Posted on 08/06/2018 11:41:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Between 120 and 200 people gathered outside the Ark Encounter on July 7 to protest on the attraction’s second anniversary.
Organized by the Tri-State Freethinkers, co-founder Jim G. Helton said he was happy with the turnout — more than double than last year’s protest.
“The Ark Encounter has become a symbol of what’s wrong in Kentucky with the war on separation of church and state,” Helton said. “And when equality is under attack, atheists show up.”
Several speakers took the stage to kick off the protest, then the group marched up the sidewalk to the entrance of the Ark.
Helton said nearly a dozen groups, both national and local organizations, endorsed the event, including Planned Parenthood, Secular Coalition for America and American Atheists.
According to the event’s Facebook Page, some of the reasons for protesting included discriminatory hiring practices, anti-science teachings and receiving tax incentives from the state.
During the event, Helton said protestors and Ark Encounter employees and visitors had friendly dialogue, conversations and debates about their differing beliefs.
“We easily answered their questions on science and morality,” Helton said.
Helton said Klu Klux Klan members posted they were going to show up to the protest with guns, but the threats were removed online and no one from the KKK showed up during the event.
“The Ark Encounter sincerely welcomes atheists and other humanists to tour the Ark and be exposed to our teachings,” said Mark Looy, AiG chief communications officer. “Our welcome extends to guests who are very anti-Christian in their thinking. As long as they are not disruptive, atheists and secularists are encouraged to visit and discover what we actually believe, which is largely censored from society — especially in almost all public schools in America. We hope many of July 7th’s demonstrators came inside and learned what we truly teach. For example, the leader of the protesters told Channel 9 TV that we believe the Grand Canyon formed in 40 days, but if he had taken the time to read our exhibits for himself, he would have known not to make such a false statement like that.”
Looy said Ark officials acknowledge the protestors have a right to peacefully assemble.
“This group was largely peaceful, with some minor exceptions,” Looy said. “We point out that while 120 people demonstrated outside the Ark on July 7, over 6,000 visitors walked through the ship, and over 6,000 turned out the day before. Meanwhile, over 2,000 people visited our sister attraction, the Creation Museum, in Petersburg on July 7. That’s over 8,000 people at our attractions in one day.”
It is a DLRU, Dove Launch and Recovery Unit, you uneducated heathen, you!
"Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from surface of the ground. But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because water still covered the surface of the whole earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark.…
The article said "Tax Incentives". Usually this means a reduced tax rate (usually property tax) is applied to a business where the state thinks it will gain in income tax or sales taxes. It's an incentive for businesses to locate in the state. It doesn't say the Ark is receiving taxpayer money.
Thank you, God-hating atheists, for putting this destination on my Guns & Bible tour of 2109.
“i like how forward thinking God was to instruct Noah to put an A/C unit on the roof.”
The A/C was installed for the comfort of the thousands of daily visitors who come to see the educational exhibits.
The U.S. Capitol building did not originally have air conditioning but it was added later because citizens want to be as comfortable as possible when they visit. The air conditioning in the Capitol does not detract from the experience, it helps people enjoy the experience more.
I suppose a purist could argue otherwise.
I’m curious, Would that thing float? It looks like it would.
Not only would it float -
The dimensions of the ark are roughly equivalent to modern day ocean-going barges. Science has shown it to be the most stable of all boats in all weather conditions.
They’re for “free thinking” as long as you think exactly how they decide you should think.
The problem with A/C in the capitol building is not that it makes the tourists comfortable, it is that it makes the politicians comfortable. I’d rather have them getting all sweaty and fainting in there so they would at least take the summer off and give us a break from their scheming!
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>> “Protesting.... what, exactly?” <<
1. Yehova!
2. Reality
3. Freedom to speak the truth.
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Anything that is lighter than the water it displaces floats.
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>> “What the heck is wrong with these protestors?” <<
God is not respecting their POV.
Tax incentives are NOT the same as using taxpayer money to fund the ark. They are tax breaks, usually offered because the new enterprise will offer some economic benefit to the community.
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>> “’We easily answered their questions on science and morality,’ Helton said.” <<
Easily but not truthfully.
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No tax payer funds were used.
Typical lies are always thrown around and some gullible fool is bound to believe them.
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The Ark covered its cost in the first 2 weeks of operation.
Its a huge success in every way.
“...some of the reasons for protesting included discriminatory hiring practices, anti-science teachings and receiving tax incentives from the state.”
I was thinking that it was a lot like the NFL players taking a knee. It is a ‘protest’ for protesting sakes - and the reasons vary from player to player, and for many players, it seems to vary over time as well. (One week it was police shootings, the next week it is jobs, etc.)
It sounds like the Creation folks handled things well.
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Scientific education is a conflict in terms!
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Ya don’t need AC when its raining down on you for a month and a half! Nor do you need it in the middle of a world wide ocean.
Years ago teaching the kid’s in Sunday School, I brought a 300-foot long tape measure to mark out the size of the ark on the parking lot. I should have done a bit more planning - ran out of parking lot! I was even amazed at how large it was - once you put it into perspective on the ground.
Cool museum. Protestors lack clear thinking. “Free” thinkers have always been a scam, like Mormon “church”, “Free” Mason hospitals, and gender “equality”. Yeah, right. Just boring losers trying to sound logical and ethical without hard work.
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