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Ark park plans sail forth despite deluge of criticism
Creationist ministry says attraction will be non-religious, deserves state tax break [Edit: A non-Biblical Ark is a contradiction. There is no need for Liars for Jesus – His Truth is The Light. This is how taxes should be spent.]
You won't have to take the Bible literally to be swept away by a full-size replica of Noah's ark, says the creationist ministry intent on building one in Kentucky with state aid. [Edit: Everyone should take the Bible literally – it is the only way to make sense of it.]
Nor will you have to be a true believer to work at the 800-acre park near Williamstown, about 65 miles northeast of Louisville and roughly midway between Lexington, Ky. and Cincinnati, just off Interstate 75. [Edit: Can you imagine the crying children who are told by an atheist attendant that “You just can’t have that many animals in a place this size – it’s all lies.”?]
That's why the same group that "brings the pages of the Bible to life" at the privately funded Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., believes its $172 million biblically correct Ark Encounter will be a non-religious tourist attraction eligible for $37 million in state tax incentives once it's up and running. [Edit: How can it “Bring the Bible to life” if it is non-religious?]
Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has endorsed the for-profit theme park — which will include a first-century Middle Eastern village, live animal shows, a children’s interactive play area, a 100-foot replica of the Tower of Babel, a 500-seat special effects theater and an aviary — because it will create an estimated 900 jobs. [Edit: no one is interested in what a Democrat says. The point is this is a sensible use of tax-dollars – it puts people on the Road to Salvation™)
Their reasoning, however, has not stopped a deluge of criticism by clergy, atheists, regional newspaper editorial boards and others warning that government support for the project blurs the line of church-state separation. [Edit: now wait for the atheists – perhaps they want an atheist ark?]
"I'm no biblical scholar, but as far as I know, Noah built the first ark without government assistance," Sandhya Bathija, a spokeswoman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, wrote in a blog. "These modern-day entrepreneurs should do so as well." [Edit: This woman (or man) has no right to comment. Taxes need to be spent! That is what they are raised for.]
"We're not concerned about those kinds of comments," counters Mike Zovath, co-founder of Answers in Genesis, the ministry that operates the Creation Museum and also would run the theme park. "Ark Encounter will be a go." [Edit: Quite right!]
Beshear also dismisses the church-state dispute.
"The people of Kentucky didn't elect me governor to debate religion," he said at a news conference in December. "They elected me governor to create jobs." [Edit: only he isn’t creating any – True Christians are.]
Zovath said federal courts have upheld state incentives for organizations affiliated with religious groups as long as they are not discriminatory.
"From what I've seen so far, as long as the tax incentives are available evenly and equally to all takers, whether it's an atheist museum or a pornography park, I have no cause to gripe," said Edwin Kagin, 70, national legal director for American Atheists and the leader of a "rally for reason" against what he terms "Arkonuts" at the Creation Museum's opening in May 2007. [Edit: Pornography Park, eh? You can see where all atheists have their minds.]
Protests over the nonprofit Creation Museum's "recent origin" doctrine, including the belief that people co-existed with dinosaurs after God created the Earth about 6,000 years ago and that scripture trumps science when the two disagree, haven't hurt attendance, the ministry says.
Projected to draw 250,000 people a year, attendance has instead topped 1 million in the first three years, it says. [Edit: One Million! More pilgrims that go to Mecca! Take that Allah!]
"The proof is in the pudding; the Creation Museum is a success," Zovath said, who predicts that the Ark Encounter also will exceed expectations. [Edit: Landover will be arranging trips as soon as it opens – we expect the demand for our package to be oversubscribed. It will include ax heads floating on water, the destruction of the Midianites, the opening of the ground to swallow sinners burning of witches, stoning of homers and the Massacre of the Innocents (put your child’s name down for this one early.)]
Ark park plans sail forth despite deluge of criticism
Creationist ministry says attraction will be non-religious, deserves state tax break [Edit: A non-Biblical Ark is a contradiction. There is no need for Liars for Jesus – His Truth is The Light. This is how taxes should be spent.]
You won't have to take the Bible literally to be swept away by a full-size replica of Noah's ark, says the creationist ministry intent on building one in Kentucky with state aid. [Edit: Everyone should take the Bible literally – it is the only way to make sense of it.]
Nor will you have to be a true believer to work at the 800-acre park near Williamstown, about 65 miles northeast of Louisville and roughly midway between Lexington, Ky. and Cincinnati, just off Interstate 75. [Edit: Can you imagine the crying children who are told by an atheist attendant that “You just can’t have that many animals in a place this size – it’s all lies.”?]
That's why the same group that "brings the pages of the Bible to life" at the privately funded Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., believes its $172 million biblically correct Ark Encounter will be a non-religious tourist attraction eligible for $37 million in state tax incentives once it's up and running. [Edit: How can it “Bring the Bible to life” if it is non-religious?]
Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has endorsed the for-profit theme park — which will include a first-century Middle Eastern village, live animal shows, a children’s interactive play area, a 100-foot replica of the Tower of Babel, a 500-seat special effects theater and an aviary — because it will create an estimated 900 jobs. [Edit: no one is interested in what a Democrat says. The point is this is a sensible use of tax-dollars – it puts people on the Road to Salvation™)
Their reasoning, however, has not stopped a deluge of criticism by clergy, atheists, regional newspaper editorial boards and others warning that government support for the project blurs the line of church-state separation. [Edit: now wait for the atheists – perhaps they want an atheist ark?]
"I'm no biblical scholar, but as far as I know, Noah built the first ark without government assistance," Sandhya Bathija, a spokeswoman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, wrote in a blog. "These modern-day entrepreneurs should do so as well." [Edit: This woman (or man) has no right to comment. Taxes need to be spent! That is what they are raised for.]
"We're not concerned about those kinds of comments," counters Mike Zovath, co-founder of Answers in Genesis, the ministry that operates the Creation Museum and also would run the theme park. "Ark Encounter will be a go." [Edit: Quite right!]
Beshear also dismisses the church-state dispute.
"The people of Kentucky didn't elect me governor to debate religion," he said at a news conference in December. "They elected me governor to create jobs." [Edit: only he isn’t creating any – True Christians are.]
Zovath said federal courts have upheld state incentives for organizations affiliated with religious groups as long as they are not discriminatory.
"From what I've seen so far, as long as the tax incentives are available evenly and equally to all takers, whether it's an atheist museum or a pornography park, I have no cause to gripe," said Edwin Kagin, 70, national legal director for American Atheists and the leader of a "rally for reason" against what he terms "Arkonuts" at the Creation Museum's opening in May 2007. [Edit: Pornography Park, eh? You can see where all atheists have their minds.]
Protests over the nonprofit Creation Museum's "recent origin" doctrine, including the belief that people co-existed with dinosaurs after God created the Earth about 6,000 years ago and that scripture trumps science when the two disagree, haven't hurt attendance, the ministry says.
Projected to draw 250,000 people a year, attendance has instead topped 1 million in the first three years, it says. [Edit: One Million! More pilgrims that go to Mecca! Take that Allah!]
"The proof is in the pudding; the Creation Museum is a success," Zovath said, who predicts that the Ark Encounter also will exceed expectations. [Edit: Landover will be arranging trips as soon as it opens – we expect the demand for our package to be oversubscribed. It will include ax heads floating on water, the destruction of the Midianites, the opening of the ground to swallow sinners burning of witches, stoning of homers and the Massacre of the Innocents (put your child’s name down for this one early.)]
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