Cincinnati Museum Issues Clarification After Employee Mocks Creation Museum
A controversy sparked by critical comments made by the assistant manager of the Cincinnati Museum Center against Ken Ham's Creation Museum has been resolved following further communication.
"We've become aware that a staff member recently posted personal comments on a Cincinnati.com story, but those comments were his personal opinions and not those of Museum Center," said Elizabeth Pierce, vice president of marketing communications for the Cincinnati Museum Center, according to Cincinnati.com. A joint statement by the two museums on Monday also noted that representatives have met and resolved the issue.
Kurt Percy, an assistant manager at the Cincinnati Museum Center, stirred up tensions when he posted comments under a recent article about the Creation Museum arguing that it is "not a museum," and asking people to stop referring to it as such.
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"It is a theme park that misleads the public and it is a pockmark on our religion. The fact that someone profits by misrepresenting their faith to children and families is shameful," Percy reportedly wrote under the June 4th Cincinnati.com article, though the comments now appear to have been removed.
"When we wonder why America is falling behind in science education, it is because places like this are allowed to exist. I'm glad to see that their attendance is declining despite generous handouts from the state of Kentucky at the expense of their university funding," he continued.
Ken Ham, the president of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, caught wind of those comments, and defended the biblically-based museum in a blog post online.
"It's interesting that an assistant manager at the Cincinnati Museum Center took the time to attack the Creation Museum," Ham posted on June 7.
"Now, we realize he's not one of the top people at the museum center and has nothing to do with content, but Percy's comments reflect on the entire museum center. While we at Answers in Genesis do not agree with the teaching of evolution and millions of years at the Cincinnati Museum Center (e.g., in the Museum of Natural History and Science), nevertheless we don't discourage people from visiting there and we don't publicly attack them in such a manner as Percy has done to the Creation Museum."
Ham argued that Percy's comments are an example of the "intolerance" shown against biblical Christianity in today's increasingly secularized culture.
"Really, it would seem from his comments that Percy is showing his intolerance of the message of the Creation Museum. Instead of promoting freedom of speech and religion, Percy does not want a place like the Creation Museum to exist because he disagrees with the message," the AiG president said.
Pierce clarified that that the Cincinnati Museum Center does not comment on other organizations.
"We think that other museums and other organizations have a right to exist as much as individuals have a right to express their personal opinions," the vice president of marketing communications said.
Ham pointed out that Percy's comments are incorrect, as the Creation Museum is privately funded and does not receive money from the state, while the Cincinnati Museum Center did indeed receive $5.5 million in taxpayer money in 2011.
Reflecting on the incident, the AiG president said that he is more disappointed than upset, as the Creation Museum aims at being a good community partner and promotes other attractions in the region.
"If you go to the attractions page on our website, you'll see the Museum Center listed there along with the zoo, the art museum and a lot of other places," Ham said.
