Creationist Sues Grand Canyon National Park

May

• May 17. The Atlantic. Washington, D.C. A Creationist Sues the Grand Canyon for Religious Discrimination by Sarah Zhang.
  "Snelling is a prominent young-Earth creationist. For years, he has given lectures, guided biblical-themed Grand Canyon rafting tours, and worked for the nonprofit Answers in Genesis. (The CEO of Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham, is also behind the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter theme park.) Young-Earth creationism, in contrast to other forms of creationism, specifically holds that the Earth is only thousands of years old. Snelling believes that the Grand Canyon formed after Noah’s flood—and he now claims the U.S. government is blocking his research in the canyon because of his religious views."

• May 17. The Washington Times. Washington, DC. Geologist sues feds, claims religious bias by Bradford Richardson. pp. A1, A9.

• May 17. The Global Dispatch. Tampa, Florida. ADF defends Dr Andrew Snelling, sues National Park Service after they deny research permit due to his Christian beliefs.
  "Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney Michael L. Kitchen, along with ADF staff attorneys, filed suit in federal court Tuesday against the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and Grand Canyon National Park on behalf of an experienced geologist who was denied a research permit because of his Christian beliefs."

• May 16. The Washington Times. Washington, DC. Geologist’s lawsuit claims discrimination at Grand Canyon over biblical beliefs by Bradford Richardson.

• May 15. Pharyngula. Blog. Those rocks belong to everyone by PZ Myers.

• May 12. The Christian Times. Washington, DC. Christian geologist sues Grand Canyon National Park for denying permit to test rock samples by Jardine Malado.

• May 12. Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Blog. Washington, DC. A Creationist Is Demanding That The Park Service Allow Him To Do ‘Research’ At The Grand Canyon by Rokia Hassanein.
  "And Snelling’s proposal? He wanted to collect some Grand Canyon rocks in his effort to prove the world was created by God in six days a few thousand years ago."

• May 12. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. Creation Museum researcher sues federal government over permit by Cameron Knight. pp. 4A.

• May 12. The Kentucky Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. Creation Museum researcher sues federal government over permit by Cameron Knight. pp. 4A.

• May 12. Reformatorisch Dagblad. Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Christelijke geoloog geweerd uit Grand Canyon by Gert-Jan van Heugten.
  "Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) weigert de Amerikaanse geoloog dr. Andrew Snelling vanwege zijn religieuze overtuiging toestemming te verlenen om geologisch onderzoek te doen naar het ontstaan van aardlagen in de Grand Canyon (VS). Anti-discriminatieorganisatie Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) heeft een rechtszaak aangespannen tegen het park. Dat meldde Logos Instituut uit De Bilt vrijdag."

• May 11. Conservative News and Views. Grand Canyon: legal battleground? by Terry A. Hurlbut.

• May 11. Creation Evolution Headlines. California. Creation Geologist Fights Secular Bullies by David F. Coppedge.
  "A win in this case could send a strong signal to secular scientists and federal regulators that they take a big risk discriminating against other qualified scientists on the basis of their beliefs. Will the new tone of religious liberty in the current administration favor Dr. Snelling’s case? Time will tell."

• May 11. Lexington Herald-Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Creationist geologist sues Grand Canyon National Park by Linda Blackford. pp. 3A, 8A.

• May 11. Church Militant. Ferndale, Michigan. First Test Case of Trump's Religious Liberty Executive Order by Anita Carey.
  "Snelling is a scientist working for Answers in Genesis (AG), a Christian apologetics ministry focusing on providing answers to questions about the Bible such as creation, evolution, science and the age of the earth. He is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Grand Canyon park superintendent and other park officials for denying his research and sampling permit on the grounds of his Christian beliefs."

• May 11. OneNewsNow.com. Tupelo, Mississippi. Suing for the right to study the rocks by Charlie Butts, Billy Davis.
  "Snelling and ADF claim they have evidence of discrimination after the National Park Service forwarded his application to geology professors for their review, and the Young Earther was mocked in back-and-forth emails for his biblical beliefs."

• May 11. Missoula Independent. Missoula, Montana. Creationist researcher suing National Park Service because it won't let him study Grand Canyon rocks Posted By Derek Brouwer.

• May 11. Cincinnati.com. Cincinnati, Ohio. Creation Museum researcher sues federal government by Cameron Knight.
  "Andrew Snelling claims that National Park Service, tasked with evaluating the scientific merit of research proposals in parks, along with the Department of Interior and several employees for the agencies violated his constitutional rights when they denied his request to collect rock samples from the Grand Canyon."

• May 10. Liberty Headlines. Charlotte, North Carolina. LAWSUIT: Park Service and Godless Profs Discriminated Against Christian Geologist by Brendan Clarey.
  “Park officials changed their story, and issued a permit which required Dr. Snelling to traverse the Canyon in a separate trip and locate every proposed sampling site with GPS coordinates and photographs, without any assurance of ever being authorized to actually collect the samples needed,” ADF’s press release said. “No other scientist has been subjected to such a demand.”

• May 10. Panda's Thumb. Blog. A tale of two parks: Ark Park sues National Park by Matt Young.

• May 10. Christian Post. Washington, D.C. Answers in Genesis Geologist Accuses Grand Canyon National Park of Religious Discrimination by Leonardo Blair.
  "In the complaint, Snelling charged that his attempts to collect rock samples were blocked by officials who relied on consultants who made disparaging remarks about him."

• May 10. CBN News. Virginia Beach, Virginia. Geologist Denied Samples from Grand Canyon Because of His Faith.

• May 10. Laboratory Equipment. Rockaway, New Jersey. Creationist Geologist Sues National Park Service Over Grand Canyon Rocks by Seth Augenstein.
  "The NPS most recently permitted Snelling to travel into the park – but only to take pictures and record GPS coordinates of where he would collect the stones. Such a trip, the geologist argues, would multiply the cost of the research for no reason. In the meantime, several other scientists have received permits to collect larger and more numerous samples, the suit alleges."

• May 10. Friendly Atheist. Blog. The Creationist Suing Grand Canyon Park Officials for Discrimination Is Just a Bad Scientist by Hemant Mehta.
  "But the reality is that Snelling isn’t conducting legitimate scientific research. It’s worth going through his personal history and what this lawsuit is all about to understand that."

• May 10. Kentucky.com. Lexington, Kentucky. Creation Museum researcher alleges religious discrimination in Grand Canyon by Linda Blackford.
  "Andrew Snelling, the research director for Answers in Genesis, the parent company of both tourist attractions in Northern Kentucky, filed a civil rights and religious discrimination complaint on May 9 in U.S. District Court in Arizona with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian nonprofit that works on religious freedom issues. Answers in Genesis promulgates “Young Earth Creationism,” which is the belief that the world was literally created by God in six days less than 10,000 years ago."

• May 9. Alliance Defending Freedom. National Park Service: Research in Grand Canyon okay for geologists…but not Christian ones.
  "Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney Michael L. Kitchen, along with ADF staff attorneys, filed suit in federal court Tuesday against the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and Grand Canyon National Park on behalf of an experienced geologist who was denied a research permit because of his Christian beliefs."
  Dr. Andrew Snelling v. United States Department of Interior

• May 9. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. Blog. AIG Creation Scientist’s Grand Canyon Lawsuit.

• May 9. WND.com. Washington, DC. Is 'grand illusion' about Grand Canyon on verge of being exposed? by Bob Unruh.
  "ADF noted Snelling holds a Ph.D. in geology from the internationally acclaimed University of Sydney and has conducted geological research in Australia and the United States. He has published works in peer-reviewed journals and has substantial field and laboratory experience with both theoretical and practical geological research."

• May 9. Phoenix New Times. Phoenix, Arizona. Was Grand Canyon Project Rejected Because Researcher Is a Creationist? by Ray Stern.
  "Whether it's actually "good" research is debatable, of course. But it's unclear why government officials care what Snelling concludes about a relatively small collection of Grand Canyon rocks."

• May 9. KPNX-TV, Channel 12, NBC. Video. Mesa, Arizona. Christian geologist claims discrimination by Grand Canyon officials by Joe Dana.

• May 9. A. Larry Ross (ARL). Carrollton, Texas. DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT FILED BY CHRISTIAN GEOLOGIST AGAINST GRAND CANYON PARK OFFICIALS by Melany Ethridge.
  "During a three-year period that buried Dr. Snelling in needless red tape, the Park twice declined Dr. Snelling’s straightforward permit. Tellingly, the Park offered no scientific grounds for its last refusal. Instead Park officials imposed onerous conditions, making it virtually impossible for Dr. Snelling to comply. According to Park documentation obtained, no other scientist has faced such stipulations to receive research permits at the Canyon in the last three years. Dr. Snelling has supplied his attorneys with compelling documentation to support that claim."

• May 9. Answers in Genesis. Petersburg, Kentucky. Discrimination Lawsuit Filed by Christian Geologist Against Grand Canyon Park Officials

See Also

• Ark Encounter News
  National and international news and views about the Answers in Genesis Ark Encounter project.
• Canadian creationist finds fish fossils
• Creation Museum news
  National and international news and views about the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum.
• Creation Museum Date Night
• Creationist Sues Grand Canyon National Park
• David Coppedge vs Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Grand Canyon: A Different View book controversy
• Great Homeschool Conventions vs Answers in Genesis
• John Freshwater vs Mount Vernon Middle School
• Martin Gaskell vs University of Kentucky-Lexington
• Noah's Ark
• Bill Nye vs Ken Ham Debate