I have just discovered that a Creationist Dinosaur Museum has opened in my beloved State of Montana. The horror, ignorance...OUTRAGE! ...it sickens my stomach. This is not the Montana I know and love.
The museum opened in May 2009. The museum's website, Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, will give you an idea of what to expect. Glendive, Montana is known for its paddlefishing, badlands, and dinosaur excavation sites; now it may be known for ignorant science.
Although I hate to bring bad press to Montana, this museum needs to be nationally ridiculed. After further investigation of their web-site and reading the latest newsletter, it seems they have garnered significant donations from a utility company as well as given a talk at the local public school. This is ridiculous! See the diary below for more details...
I'm a Montana native who was enjoying the National Folk Festival this last weekend, which happens to be Butte, Montana this year. While dining a local eatery, I had a chance to meet a charming family from North Miami Beach, Florida. A conversation easily ensured since I was just in Miami Beach last month.
This family was on a vacation driving across the U.S.; as they entered Montana, they happened to visit a local dinosaur museum in Glendive, Montana (on the N. Dakota border). This family was apalled at the museum...it had authentic dinosaur exhibits, but everything had a creationist tint (i.e. the earth is only 5000-6000 years old). They couldn't believe that something like this existed...I was shocked too; Montana does have its religous conservatives, but were definetely not in the bible belt either. I was relieved that the family did have a chance to visit the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana; which is an excellent and scientifically accurate museum.
Investigating the museum's web-site, I came across these gems from their latest newsletter:
Exciting news: we are preparing to open the museum with the exact date to be announced at our second annual Creation Sunday Celebration! . . . talks are aimed at the whole family, and his topics that Sunday will be, "Dinosaurs: Separating Fact from Fiction," and "The Relevance of Genesis."
The celebration will start at 3:00 PM on February 15th at the Dawson County High School Auditorium in Glendive.
Promoting creationism in a public school! As well as...
Just last week we were notified that the Montana Dakota Utilities Foundation approved a grant for 80% of the funds needed to purchase the full-scale T-rex head and neck cast, which will be the first exhibit seen when touring the museum.
...financial support from the local utility! And finally...
Finally, the truly big news we want to share with you is that the Gianforte Family Foundation has graciously provided FACT with a gift of $220,000! This gift was given to specifically purchase the main exhibit – the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Acrocanthosarus – two of the most spectacular and terrible of the "terrible lizards" that ever lived. This wonderful gift from the Gianforte Family Foundation covers two-thirds of our needs in reaching the goal of being able to open the museum.
The Gianforte Charitable Trust is a tax exempt private foundation created by the CEO and Founder of RightNow technologies, Greg Gianforte. Rightnow Technologies is a large software development company based in Bozeman, Montana.
I haven't had a chance to peruse the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum's entire web-site and collection of newsletters, nor visit the museum in person; but I did want to get this out into the DKos community ASAP.
Next month, I'll be driving by the museum on my way to a wedding in North Dakota. Although in the same state, Glendive is about 7 hours of driving from where I'm located. I'm debating whether to see this debacle for myself or skip it so as not to donate any money to such an absurd cause.