If you live in or around Pensacola, it just got harder to be a creationist who wants to see giant statues of dinosaurs. Dinosaur Adventure Land, which was packed with educational exhibits devoted to unmasking the lies of evolution, will be no more. No longer will children be taught how dinosaurs walked the earth 6000 years ago. All because park's owners, Kent and Jo Hovind, owed the IRS just under half a million dollars in employee taxes.

According to the Pensacola News Journal:

[Kent Hovind] was found guilty in November 2006 on 58 counts, including failure to pay employee taxes and making threats against investigators.
The conviction culminated 17 years of Hovind sparring with the IRS. Saying he was employed by God and his ministers were not subject to payroll taxes, he claimed no income or property.

Now the government is finally going to get those back taxes by seizing what remains of their theme park.

The Hovinds were also the founders of Creation Science Church, which seems (if the website is to be believed) to be devoted to a creationist interpretation of the Bible, really awesome dinosaurs, and super excellent paper airplanes. As the Dinosaur Adventure Land website explains:

Dinosaur Adventure Land is a theme park and science museum that gives God the glory for His creation. It has rides and fun-filled events and activities, each involving a physical challenge, a science lesson, and a biblical truth.

Learn about dinosaurs, principles of science, and even how to make a paper airplane that can fly over 300 feet! Handle our real, live creatures and take the Leap of Faith swing. Enjoyable and educational for all ages, it is specifically targeted for kids under a million years of age!

But don't worry – other creationist dinosaur parks live on. In fact, in recent years, creationist groups have seized control of previously science-friendly dino attractions. The famous Cabazon Dinosaurs in California, featured in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, were recently purchased by a creationist group. Now their website includes helpful information on why Darwin was wrong. The park owners write:

Through our exhibit, Mr. Rex's Dinosaur Adventure™ At the World's Biggest Dinosaurs™, we hope to help the young and old explore what is known and not known about dinosaurs, man and the creation of the world in a practical, factual and fun way.

There also remains the Creation Museum in Kentucky, toured by SF author John Scalzi, who had quite a bit to say about it, as well as having a great Flickr set of crazy dioramas from the displays there. The Creation Museum is so hip that it even has a blog, which recently announced that the museum is sponsoring a car that will be racing at the Kentucky Speedway. But will the car have a velociraptor painted on the side? You know, one that lived like 5000 years ago?

Dinosaur Adventure Land image via bak2new. Timeline image from Creation Museum via Scalzi. Cabazon Dino pic via slworking2.

Think about it. In their reviews, athiests, scientists, and the scientifically inclined universally hate the movie. They've lashed out early and often. But they're just adding fuel to the fire. If the producers want anything it's publicity, and they've gotten it. Everyone's paying attention to the movie, but between the PZ Myers gaffe and now a lawsuit, the film seems destined to fail. And that failure seems just a little too easy, a little too convenient.

Who really made this film, and what is its true agenda?

Tonight we're going to see the film and get to the bottom of this. Watch this space tomorrow for the tell-all review.