Ken Ham's "Ark Encounter" Loses 18 Million Tax Break

[stromboli]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2014/12/ken-hams-ark-encounter-loses-tax-incentive/

It looks like we sunk the ship!
According to the Courier-Journal the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet has said the theme park has evolved into a ministry that seeks to advance religion and is discriminating against employees.

“State tourism tax incentives cannot be used to fund religious indoctrination or otherwise be used to advance religion,” Tourism Secretary Bob Stewart wrote in the letter. “The use of state incentives in this way violates the separation of church and state provisions of the Constitution and is therefore impermissible.”

The organization denied any wrongdoing however, a stance hard to defend when the Ark Encounters own website says,
“The purpose of the Ark Encounter is to point people to the only means of salvation from sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, who also is the only God-appointed way to escape eternal destruction.”

Even the Governor of Kentucky who fully supported the project, and still hopes to see it completed realized it was a violation of federal laws to allow the tax incentives to go forward, saying:
“While the leaders of the Ark Encounter had previously agreed not to discriminate in hiring based on religion, they now refuse to make that commitment and it has become apparent that they do intend to use religious beliefs as a litmus test for hiring decisions.”

American United for the Separation of Church and State is welcoming this decision as well,

“This project was never a good candidate for public funding,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Its purpose is to promote fundamentalist Christianity, and it should be funded with private contributions from believers.”
AU played a major role in leading the state to this decision in which they issued a letter to the Governor earlier this year requesting the tax incentives be reviewed.
Ham has said countless times that breaking ground and finishing this project was going to rely on receiving this 18 million dollar tax incentive, and now it is lost.

Answers in Genesis, who is pouring money into an ad campaign claiming his ship cannot be sunk may soon be eating their words unless they can drum up donors and investors to come up with the much needed money to finish his park. Something they have been unable to do up to this point.

This is a massive win for the separation of church and state and for secularism!

So now we get to see the Hamster pleading with the xtian fundies to pony up the money to complete his dream boat. Five years from now, there will be a rusting steel superstructure standing sadly amidst the weeds as a testimony to Ken Ham's heavenly dream.

[Atheon]

Finally, a bit of good news in the "culture wars".

[Hydra009]

About time this huckster stopped getting government funding.

[SGOS]

Taxes designated to promote tourism given to a religious organization for the purpose of spreading it's ideology? Sure.  Whatever!  God Bless Murika.

[SGOS]

Doesn't the steel superstructure conflict with historical accuracy?

[AllPurposeAtheist]

The real reason is it just hasn't rained quite enough in Kentucky yet. Now if the Ohio river were to flood of true biblical proportions and swell to the depths of... Ohhh..let's just say the middle of the Pacific ocean I could see perhaps tax payers footing the bill and we could all be saved by an ark that obviously is designed to save human life from the wrath of GOD!

[Hydra009]

Taxes designated to promote tourism given to a religious organization for the purpose of spreading it's ideology? Sure.  Whatever!  God Bless Murika.

Which is darkly humorous as this is a secular state essentially bankrolling its own theocratic archenemies.



Stop persecuting us!  And fork over your money and your desks, while you're at it!

[AllPurposeAtheist]

The even darker humor is the churches pay ZERO in taxes and are for the most part very anti tax and yet need 18000000 in TAX money to build an ark in a state that doesn't even have a port..

[hrdlr110]

The even darker humor is the churches pay ZERO in taxes and are for the most part very anti tax and yet need 18000000 in TAX money to build an ark in a state that doesn't even have a port..

+1 - yep!

[hrdlr110]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2014/12/ken-hams-ark-encounter-loses-tax-incentive/

So now we get to see the Hamster pleading with the xtian fundies to pony up the money to complete his dream boat. Five years from now, there will be a rusting steel superstructure standing sadly amidst the weeds as a testimony to Ken Ham's heavenly dream.

Funny how he wound up building, or trying to build, this ark in the US and not his native Australia! We're not quite as gung-ho for his god, so his success would be even more limited. I'm very glad to hear that he's having money troubles with this project. If there were ever a ship in need of sinking, this is the one! Next he'll be appealing to animal welfare charities to fund his make-believe boat that is responsible for saving every animal we have today!

[Gerard]

Doesn't the steel superstructure conflict with historical accuracy?

No, I don't think so. There's no actual history here to begin with.

God could have asked Noah to use steel if he wanted to. Nothing is impossible with God.....

Gerard

[AllPurposeAtheist]

No, I don't think so. There's no actual history here to begin with.

God could have asked Noah to use steel if he wanted to. Nothing is impossible with God.....

Gerard

Steel grew on trees back in bible times, but let's be clear here..not iron because of the issues god has with those iron wheeled chariots which later was converted into kryptonite.

[Solitary]

Ok! Dumb atheists, how do you explain this:

[Gerard]

Ok! Dumb atheists, how do you explain this:

It's a boat?

Gerard

[stromboli]

Doesn't the steel superstructure conflict with historical accuracy?

Everything about this turkey conflicts with Biblical descriptions.



Apparently Gopher Wood is weldable........