24. Trouble in Creationist Paradise

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/02/ken_ham_s_books_and_museums_creationist_empire_starts_to_crumble_as_we_celebrate.single.html

Mark Joseph Stern presents his article, "Trouble in Creationist Paradise," to argue, through noting the Creation Museum's decline in attendance, that creationism is an illogical, "blind faith," dedicated "to undermining our country's commitment to sound science." In his introduction, Stern defines young-Earth creationism as "the idea that God created the Earth and humans in their present form within the past 10,000 years," and signifies that "46 percent," including last year's Republican presidential contenders "including Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum," have expressed belief in it. As he presents these facts, Stern states with satire that it is "holding strong" although it "might contradict the opinion of 99.9 percent of scientists." Likewise, Stern relies on logos and pathos in his cynical assertions throughout his whole essay, displaying dominant use of a sarcastic, mocking tone to discredit Ken Ham's creationist arguments and his attempts to spread the belief. Stern arouses uneasy feelings about Christianity from his atheist audience against Ham by stating that, according to Ham, "evolution scientists ...have obfuscated these undeniable truths [of creationism] with sinful lies and slander," and that "this moral is accompanied by an image of adults being cast into the burning pits of hell." Stern further accuses Ham of attempting to "indoctrinate" and "threaten children with an afterlife in hell" and threatening "adults with a living hell" in his books.  Stern also points out one of Ham's belief that the belief in evolution is partially responsible for secular humanism and many horrific events such as "abortion, pornography, gay marriage, lawlessness," and the Holocaust, drug overdoses, and homosexuality. Stern uses this examples to arouse disagreements among the readers, because such topics are generally often discussed and studied. At the end of the essay, Stern includes that Ham's "Creationist paradise" is facing trouble: there was "a 10 percent decline in attendance" and the"fundraising for the Ark Encounter" amusement park "has slowed to a crawl." This part of his essay has a figurative implication that creationism is inferior and destined to fail.

Mark Joseph Stern's intended audience for this article is very broad and includes the general public who has the minimum basic knowledge about evolution and its background knowledge. It appears that Stern also intends to help decide the stance of those people who have no certainty about their beliefs on this topic. Stern's purpose is to persuade the audience that Creationism is foolish and illogical and to advocate continuous censorship of the theories of intelligent design and creationism in the education facilities.