Tulsa Zoo board votes to censor Creationism

From KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City:

A city board reversed direction on Thursday and rejected plans to add a creationist exhibit to the Tulsa Zoo.

Board members voted 3-1 against installing an exhibit on the origin of life from the Bible. The vote, made at a special meeting of the board, reversed a June 7 decision to add a Genesis story to the zoo.

Dale McNamara, who voted against the display at the June meeting and again on Thursday, told the packed house of onlookers that she carefully considered her vote.....

Current Mayor Bill LaFortune was the lone board member to back the planned display. He suggested that the board should form a committee to look at any religious symbols at the zoo and consider what to do with them. No action was taken on this suggestion.

The board's original decision to include a biblical story on the Earth's origin had divided residents and thrown Tulsa into the national spotlight. LaFortune had said before the meeting that he was aware of the criticism but he wanted to raise questions about religion in general at the zoo.

After all it's not like a city zoo is a place where people can learn stuff, right?

I was able to get a recent photo of the three board members voting to censor the educational display — at least I'm pretty sure this is them.

Posted by Danny Carlton at July 8, 2005 08:09 AM