FINDING THE LOST ARK--IN KENTUCKY
We set off on a road trip to see the famous Ark Encounter, as Noah was said to have built it. It is located in Williamstown, Kentucky, a little south of Cincinnati, not far from Big Bone Lick State Park (I'm not making this up--mammoth bones were excavated there). The Ark is essentially a creationist theme park which opened in 2016. It is managed by a Young Earth Creationist group called Answers in Genesis. Young Earth people believe the Earth was actually created in 4004 B.C., a date established by Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656) of the Church of Ireland. Other religions assert different dates for Creation, for example, the Jewish calendar begins in 3760 B.C. on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. The Byzantine writings assert Creation occurred September 1, 5509 B.C.
Ussher did meticulous research, poring over multiple sources other than the Bible--ancient Persian, Greek and Roman writings, as well as astronomy and ancient calendars. He was quite a learned man of his day. He was able to place the death of Alexander the Great at 323 B.C. and Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Ussher coordinated the inconsistent texts of the Torah ( 2 versions of Genesis) which have different numbers of years between the Flood and Creation, and determined that the Creation occurred exactly 4000 years prior to the birth of Christ who historians contend was born in 4 B.C. He went even further and determined that Creation took place at nightfall on October 22, 4004 B.C., around 6 P.M.. I would assume that was Greenwich Mean Time, but clocks weren't invented yet. Calculating the date and time of Creation was serious business in those days, and prominent scholars such as Isaac Newton worked out their own calculations.
The Ark Encounter received tax incentives conferred by local, county and state agencies as a tourist attraction bringing people to the area. As you can imagine, numerous lawsuits were filed challenging those benefits. Some litigants raised First Amendment issues asserting that government agencies were promoting a particular religious belief--the Constitution requires separation of church and state. By and large, the good citizens of Kentucky have no problem with it because this thing brings in thousands of tourists and creates jobs.
In another lawsuit, the Plaintiffs allege (I like that word) discriminatory hiring practices. Using that pretext, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance authority sued to withdraw the tax incentives. The Ark's policy requires a prospective job seeker to be Christian and agree to sign a statement of faith attesting to his/her belief in Young Earth Creationism. Oh, and among other things, that job seeker must acknowledge that homosexuality is a sin. Not surprisingly, the Left went ballistic when the project was conceived.
One would expect that the organization doesn't want its employees making fun of the exhibits and their message. The U.S. District Court in Kentucky ruled in favor of the Ark, based on the Supreme Court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case. In that case, the court found that individuals had the right to run their businesses as for-profit corporations in the manner required by their religious beliefs. The court restored the tax incentives. In the meantime, Kentucky had an election and elected a new governor, Matt Bevin, a conservative, who announced that the State would not appeal, and for good measure, replaced 4 of the 9 members of the Authority.
So there you have it--the Ark is attracting thousands of tourists at Disney World prices, creating hundreds of jobs. Perhaps lots of Kentuckians and others do believe the universe is only 6000 years old. Maybe we should blame the state of our education system where a large percentage of millennials, when interviewed, can't name the 3 branches of government and protest about our bombing Saskatchewan. Editor's note: we didn't really bomb Saskatchewan, although the Japanese did during World War II.
Back to the Ark itself. This enormous structure, 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet tall was built by Amish craftsmen according to the specs in the Bible as interpreted by Ken Ham, a wealthy Evangelical Christian. Well, not totally according to the Bible. Instead of holding it together with wooden pegs, the builders had to comply with modern building codes and use steel fasteners. Nothing in the Book of Genesis indicates that Noah had to contend with unions, building and zoning ordinances or obtaining competing bids. Noah didn't have to get a license or permits--but then neither did Bezalel, a 13 year old boy with no discernible experience, who constructed the first Temple in Jerusalem. You can look it up.
The Ark contains 95 tons of metal plates and bolts to hold it together. Oil lamps are a no-no--they can be combustible. The Code requires electric lighting.
The structure contains three levels of exhibits, as well as 132 bays--holding pens for the animals. Each one stands 18 feet high. There are no live animals, just models of animals that Noah presumably took on the Ark including dinosaurs (!).
Mr. Ham took poetic license with a lot of things in designing the museum. For example in the exhibits, he gave names to the wives of Noah and his 3 sons. In Genesis, the women were described as "wives" but not named. Tourists ask stuff like "who cleaned up the poop from all those animals?" The Ark has an exhibit showing an elaborate disposal system to remove the trash, presumably without polluting the water outside Once again, Genesis does not mention plumbing in describing the Ark.
Another exhibit discussed the issue of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Did the Flintstones really have a pet dinosaur? The exhibit explained that Noah didn't bring in two of every species; instead he had 2 of every order, like the ancestor of the dinosaurs. That's probably fortunate for Noah and his sons because squeezing a brachiosaurus into one of those little pens would make things very uncomfortable for everyone.
The Ark featured several exhibits attempting to make a credulous effort to explain that Archbishop Ussher was right; the world really was created in 4004 B.C. Certainly the Ark was entertaining to us tourists, but visiting scientists just throw up their hands in despair.
NEXT: Touring the South--World War I museum, two presidential libraries, remembering a basketball legend. and shrimping in the Gulf.
Ussher did meticulous research, poring over multiple sources other than the Bible--ancient Persian, Greek and Roman writings, as well as astronomy and ancient calendars. He was quite a learned man of his day. He was able to place the death of Alexander the Great at 323 B.C. and Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Ussher coordinated the inconsistent texts of the Torah ( 2 versions of Genesis) which have different numbers of years between the Flood and Creation, and determined that the Creation occurred exactly 4000 years prior to the birth of Christ who historians contend was born in 4 B.C. He went even further and determined that Creation took place at nightfall on October 22, 4004 B.C., around 6 P.M.. I would assume that was Greenwich Mean Time, but clocks weren't invented yet. Calculating the date and time of Creation was serious business in those days, and prominent scholars such as Isaac Newton worked out their own calculations.
The Ark Encounter received tax incentives conferred by local, county and state agencies as a tourist attraction bringing people to the area. As you can imagine, numerous lawsuits were filed challenging those benefits. Some litigants raised First Amendment issues asserting that government agencies were promoting a particular religious belief--the Constitution requires separation of church and state. By and large, the good citizens of Kentucky have no problem with it because this thing brings in thousands of tourists and creates jobs.
In another lawsuit, the Plaintiffs allege (I like that word) discriminatory hiring practices. Using that pretext, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance authority sued to withdraw the tax incentives. The Ark's policy requires a prospective job seeker to be Christian and agree to sign a statement of faith attesting to his/her belief in Young Earth Creationism. Oh, and among other things, that job seeker must acknowledge that homosexuality is a sin. Not surprisingly, the Left went ballistic when the project was conceived.
One would expect that the organization doesn't want its employees making fun of the exhibits and their message. The U.S. District Court in Kentucky ruled in favor of the Ark, based on the Supreme Court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case. In that case, the court found that individuals had the right to run their businesses as for-profit corporations in the manner required by their religious beliefs. The court restored the tax incentives. In the meantime, Kentucky had an election and elected a new governor, Matt Bevin, a conservative, who announced that the State would not appeal, and for good measure, replaced 4 of the 9 members of the Authority.
So there you have it--the Ark is attracting thousands of tourists at Disney World prices, creating hundreds of jobs. Perhaps lots of Kentuckians and others do believe the universe is only 6000 years old. Maybe we should blame the state of our education system where a large percentage of millennials, when interviewed, can't name the 3 branches of government and protest about our bombing Saskatchewan. Editor's note: we didn't really bomb Saskatchewan, although the Japanese did during World War II.
Back to the Ark itself. This enormous structure, 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet tall was built by Amish craftsmen according to the specs in the Bible as interpreted by Ken Ham, a wealthy Evangelical Christian. Well, not totally according to the Bible. Instead of holding it together with wooden pegs, the builders had to comply with modern building codes and use steel fasteners. Nothing in the Book of Genesis indicates that Noah had to contend with unions, building and zoning ordinances or obtaining competing bids. Noah didn't have to get a license or permits--but then neither did Bezalel, a 13 year old boy with no discernible experience, who constructed the first Temple in Jerusalem. You can look it up.
The Ark contains 95 tons of metal plates and bolts to hold it together. Oil lamps are a no-no--they can be combustible. The Code requires electric lighting.
The structure contains three levels of exhibits, as well as 132 bays--holding pens for the animals. Each one stands 18 feet high. There are no live animals, just models of animals that Noah presumably took on the Ark including dinosaurs (!).
Mr. Ham took poetic license with a lot of things in designing the museum. For example in the exhibits, he gave names to the wives of Noah and his 3 sons. In Genesis, the women were described as "wives" but not named. Tourists ask stuff like "who cleaned up the poop from all those animals?" The Ark has an exhibit showing an elaborate disposal system to remove the trash, presumably without polluting the water outside Once again, Genesis does not mention plumbing in describing the Ark.
Another exhibit discussed the issue of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Did the Flintstones really have a pet dinosaur? The exhibit explained that Noah didn't bring in two of every species; instead he had 2 of every order, like the ancestor of the dinosaurs. That's probably fortunate for Noah and his sons because squeezing a brachiosaurus into one of those little pens would make things very uncomfortable for everyone.
The Ark featured several exhibits attempting to make a credulous effort to explain that Archbishop Ussher was right; the world really was created in 4004 B.C. Certainly the Ark was entertaining to us tourists, but visiting scientists just throw up their hands in despair.
NEXT: Touring the South--World War I museum, two presidential libraries, remembering a basketball legend. and shrimping in the Gulf.
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