Museum of the Bible Can't Separate Itself from Right-Wing Politics and Funders

November 16, 2017
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The D.C. museum joins a group of attractions with messy relationships between church and state.

Visitors to Washington, D.C. will now be able to add the Museum of the Bible to their tourist to-do lists. The museum, which cost $500 million to build and opens on Friday, says on its website, “[Our] purpose is to invite all people to engage with the history, narrative and impact of the Bible.” However, the Museum of the Bible, and its founder Steve Green, have been entangled in politics, making the museum more controversial than the high-tech 430,000 foot museum may appear. And this is part of a larger pattern of the mixing of politics and religion of spaces that are billed as ones for entertainment or education.

In an interview with Philanthropy Roundtable about the Museum of the Bible, Green said the museum is “not evangelical. It’s more informative.” However, Green, who is the CEO of Hobby Lobby, footed the bill for the museum, and is the chairman of the museum’s board. The Green family provided artifacts, and Hobby Lobby faced legal action over the smuggling of artifacts. The museum also has other controversial board members, including Gregory S. Baylor, who works at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The museum opens Friday, but a fundraising gala will be held at the Trump hotel on Thursday. As the Washington Post reported, the museum’s vice president Steven Bickley said of the event space, “We were looking for a venue, not a statement.” Some employees told the Washington Post that they were uncomfortable with the venue choice. Linda Koldenhoven told the Washington Post of the gala, “We wanted it to be beautiful, and [the Trump hotel space] is beautiful, and available. It was the only thing available.” Koldenhoven is the Director of Women’s Initiatives and Networking for the museum, and wrote in a 2017 blog post encouraging people to get involved with the museum, “The Bible is the foundation of our great nation, and our homes and families. We must ensure it remains there.”

Green explained to Politico that “his family openly supports evangelical outreach programs and more overtly evangelical-themed Bible attractions,” but this museum is “a separate endeavor.” Despite Green’s objections, the Museum of the Bible in D.C. is part of the larger landscape of highly-politicized evangelical museums across the United States:

1. Creation Museum: Located in Kentucky, the Creation Museum is operated by Answers in Genesis, which includes in its mission to “seek to expose the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas, and its bedfellow, a ‘millions of years old’ earth (and even older universe).” AIG has been at the forefront of debates regarding teaching creationism in schools, including providing resources on their website about starting a “Creation Club” in your school. The museum features exhibits on "creation science" as well as exhibits on biblical history and dragons. The founder of AIG Ken Ham, who debated Bill Nye, regularly tweets about marriage, abortion and the separation of church and state,

And about evolution and science:

2. Ark Encounter: Also in Kentucky and operated by Answers in Genesis, Ark Encounter is a "full-size Noah’s Ark, built according to the dimensions given in the Bible.” The attraction features exhibits on Noah, zip lines and special Christmas events. The Ark Encounter has been at the center of a back-and-forth about tax status, beginning in 2014. When Kentucky withdrew the sales tax rebates of $18 million, over issues of church and state, there was a lawsuit and Ark Encounter won. As of July 2017, the incentives were yet again in contest due to the Ark Encounter property being transferred.

3. The Holy Land Experience: Described as "a living, biblical museum” the Orlando attraction includes a musical and lists some of its qualities as being: educational, inspirational, theatrical and historical. The Orlando Sentinel reported that the Holy Land Experience “receives a special tax exemption because it’s classified as a church instead of a theme park.” Inside of the attraction the “Church of All Nations” has a 2,000 capacity and is used for musical acts and shows “plus praise and worship concerts, church services, and more!”

Most of the park’s marketing features their daily shows, tours and child-appropriate spaces, including “Smile of a Child Adventure Land.” The attraction was having financial issues, even resorting to selling off props and items from the park. The Holy Land Experience is owned by the Crouch family, founders of the televangelist Trinity Broadcasting Network, which faced controversy of its own due to a molestation lawsuit filed by the founders’ granddaughter.

The Museum of the Bible will also be home to research and a Bible curriculum. As Business Insider reported however, a previous attempt to house this curriculum in Oklahoma schools was “withdrawn following complaints the lessons weren't neutral."

The Museum of the Bible may be billing itself as inclusive, apolitical and educational, but it can’t ignore the landscape it occupies, the politics behind it or ongoing arguments about the role of religious education. 

 

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