latest salvo in creationism's increasingly ferocious battle with
evolution is about to be fired in Lancashire. Not in a fiery sermon
preached from the pulpit, but in the form of a giant Christian theme
park that will champion the book of Genesis and make a multi-media case
that God created the world in seven days.

The AH Trust, a charity set up last year by a group of businessmen
alarmed by the direction in which they see society heading, has
identified a number of potential sites in the north west of England to
build the £3.5m Christian theme park.

The trust claims it already has a number of rich backers who are keen to
invest in the project, which will boast two interactive cinemas, a
cafeteria, six shops and a television recording studio, allowing it to
produce its own Christian-themed films and documentaries.

The 5,000-capacity park will be the first of its kind in Britain, but
not in the world. In Orlando, Florida, hundreds of thousands of visitors
make pilgrimages to the Holy Land Experience, where they can see a
bloodied Jesus forced to carry his cross by snarling Roman soldiers.

Peter Jones, one of the Lancashire theme park's trustees, said the
emphasis would be on multimedia rather than the costume re-enactments of
famous biblical scenes favoured at Holy Land. 'It will be a halfway
house for youngsters,' Jones said. 'Today all they do is binge drink. We
will be able to offer them an alternative.'

By producing its own films, the trust believes it will be able to
provide an antidote to modern culture. It says on its website: 'On
television today there is so much sex and violence, it is no wonder our
youth are binge drinking ... This is a revolutionary scheme requiring
innovative people with the vision to bring about change and a new
direction.'

It declined to say who the backers were, but admitted it is talking to a
number of businessmen who have invested in city academies, leading to
speculation that it may have approached Sir Peter Vardy, who has given
millions of pounds to advance the claims of creationism - the belief
that God created the world and that Darwin's theory of evolution is wrong.

While the plans for the park are still in their infancy, the trust has
big ambitions. A business plan available to prospective investors
suggests the park could bring in £4.8m a year - apparently 10 times its
estimated overhead costs.

The trust also says it plans to apply for government grants and European
funding to help it realise its dream of turning the television studio
into 'an international leader in promoting family-oriented Christian
programmes'.

Although concerns about the direction of modern society are the trust's
main motivation for building the theme park, it is also in response to
what the trustees identify as a sense of drift within the Church of England.

'The church in this country is in crisis and many church leaders living
in Australia, America and Canada have openly proclaimed that God has
left the church in England,' the trust states on its website.

'Evolution has falsely become the foundation of our society and we need
the television studio to advocate Genesis across this land in order to
remove this falsehood, which presently is destroying the church foundation.'

The theme park's anti-evolution bias and its emphasis on Genesis has
raised eyebrows among planning officials, according to Jones, who
originally wanted to build the park at the site of an old B&Q store but
was refused permission by the council.

'Wigan council slammed the door in our faces. You mention the C
[Christian] word, and people don't want to know,' Jones said.
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