Of dinosaurs and intergenerational culture wars: Dinomania,nostalgia,and the ‘missionary lizards’ of young earth creationism

Abstract

For over a century, dinosaurs have drawn crowds to natural history museums, where visitors learn about evolution and deep time. Towards the end of the twentieth century, certain young earth creationists began using dinosaurs as ‘missionary lizards’ to attract audiences and promote a biblically literal interpretation of the planetary past. Though long extinct, dinosaurs are thus significant figures in the ongoing U.S. culture wars. This article demonstrates how the Creation Museum in Kentucky uses dinosaur displays to legitimate a young earth and anti-evolution worldview. It also analyses how mainstream science museums and creation science museums alike leverage dinomania and a related sentiment, nostalgia, to draw crowds and create potent emotional experiences. A comparison of marketing materials for the Creation Museum and the Smithsonian's Deep Time fossil hall, both of which target children and their families, show how dinosaurs are intergenerational artifacts that connect people to personal and planetary pasts.