Business | Kentucky.com: Construction of a Noah's Ark attraction in northern Kentucky is sailing along, and the builders say it will open next year.
Answers in Genesis, the Christian ministry leading the project, announced Thursday that the attraction will open to visitors July 7.
6 comments:
Honestly, my first reaction was that this sounds really cool, and I’m saying that as a person who isn’t religious, has no affiliation with Christianity, and who tends to be skeptical of the structure of religion. As for the concern about indoctrination, I don’t really see this as something that adds to that. Children who are raised to believe the Bible is historical fact are going to be raised to believe the Bible is historical fact, with or without a giant fake boat. I assume that Ark Encounter won’t be telling children that the boat they are walking through is the real ark, they will just tell them it is a replica. To be honest, if I saw this as a child, if anything it would make me more skeptical, because as soon as I started learning about the sheer number of species that exist in the world, I’d start to consider that they wouldn’t all fit on a boat of that size. I don’t think this project should be funded through the government, and I do think that there isn’t justification for donations to this project to be tax deductible, because I don’t think donations to religious organizations should be tax deductible on those grounds alone, and in this case, I don’t see any charitable work being done by the park, especially since it will charge admission. But, if someone can raise money to build a really big boat, and they want to build a really big boat, as long as school’s don’t start taking field trips to Ark Encounter for history class, I don’t see a problem with them building a really big boat. Just because I don’t believe in their religion doesn’t mean it is wrong for them to want to create a world to tell the story of their religion, and as long as they aren’t forcing their religion on other people, I don’t see a problem.
The Ark looks pretty impressive! This scale of themed entertainment is also very intriguing to me and is mildly evocative of other themed religious experiences such as “The Holy Land” theme park in Orlando and what used to be “Noah the Musical” in Branson, Missouri. On a technical level, these attractions are beautiful and impressive. However, I am glad that the article brings up the Ben Nye counter-point. I too am curious if this attraction will lead young people to place more legitimacy in the story of the Ark than in any actual science associated with the Ark. I don’t think the science community’s fear that the park will “…divert young people away from taking an interest in science” is too much of a stretch either. I’m all for religious freedom and experience, however, I also wish that this park wasn’t being placed in a part of the country that still battles for creationism to be taught in the school system as a counter (or even replacement) to the teaching of evolution. For me, this side of the issue comes down to improperly informing young people in an attempt to skew their view away from fact and into faith. I would be very curious to see what will happen when a school tries to make a visit to the Ark a class field trip.
Why did I choose to comment on this article? I knew it was going to make me angry . . . I can only hope that the people actually in change of this park have no illusions that it is being built to make money. Maybe Ken Ham actually believes in its message, but I wouldn’t expect his investors to. Although, I should play devils advocate for a minute, if I were given the option to created a theme park centered around science that could give family friendly fun and let kids play with Elle the Electron and Jerry the Genome, I would totally do it, but I would have no illusions that somewhere along the line, there is someone that doesn’t care about education, and just cares about tickets and merchandising. And its probably the same person funding the ARK Encounter. From a entertainment standpoint, this is a brilliant idea. If Disney can make billions and take over the entertainment sector by thinking that America really loves Mickey Mouse, then imagine what the fundamentalists can do with “spend an afternoon with Jesus.”
Listen, we all know what's really going on here... This is literally a modern day Noah's Ark. This tax incentive thing is a ploy to make money so when the world is flooded to remove the liberal media (because they will be the only ones not on the ark, being too busy eating a free range kale omlette at a Medditeranean bistro somewhere in Manhattan) the world can be refreshed in Gods infinitive wisdom...
Just kidding! How gross of someone to try and capitalize off religion. Like, I'm not opposed to having a religious themed park, I think any kids who would willingly go to this are already pretty far away from being interested in science, Bill, but the tax thing annoys me. I think tourist attractions tax incentives are dumb anyways, and this is truly a question of what separation of hutch and state can we handle.
I actually think this is a really great idea that will be very successful. I understand how some people may be upset that this kind of theme park will draw children away from science and hard fact, but I believe that religion can be a very enriching part of a child's life. Hear me out. I am not a practicing Christian. I am a non-religious person who was raised to believe in God, who found great solace in the stories of the Bible. Some of my favorite books as a kid were Alice in Bibleland, which followed a little girl in pigtails who would step into scenes in the Bible and travel back to explore the stories and meet the people in it. Regardless of your religious belief, the stories in the Bible are just that: great stories. You do not have to believe in God to believe in family values, or honesty, or kindness, or love. We could all learn a lot about human goodness in the stories from the old and new testaments. It is not the fault of the text that some people interpret them to extremes. I think this will be a fabulous theme park, based on some of the oldest stories we know, that will be wonderful for children to learn about Christian values if that is what they would like to learn.
I hope the people creating this theme park have no illusions about it's nature as money-making machine. I think there are some wonderful stories and lessons to be learned from the Bible, and don't get me wrong, if you want to build an ark have at it. But I stand with science, and I somehow doubt that in their reenactment of the ark they will be including the 12,000 different species of ant, and the almost 500 species of seagoing bird.
It is important, I think, to grow up understanding that the stories in the Bible are just that: stories. They have great value and lessons to teach, but if taken literally can lead to misunderstandings about the world we live in. Humans can go do their own thing, but disregarding the effect that time and resources have on the natural world and the development of creatures is detrimental to our understanding of science and of the possibilities that that understanding affords to us. I'll get off of my evolution soapbox now, but I hope that the creators of this religious themepark understand what they are communicating and do it in an appropriate way.
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