Answers in Genesis
Apr. 24th, 2006 02:11 pmSomething which has been entertaining me recently is watching the website of Answers in Genesis, a fundamentalist Christian outfit in Kentucky who are building the Creation Museum. The Creation Museum, if you haven't heard of it, is an answer to all those archaeologists, Natural History museums, biologists, historians and other such silly folks who don't necessarily believe in the literal truth of the Creation outlined in the book of Genesis. Within it's walls, you'll find definitive truths about how the world is only around 6000 years old, illustrated with animatronic macquettes of major scenes from history such as Adam and Eve being chased from garden of Eden by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
If this wasn't entertaining enough (remember that to date they've spent in excess of $20m on this project and the museum isn't even open yet), I naturally flicked over to their jobs page to find out what sort of vacancies were available at the world's foremost animatronic museum of the Pentateuch.
Mostly, the jobs are manual - labourers and support staff - or administrative; i.e. low paid, low responsibility jobs. All the vacancies require the applicant to sign the Answers in Genesis Statement of Faith, a document which outlines that the signatory believes in the literal truth of every word of the Bible (even the bit which says Pi was 3 in Solomon's Temple). All the vacancies demand this, that is, except one: the one which requires a high degree of technical and academic ability - their web programmer.
It's as if the organisers of AIG realise the futility of getting anyone with a postgraduate qualification in a scientific subject to sign up.
What's really depressing about this is how economic power over someone means you can determine their belief structures for them. I can imagine the interviews now:
Interview A
Interviewer: So, Pablo Wetback. To be eligible to become a lavatory attendant on $4:30 an hour you'll need to sign our Statement of Faith, indicating you believe that the world was created in 6 days and the entire world was flooded in the deluge.
Candidate: Si, senor! I sign anything you say! Jos' give me the dollars to pay for medicine for my sick child!
Interview B
Interviewer:So, Tarquin Well-Educated. To be eligible to become a VP of IT on $65,000 an year you'll need to sign our Statement of Faith, indicating you believe that the world was created in 6 days and the entire world was flooded in the deluge.
Candidate: O RLY?
If this wasn't entertaining enough (remember that to date they've spent in excess of $20m on this project and the museum isn't even open yet), I naturally flicked over to their jobs page to find out what sort of vacancies were available at the world's foremost animatronic museum of the Pentateuch.
Mostly, the jobs are manual - labourers and support staff - or administrative; i.e. low paid, low responsibility jobs. All the vacancies require the applicant to sign the Answers in Genesis Statement of Faith, a document which outlines that the signatory believes in the literal truth of every word of the Bible (even the bit which says Pi was 3 in Solomon's Temple). All the vacancies demand this, that is, except one: the one which requires a high degree of technical and academic ability - their web programmer.
It's as if the organisers of AIG realise the futility of getting anyone with a postgraduate qualification in a scientific subject to sign up.
What's really depressing about this is how economic power over someone means you can determine their belief structures for them. I can imagine the interviews now:
Interview A
Interviewer: So, Pablo Wetback. To be eligible to become a lavatory attendant on $4:30 an hour you'll need to sign our Statement of Faith, indicating you believe that the world was created in 6 days and the entire world was flooded in the deluge.
Candidate: Si, senor! I sign anything you say! Jos' give me the dollars to pay for medicine for my sick child!
Interview B
Interviewer:So, Tarquin Well-Educated. To be eligible to become a VP of IT on $65,000 an year you'll need to sign our Statement of Faith, indicating you believe that the world was created in 6 days and the entire world was flooded in the deluge.
Candidate: O RLY?