Homo Ridiculus

The National Museums of Kenya are home to some of the most complete fossil records of early hominid development. Tucked away as they are in the middle of Africa, though, evangelicals in America are assuredly entirely clueless about their existence. Oh sure, they "know" fossils are out there somewhere: some grand conspiracy of dogmatic heathens bent on the destruction of religious creation mythology. But they've never really cared about the presentation of these fossils in Africa.

However, Pentecostal leaders in Kenya -- the front line as it were -- are now taking up the charge in the war on evolution and insisting that the museum "de-emphasize" displays of Homo Erectus, Australopithecus anamensis, and various other offending specimens of the hominid evolutionary chain. Fortunately, Dr. Richard Leakey is standing firm against these transgressors against thought and reason. However, in saying that the Penecostals beliefs are "far, far from the mainstream on this," I feel quite certain that Dr. Leakey has probably not been exposed to the current political climate in the United States, where Christian fundamentalists are on the rise, half the country believes in creationism and that the earth is 6,000 years old.