Why are National Park guides not allowed to say the true age of the Grand Canyon when asked?

Question

Is it because the true geological age of the Grand Canyon conflicts with the creationist story that it was formed during the great flood in the Bible. Why has the National Parks service been gagged like this?

“In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is ‘no comment.’”

Answer 1

Because those who take the Bible literally and believe in creationism have great political influence these days.

Answer 2

As someone who visits the canyon frequently and has researched and written about the history of geologic studies there, I can say there is some truth to this story, but it is also somewhat exhaggerated. There is no official order from the Bush administration for the park service not to give the scientifically accepted age of the canyon (ie: that the canyon is millions of years old and the rock layers are billions of years old). Park rangers will give you the correct answer if you ask them and as others have noted, the NPS Grand Canyon website also gives scientfically correct information and dates. The controversy surrounds a creationist book called 'A Different View' that claims the canyon was carved by Noah's flood and that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. This book WAS forced into the park bookstores against the will of the park administrators, park scientists and the Grand Canyon Association which runs the bookstores. After some debate, it was moved out of the science section and into spiritually, but it is still there today. Nobody has ever come out and said WHO exactly in government forced this decision (the park does not like to talk about it), but there is little debate that it was done under pressure from the Bush administration in order to appease Christian fundamentalists. On a larger scale, it is worth noting that even though the Grand Canyon is one of the most famous and popular geologic formations in the entire world and had a big role in the development of American science, there is currently NO museum at the Grand Canyon at all and virtually no public displays regarding science (or history or modern flora/fauna for that matter). The closest thing is a single panel along the rim near the lodges that gives a very brief 1 paragraph discussion of the river carving the canyon, but is very vague and does not go into dates or time. Imagine going to Gettysburg Battlefield National Park and finding no museum or displays about the Civil War other than a one vague paragraph panel off in a corner. Based upon frequent visits to the canyon and talks with park service people (again, they don't really like to talk about this), the impression that I get is that in order to avoid controversy (and perhaps jepordize their jobs), the park is taking a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy toward presenting geologic science to the public. Rangers will give the scientific answers if you ask and the info is buried on the NPS website, but you really have to look for it and ask for it. It is fairly clear that there IS some behind the scenes pressure on the park service from higher up to not publicize the scientific view of the canyon, but it has not gone as far as some claims make it sound (at least, not yet).

Answer 3

How old is the Canyon?

That's a tricky question. Although rocks exposed in the walls of the canyon are geologically quite old, the Canyon itself is a fairly young feature. The oldest rocks at the canyon bottom are close to 2000 million years old. The Canyon itself - an erosional feature - has formed only in the past five or six million years. Geologically speaking, Grand Canyon is very young.

Answer 4

They are not gagged at all. If you visit the grand canyon, you can get a copy of the brochure that has the complete breakdown of the evolution of the canyon. Creationists would love it if the geologic information was gagged because then everyone might stop gagging at the creationist version.

Answer 5

It's because ANYTHING they said would be in violation of the First Amendment. Why is this only a problem with you people when it favors religion?
Besides, they can't really be sure. Some scientists say the Canyon was formed slowly over millions of years. Others say that it was formed quickly over a matter of months. This has been especially so since scientists have had the chance to observe the results of the 1980 explosion of Mt St Helens.

Answer 6

There is no way for any of us to know the actual age of the grand canyon.

Scientists have yet to come up with a tried and tested way to date objects and the bible does not write about the grand canyon either.

So, it is up to speculation as to the actual age. No one is being gagged as to their opinion of age except maybe employees who would be considered experts by yourself and therefore might be held liable for saying something you might not want to hear.

In America , this sue happy nation that we live in, keeping silent about what we think is more for not being sued than any other reason.

Answer 7

Because they're too busy worshipping George W. Bush's @$$ and not nearly enough time teaching the TRUTH -- the Grand Canyon is millions of years old.

Answer 8

Only you know how old the Grand Canyon is.

I can guarantee the tour guides and the National Parks service have no idea.

grace2u

Answer 9

The Christian Right is in control of American Policy including National Parks.

The Christian Right is neither.....................

Thousands of experiments have demonstrated that the Earth is 4.5 Billion Years Old.

It is time for the narrow minded, under educated, FunnyMentals to deal with it.

Answer 10

I'm glad it bothers you so much....

Scripture says God SPOKE all things into existence with His Word:
" By the Word of the Lord were the heavens created, and all the host by the breath of His mouth. For HE SPAKE AND IT WAS DONE; HE COMMANDED AND IT STOOD FAST". (psalm 33:9)