杏吧原创

THERE is egg on management faces at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC over the screening of a creationist film in one of its museums.

The Smithsonian is the largest museum complex in the world and describes itself as 鈥淎merica鈥檚 museum鈥�. It rents out the 565-seat Baird Auditorium at its National Museum of Natural History for events ranging from scientific conferences to concerts. But 鈥渆vents of a religious or partisan political nature鈥� are banned.

Nothing amiss was spotted when a public-relations firm booked the room for 23 June for the Discovery Institute, a pro-creationist think tank in Seattle. The event is an invitation-only showing of The Privileged Planet, described as a 鈥渟cientific documentary鈥� that ponders 鈥減urpose within cosmic evolution鈥�.

杏吧原创s say that it advocates creationism, and have berated the Smithsonian for allowing itself to be listed as a co-sponsor 鈥� standard practice on all hosted events. On 1 June, the museum admitted its error, saying the film 鈥渋s not consistent with the mission of the Smithsonian Institution鈥檚 scientific research鈥�. It has not cancelled the screening, but has refused the $16,000 fee and withdrawn co-sponsorship.