GREAT story about the ancient Cambodian temples in The Washington Post today. Read it here. The background is nice:

Without doubt, Angkor has had its share of good times and bad. The great King Jayavarman II began erecting his capital city here in A.D. 802, founding the Khmer Empire that held sway over what is now Cambodia, as well as much of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, from the 9th century to the 12th.

At its peak, the city boasted a population of more than 1 million, with part of its cultural importance stemming from a mixed religious influence that resulted in a magnificent diversity of stunningly intricate reliefs. Starting as a Hindu city, Angkor turned to Buddhism in later centuries. Its religious life always included a strong dose of animism as well.

Hindu, Buddhist, Animist. What they DON'T mention is how important the buildings are to Christian anti-evolutionists. Say what? Bear with me a moment.

A literal reading of the Bible says that the earth can only be around 6,000 years old - biblical scholars arrive at this figure by adding up the biblical lineage from Adam to historical times. Scientists take issue with 6,000 years, of course; cosmology and geology to show the earth is significantly older than that. It is one of the more empassioned clashes between belief and science today.

One of the most striking, in your face contradictions to the biblical account are the fossils of dinosaurs, who clearly roamed the earth for thousands of years but make no appearance in the Bible or in human history. But if you join the hordes of tourists on Angkor Wat, you will notice a strange, almost inexplicable carving...



Is that a stegasauros?? Scores of Christian scholars would like for you to believe it is. If the Cambodians were alive and building their temples when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, it goes a long way in telescoping the millenia of the fossil record into the 6,000 years that the Bible accounts for.

Of course, the arguments about this image range far and wide. Opponents say that this was clearly a local beast or a mythical interpretation, and that the stegasauros fossils have never been found in the area. Champions of the Cambodian Barney say that the carving appears on the temple with other normally depicted local animals.

The Post article goes on to say that temples were almost lost for centuries. Since the fall of the Khmer Rouge and the rise of modern Cambodia, the country has been assiduously restoring them. Today, archaeologists from 12 countries are involved in the effort. But the temple which was originally a place where only " the king and a few of his monks would come to worship," according to John H. Stubbs of the World Monuments Fund. Massive waves of tourism are causing irremediable damage.

It wouldn't surprise me if some of those busloads at the Buddhist temples were coming from American megachurches.