Seite - 53 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 03/02

Emulating Science | 53www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/2, 53–64 Larissa Carneiro Emulating Science The Rhetorical Figures of Creationism aBstraCt This article compares forms of visual argumentation in the scientific study of evolution and Young-Earth Creationism, arguing that secular forms of scientific representation have affected the way creationists visually construct their own. In order to affirm their view of the origin of the universe, creationists borrow from, mimic, and ultimately emulate the techniques, or at least the appearance, of scientific method and reason- ing. the use of the word “emulation” is very deliberate since their aim is to match and surpass a rival scientific paradigm – evolution. The sermon preached by the design of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, is not content simply to look like sci- ence, but aims to do science that is affirmed by the Scriptures. KeyWords Visual representation, figures of science, rhetoric, evolution, Creationism BioGraPhy Larissa Carneiro has a Phd in Communication, rhetoric, and digital Media from North Carolina state University, Usa. from master’s study to the present, her research inter- ests have occupied the intersection of media/technology, science, and religion, with three overarching themes: the relationship of science and technology, the relation- ship of religion and technology, and the ways in which media and technology contrib- ute to the production of both religion and science. she is currently a visiting lecturer in the religious studies department at duke University. iNtrodUCtioN in a museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, that opened its doors to the public in 2008, visitors encounter a scene of Adam seated in a flowery meadow, nam- ing the animals that pass by. Behind him, a few feet away, lurks what looks like a young raptor, waiting to receive its name from the primordial taxonomist. rhetorician John Lynch has described the Creation Museum as a “spatial ser- mon” whose major aim is to convince visitors to reject evolutionary theory and DOI: 10.25364/05.3:2017.2.4