the earth was created in 6 days 6000 years ago and the grand canyon proves god sent a great flood to cleanse the earth of ''the wickedness of man' according to a book entitled Grand Canyon: A Different View currently offered for sale to tourists who visit grand canyon national park's six stores. written by tom vail who describes how--while working as a rafting guide in the canyon in 1994, ''telling folks that the exquisite and varied rock layers came about through completely natural processes,'' --one of his female passengers helped him see the light. shortly thereafter vail made ''a conscious decision to believe in the Gospel," married the woman and now operates Canyon Ministries from which the pair guide creationist canyon tours.
this is just one example of a concerted effort by dominionists to impose a morally correct view (a new and improved version of political correctness...now with the added righteous power of god!) on america by expending both their substantial political and financial capital to pressure our government into remaking itself in their image and to their liking.
as 'public employees for environmental responsibility' (peer) reported in 2003, " NPS Deputy Director Donald Murphy, ordered the Grand Canyon National Park to return three bronze plaques bearing biblical verses to public viewing areas on the Canyon’s South Rim. Murphy overruled the park superintendent who had directed the plaques’ removal based on legal advice from the Interior Department that the religious displays violated the First Amendment. In a letter to the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, the group sponsoring the plaques, Murphy apologized for “any intrusion resulting from” the temporary removal of the plaques quoting Psalms 68:4, 66:4 and 104:24 and pledged “further legal analysis and policy review” before any new action is taken."
the group's executive director, jeff ruch, concluded at that time, “The Park Service leadership now caters exclusively to conservative Christian fundamentalist groups. The Bush Administration appears to be sponsoring a program of Faith-Based Parks.”
sound ridiculous? not to 'a christian ministry in the national parks' --funded by donations from the coors family's castle rock foundation (castle rock also pays dues for the 7 coors who belong to the influential republican advisory group ncf )--which places evangelists in paying seasonal jobs within the national parks service where they work as bellhops, guides, wranglers, etc. at national parks throughout the country. in addition to their park services duties, the acmnp expects them to conduct services and 'relate' to the public in ways that further the cause. in other words, these nominally public employees have a dual mission, so to speak. one that requires them to actively proselytize park visitors.
abraham lincoln is apparently the next american to be enlisted in the dominionist cause. well, not abe the person exactly...just his memorial, which is administered by the national parks service. according to a press release on the traditional values coalition's website dated 11/18/2004, their battle to revise a videotape loop seen by tourists that portrays the memorial's role in modern american history is already won:
TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon was interviewed for ABC World News Tonight this week on the controversy surrounding the Lincoln Memorial video that is shown to millions of tourists each year in Washington, DC.
TVC gained national attention back in 2003 when it requested an investigation into the content of a short Lincoln Memorial video that portrayed abortion and homosexual marchers and implied that President Abraham Lincoln would have supported these causes.
TVC’s call for a revision of the video to be more balanced was heeded by the National Park Service. The new video, which has not yet been released, will include shots of pro-lifers and Christians in Promise Keeper events on the Washington Mall.
Rev. Sheldon says that the old video provided a “very unbalanced view” of marches in Washington, DC. “The video featured abortionists and homosexual marches, plus rightly included Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous March on Washington, but no right-to-life rallies or Promise Keepers marches.”
(he's gotta point...how the hell did the creators of the current tape manage to overlook those promise keeper marches that helped to nearly eliminate divorce in america??)
it's bad enough that moral correctness is being permitted to encroach upon and infiltrate america's public--and therefore secular--national parks legacy but the most aggravating aspect is this: the bush administration has consistently cut funding to maintain our national parks and actively intervened to oppose measures that would reduce environmental damage inflicted by users.
if there's a bright spot here, its that vail's book of fairytales doesn't actually claim yogi and booboo feasted on pic-a-nic baskets as the ark cruised thru jellystone.
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