Kryptozoologie als Legitimationsstrategie im Kreationismus

Abstract

In the public dispute over creationism, its proponents often insist upon their position being not only scripturally revealed, but also scientifically proven. In their struggle against an alledgedly dogmatic scientific establishment, some creationists employ the methods and theories of the similarly marginalized field of cryptozoology. Especially the search for living dinosaurs is considered a promising strategy to disprove the established view of the origin of species and the age of the earth. Creationist cryptozoologists are a little known and underresearched phenomenon. This article wants to fill this gap by presenting publications of some important actors in the field. Primarily, their works will be interpreted as religious texts. The article then tries to reconstruct the authors‘ common position. As it turns out, the authors do recognise the sociocultural authority of science for the production of knowledge, but always judge scientific theories on the basis of a literal reading of the bible.

Keywords

• Creationism
• Cryptozoology
• Contemporary Religious Cultures
• Legitimization
• Production of Knowledge