There is a huge Noah’s Ark theme park in Kentucky. Seriously. It’s super big.
Clik here to view.
Built by the Answers in Genesis (AiG) and its Australian-born president, Ken Ham, the Ark Encounter only costs $40 for adults, $31 for seniors and $28 for children. But they do offer some discounts on combo tickets and weekly passes. Well, if people want to spend money to build an ark they are welcome to it. As Ken Ham will tell you, no taxpayers funded this endeavor—sort of.
Ham is telling the truth, but it’s a literal interpretation of the truth. The money used to build Ark Encounter came from donations of almost $30 million, plus $62 million in high-risk, unrated municipal bonds backed by the project’s future revenues. If Ark Encounter never makes significant profits (and bond documents warn that it may not), neither the city nor AiG is on the hook for the bond money. However, according to Mike Zovath, chief actions officer for AiG and Ark Encounter, the millions in tax dollars that will be rebated through the formation of the aforementioned TIF district could go toward repaying the bonds and funding future attractions. What neither of them mentioned in conversations with me or in their many blog posts on the subject is that, as part of the TIF agreement, employees working within the TIF district will be subject to a 2 percent employment tax on gross wages for the next 30 years. In other words, $2 out of every $100 earned by people working at or around the park will go directly to paying off the attraction. So while tax dollars might not actually have been used to build the ark, a boatload that would otherwise go back into the community will instead be used to pay off Ark Encounter’s debt.
Oh boy. Bill Nye, who previously debated the creationist Ham back in 2014, went down to visit the Ark Encounter.
"I chose to visit the Ark Encounter to see for myself the extent of its influence on young people," Nye said Monday in a written statement.
"The influence is strong. I spoke with a lot of kids (and took a great many selfies). Almost all of them do not accept that humans are causing climate change — and that is the Answers In Genesis ministry's fault. Through its dioramas and signage, the organization promotes ideas that are absolutely wrong scientifically, while suppressing critical thinking in our students — which is in no one's best interest, conservative or progressive."
Clik here to view.
Ken Ham toured Nye around, where Ham worked his rudimentary rhetorical parlor tricks like asking Nye what happens when we die.
Ham said on Facebook the two had discussed what happens after death as they toured the ark, surrounded by surprised visitors. Nye answered him that when you die, "you're done," he said.
"I then asked him why he was concerned about what we were teaching at the Ark if when we die we're 'done,'" Ham said.
Oh snap! That’s true, Mr. Ham. You got me.
"He also stated that it's 'not crazy to believe we descended from Martians.' I then asked Nye if it was 'crazy to believe we descended from Adam and Eve!'"
My brain just froze up with all of the intelligence of this man’s argument. There’s a lot of money and recognition in the field of Christian apologetics and Mr. Ken Ham (no relation to Noah’s son or maybe, right?) fits in with the cherry-picked facts and the faith-based reasoning that disallows for credible debate. However, Bill Nye was able to find a bright spot in all of this willful ignorance.
“On a hopeful note, the parking lots were largely empty, and the ark building is unfinished. We can hope it will close soon.”
Amen.