NBC Program

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        I have been reading the recent comments on the
recent NBC program with considerable interest but
today, a copy of the Creationist newsletter "Answers
in Genesis" (Feb. 1996, Vol. 3, No. 2, page 5)
arrived in the mail. It seems they didn't
like the program either!  Ken Ham, their Executive
Director penned the following review, which I
think Paleonet readers will find informative.

***************
TV Review:
Hollywood's 'Moses' Undermines Genesis

        by Ken Ham

        February 25 at 7 p.m. is the scheduled
nationwide showing of the documenatry "The
Mysterious Origins of Man" on NBC. The program
is narrated by famous actor Charlton Heston,
who, ironically, played the part of Moses in the
Academy Award-winning movie "The Ten
Commandments", yet this documentary actually
undermines the writings of Moses concering
man's origins.
        At the beginning of the broadcast,
Heston asks the question "Where did we come
from?" He then (incorrectly) answers by
saying "In truth, no one really knows." (The
Creator in His Word, however, tells us.)
        While the program does question one
particular aspect of evolution, namely the
idea that man descended from some ape-like
ancestor, the whole thrust of the documentary
is to push the idea of millions of years of Earth
history. They do this by looking at artifacts
and fossils that are "out of place" (i.e., in
strata much older than they are supposed to be
according to evolutionary theory). They don't
question the evolutionary time scale -- they
place man back in history millions of years
before even traditional evolutionists would
allow.
        The producers also interview a creationist,
but then use his material to bolster their own
idea that man's history goes back millions and
millions of years. (By the way, the evidence from
this creationist -- such as the supposed man and
dinosaur prints in Texas, and the "fossil finger"
-- is actualy highly suspect anyway. According
to leading creationist researchers, this evidence
is open to much debate and needs much more
intensive research. One wonders how much of the
information in the program can really be trusted!)
        But where are the producers of the program
coming from? Well, they interview the authors of
the book "Forbidden Archaeology" a number of
times during the program. This book is dedicated
to "His Divine Grace -- A.C. Bkaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada." It appears the authors are Hare
Krishna adherents!
        This makes sense of what Heston states at
the end, which I believe sums up the philosophy
of this program: "It's been said that man has
made the climb from Stone Age to civilization
more than once, and that our present time is just
the latest in this cycle." Everything cycling
continuously over millions of years fits well
with Krishna philosophy! That seems to be what
this program is really all about!
***********

        Well there it is. Creationists don't buy
the Texas footprints any more than Paleonet
members. And Charlton Heston has apparently
broken faith with the Creationists. But most
important, the program was Hari Krishna
propaganda! I find this all very amusing. Its not
that NBC doesn't deserve chastisement for
presenting the program. They do. But a number
of Paleonet correspondents apparently jumped
the gun by labeling the program as Creationist
without knowing what the Creationist
doctrine really is. If we are going to fight
them successfully in the battle over science
teaching in the classroom, perhaps it behoves
us to study their books, newsletters, and
pamphlets more carefully and get our "Facts"
straight. That was my reason for sending for
Ham's booklet on Dinosaurs and Creation (which
I heard about on Paleonet a few weeks back).
My Paleo course features a section on
Creationism and I find one of the best ways to
show students how unscientific Creationism
really is, is to have them read some of the
Creationist "literature".

Tom Kellogg
Dept. of Geology
University of Maine
Orono, ME  04469

Thomas B. Kellogg
Department of Geological Sciences
  and Institute for Quaternary Studies
University of Maine
Orono, ME  04469

(207) 581-2194