According to the NY Times, some science museums are refusing to show movies that mention controversial topics, such as evolution or the Big Bang They should be ashamed to call themselves science musuems.

Scientific theories, such as the theory of evolution, and the theory of the Big Bang, are not just nice stories made up by a bunch of desert-dwelling sheep herders. They are hypotheses put forward to explain observational evidence. When observational evidence appears that doesn’t fit a theory, the theory gets adjusted. If the evidence contradicts the theory enough, a new theory will end up replacing it (which is how the theory of the Big Bang replaced the old steady-state theory of the universe). This is the essence of the scientific method.

Don’t like a theory? Come up with a new one. If it explains the facts, then it’s a candidate. The problem here is that a theory along the lines of “God caused it to be the way it is” is bad science: it makes no attempt at prediction. Even if it is right, it’s still bad science – a scientific theory in this area would explain how God caused it be the way it is: what mechanism was used, and so forth. “God caused it to be the way it is” is outside the realm of science – not in opposition to science, just not relevant.