One Nation, Under God

America's religious landscape can be disorienting to a European like myself. Since the Enlightenment, the old world has been gradually becoming more and more secular, but over here, in a country that was in many way inspired by the tenets of the Enlightenment, religion is thriving. Most Americans considered themselves "religious",  especially in the South, and despite the clear separation of church and state in the Constitution, religion is often used as a rationale for policies like anti-same-sex marriage amendments. Churches are ubiquitous and often central to a community's identity; in Texas, the state's whole mythology centers on the Alamo where the fighters made their last stand in (what else?) a church.

The Alamo

One of my favorite religious displays is just outside the liberal enclave of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Called The Christ of the Ozarks, it is meant to rival Cristo Redentor in Rio but, hidden in wooded hills, it is a little less visible.

Christ of the Ozarks, that white blob in the middle

Up close, the differences between this 67 ft Jesus and his 130 ft Brazilian cousin become even more apparent. To quote a seven year old child I happened to overhear as he stared up at the face of Christ of the Ozarks, "Jesus is scary".

Christ of the Ozarks

Few things get me up early on a Sunday, especially after a Saturday night out in Memphis, Tennessee, but the prospect of a morning at Full Gospel Tabernacle Church with soul singer turned Reverend Al Green did.

Full Gospel Tabernacle Church

Two and a half hours of stellar gospel music, congregants speaking in tongues, and a rambling service that included Rev. Green railing against baggy pants and advising his teenage son to ask God to help him to stop staring at women's bottoms. Sheer joy - and well worth the early morning start.

Reverend Al Green

One of the more poignant religious houses in the country is hard to find. Off a dirt track just east of the tiny town of Ross, North Dakota is a tiny, tiny mosque. Smaller even than my first studio in New York, it marks the site of the very first mosque in the United States. Eighty years ago, Lebanese settlers constructed the mosque underground to provide some shelter from the winter weather. Today, the spot is commemorated with a new mosque above ground, which opened just three years ago.

Little mosque on the prairie in Ross, North Dakota

And from the sublime, to the ridiculous. The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky opened five years ago and promotes literal interpretations of the Bible. Museum is a loose term, as there is absolutely nothing inside that even vaguely resembles a historical artifact to back up the "facts" presented therein. But there are some wicked smart animatronics that show dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve in the background, giant dinosaur in the foreground

And why weren't Adam and Eve gobbled up immediately by one of their neighbors you may ask? The Creation Museum has the answer!

Vegans rejoice

And even after the Fall, dinosaurs were apparently tame enough to be on Noah's Ark and to graze peacefully on rivers right next to young children.

How it was just thousands of years ago apparently

And the revelations didn't end with the vegetarian dinosaurs. I also learned that the Grand Canyon was caused by the Great Flood, poison dart frogs weren't poisonous until after Adam and Eve got thrown out of the Garden of Eden, and the continents were split by the Great Flood with animals travelling to other parts of the world on rafts of fallen trees.

You never heard this in school? I wonder why....

I actually feel bad for kids that get dragged here. Not so much for the preponderance of false "facts", but because most of the museum is really boring. The exhibits are mainly just wordy displays that seek to contradict established science. An informed adult could spend hours in there, alternating between anger and amusement but aside from the occasional dinosaur and the petting zoo, there is very little to keep kids entertained.

Zonkey and Zorse at the Creation Museum petting zoo