Anna Falling wants the Creation story at the Tulsa Zoo
The Tulsa Zoo, which displays a variety of pagan gods and pushes the theory of evolution, should have room for a display concerning Creationism, mayoral candidate Anna Falling said.
In 2005, Tulsan Dan Hicks petitioned ex-mayor Bill LaFortune to put up a display Hicks financed and built to counter a prominent evolution display at the zoo.
The Tulsa Parks and Recreation Board initially agreed and then withdrew its consent and LaFortune, who had the power, declined to put up the Creation display.
“By rejecting the Creation exhibit at the zoo, God has been dishonored,” Falling said. “By placing the images of other gods and creation stories, excluding the Biblical account of Creation, the city has challenged the First Amendment that states that… Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …
“Is the city of Tulsa respecting one religion over another and prohibiting the free exercise thereof?
“Is there any coincidence that this is our First Amendment and Abraham Lincoln used the Declaration of Independence as a framework for interpreting the Constitution?”
Falling said moral decline parallels the abandonment of the Christian values that America was founded on.
“We wonder why Tulsa has nearly twice the national average for violent crimes or the police have been called over 9,000 times in the last 4 years to the Tulsa Public Schools,” Falling said. “Where God is not honored at any level, we see the results of these decisions.”
Falling, co-founder of Cornerstone Assistance Network, a Christian organization, said it is entirely appropriate to raise this issue in a mayoral campaign.
“Why not?,” Falling asked. “Any leader seeking to be in any office - public or private - must humble themselves and call upon the Lord first. This is why this is the first stop on our public campaign. Our city must restore the foundation of faith necessary to rebuilding wholeness in Tulsa by choosing board members who will honor God, love His creation and care about this community by restoring focus on faith and family.
“Specifically, I will look for board members who will not only prosper this zoo tremendously in attendance and improve this zoo’s condition and appearance, but we will also look for people who want to characterize the origins of both man and animals in a way that honors the Judeo-Christian science that proves God as creator
“Unless we find ways to engage the church back into public policy decisions we will be lost as a city, state and nation.”
The zoo also has a six-foot statue of Ganesha, the primary Hindu god, on display in front of the elephant exhibit. A fence was placed around the statue a few years ago because some Tulsa Hindus complained that zoo visitors were touching their god.
Several pagan deities from Africa and the South American rain forest are on display. There are no displays with a Christian or Jewish heritage at the zoo, which is funded by Tulsa taxpayers. The zoo also has exhibits which promote globalism.
Hick’s Creation poster has been on display at Tulsa Bible Church since 2005.
“Over 200 years ago, our forefathers were at a cross roads as they wrote the foundation document of our nation,” Falling said. “They were unable to agree upon the direction and old Ben Franklin stood to address the Constitutional Congress asking them to call upon their Creator and Divine Providence just as they did during the Revolutionary War; not forgetting Him as they designed what was to become one of the most powerful documents outside of scripture. Prayer began that day prior to all meetings in order to move ahead according to the Creator’s plans so our nation will not be broken.
“What are we doing today to recognize the Creator and call upon Him to intervene in our city struggles? How are we to pursue the Creator’s plans for us - plans to prosper us and not to harm us? Unless God’s people come together in this city to undergird our leaders and our city in prayer - we will continue to decline as a community.
“We must do this in order that our streets are safer, budgets are balanced, land use and infrastructure are determined wisely for all of Tulsa so that we all have a shot at the ‘pursuit of happiness.’
“Now more than ever we must call upon our Heavenly creator and His Church to intervene in our city struggles ahead. The first way we can do this is by humbly asking the city to accept this beautiful rendering of the Creation story from our faith tradition as an act of thanks for the grand design God has had for you and I since the foundation of the earth.
Uniting Tulsans of faith is a key part of the Falling campaign to win the GOP nomination for mayor in a field of 11 Republicans.
“Unless the churches of Tulsa are brought into City Hall to begin to address our community’s greatest ills - the City of Tulsa will go bankrupt, spiritually, morally and financially,” Falling said.
Zoo officials said the issue is dead and they will not put up the Creation display.
Falling has a petition on her campaign website, www.annafallling.com for anyone who wishes the Creation story to be displayed at the zoo.