A giant leap of faith on the Causeway coast

A collision of science and creationism in the UK National Trust's new visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway has created headlines around the world

WHEN THE National Trust recently opened its long-awaited state-of-the-art visitor centre at the Giant’s Causeway in Co Antrim, it made headlines around the world.

Such headlines were not for its innovative architectural design, or impressive ecological credentials, but because it included a reference to Young Earth creationism: the belief that God created the planet – and thus the Causeway – only 6,000 years ago.

Reaction was swift, sharp and scandalised. Richard Dawkins lead the charge, insisting that the Trust should not have given in to pressure from “intellectual baboons”. He said it was regrettable that the Trust had “paid lip-service to the ignorant bigotry” of fundamentalists.

On a sunny afternoon in July, the centre is packed with tourists of many nationalities, wandering through the display area, prodding at the buttons, wheels and touch-screens on the interactive exhibits. A huge manga-style animation of Finn McCool – legend has it that this northern giant created the famous basalt columns – is particularly popular with younger visitors.

While there’s nothing to blow your socks off here, the exhibition is attractively designed, offering a swift, accessible overview of the Causeway’s long history and the people associated with it. There’s also a hand-held audio guide, narrated by actor Conleth Hill, to take with you when you walk down to the stones.

Scientifically speaking, all seems to be above board. The Trust has insisted that it fully supports the established scientific explanation for the creation of the Causeway, and exhibits clearly show the evolution of the planet over the course of millions of years.

The furore arose over one audio guide which, at the touch of a button, explains that some people, around the world and “specifically in Northern Ireland”, have an understanding of the formation of the Earth that is not based on current mainstream science, but on the account of creation in the book of Genesis. When the centre first opened, the caption on this exhibit jauntily encouraged visitors to “join the debate”. Now it has been replaced by a more cautious observation: “for some the debate continues”.

So who are these Young Earth creationists? And why do they remain convinced – against overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary – that the Biblical account of the world’s origins is the literal truth?

The increasingly powerful creationist agenda in Northern Ireland is led by an evangelical Christian lobby group called the Caleb Foundation, dedicated to “promoting the Fundamentals of the Historic Evangelical Protestant Faith”. The foundation, chaired by Wallace Thompson, was instrumental in ensuring the inclusion of creationist material at the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre. Thompson hailed it as “a precedent for others to follow”. He said it was important that the centre, having been “largely funded out of the public purse”, should be “inclusive and representative of the whole community”.

This is a common cry of the creationist lobby: all they are asking for, they say, is equality and respect. But how representative are they? The British Centre for Science Education describes Northern Ireland as the “European capital of creationism”, and a survey in 2009 by the religious think-tank Theos found that 25 per cent of the adult population of Northern Ireland believe in some version of creationism.

However, only around 10 per cent of respondents consistently chose Young Earth creationism over evolution as their preferred explanation for the origin of the planet. Yet creationists have friends – and fellow believers – in high places.

Wallace Thompson is a former adviser to the DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds. DUP health minister Edwin Poots is a self-declared Young Earth creationist.

Fellow DUP minister Nelson McCausland caused controversy in 2010 when he asked the Ulster Museum to include creationist displays.

And the current chair of the Stormont education committee, the DUP’s Mervyn Storey, has called for the teaching of creationism in school science classes, insisting that “creationism is not for the RE class because I believe that it can stand scientific scrutiny”. Storey is also vice-chair of the Caleb Foundation.

Phil Robinson, of Creation Outreach Ministries, an evangelising creationist ministry based in Northern Ireland, believes that a battle is currently raging between science and religion, with “eternal consequences” for those who make the wrong choice.

Robinson tells The Irish Times that “evolution doesn’t have a leg to stand on” and Genesis is the true historic account of creation: “If you believe that Jesus was a real person – that he healed people, that he died on the cross – then Genesis works the same way. So why view one as historical truth, the other not?”

But it’s not just a simple matter of science versus faith. To the frustration of mainstream scientists, creationists insist that they have their own, equally valid scientific account of the Earth’s origins. For instance, they say they can prove that the famous basalt columns at the Giant’s Causeway were created 6,000 years ago by “colossal volcanic eruptions during Noah’s flood”. They also claim that dinosaurs existed alongside human beings.

Prof Peter Bowler, a retired historian of science at Queen’s University Belfast, has had many run-ins with creationists over the years. “Creationists want to get their ideas into schools and museums, but they know they can’t do that if they base it purely on religion, ” says Bowler. “They have to say ‘this isn’t just religion, it’s good solid scientific evidence’. Except, of course, it isn’t. It’s not a coherent alternative, it’s just bits and bobs of often contradictory evidence that simply don’t add up.”

Bowler believes that, at heart, creationists are fearful of ambiguity and doubt. “They cannot bear to think they are living in an uncertain world, with uncertain moral values. It’s as if God has given them a crib sheet that they must learn by heart – or fail the final exam.”

Back at the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre, few people seem interested in the contentious creationist account, gravitating instead towards the branded tea-towels in the gift shop. But this is an important victory for the creationist lobby in Northern Ireland, and they have drawn confidence and inspiration from it. It seems certain that we will be hearing from them again.