Built by Christians who believe the Earth is 6,000 years honest-to-goodness , a 510 - fundament - long , $ 100 million “ replica ” of Noah ’s Ark is set to afford in a new Kentucky theme park later this week . critic say the draw is nothing more than a prominent Christian church that ’ll be used to perpetuate creationist falderol .
The novel theme park , call calledArk Encounter , will officially open in Williamstown , Kentucky , on July 7 . Yesterday , some 7,000 client were invited to a especial ribbon - veer ceremony . expression of the giant ship , which has been on-going since 2010 , was initiated byAnswers in Genesis , a Christian group headed by Ken Ham . The structure is meant to commemorate the work of Noah , and to stand as a proof that the stories in the Bible are true .
“ I conceive this is going to be one of the greatest Christian outreaches of this era in history,”saidHam during the ceremony . “ People are endure to come from all over the world . ”
The full - sized ark , built allot to the attribute stated in the Bible , quantify 510 feet long , 85 foot wide , and 51 feet high . The interior features several exhibits , including displays of Noah ’s folk , rows of John Milton Cage Jr. containing creature replicas , and even the odd dinosaur . ( Answers in Genesis , like many fundamentalist Christians , believe that dinosaurs existed 6,000 year ago but were wipe out in the Great Flood . )
Funding for the undertaking was initially inert , but things change when HamdebatedBill Nye “ the Science Guy ” in 2014 . The resulting photograph resulted in a sizable surge in donations for the ark park , include a local Julian Bond issuing that channeled tens of gazillion of dollar into the effort . ( Later , Nye would say he was “ heartbroken and come down ” by the turn of issue ) .
In another boost , a Union judge latterly said the spiritual projection could find sales revenue enhancement incentives worth up to $ 18 million , so long as strict spiritual test were distribute to employee . critic say the judge ’s conclusion is a intrusion of separation of church and state .
This project , needless to say , has its fair share of critics . “ essentially , this gravy holder is a church raising scientifically illiterate kid and lying to them about science,”notedJim Helton , the drawing card of an atheistical group anticipate the Tri - State Freethinkers , in the LA Times . For activists like Helton , the novel religious root word parkland is a setback in the effort to removecreationist teachingsfrom science class .
https://gizmodo.com/how-19-year-old-activist-zack-kopplin-is-making-life-he-30791988
disregarding , Ham ’s group estimate that the attraction will draw upwards of two million visitors in its first year which will rival other big - ticket attractions in nearby Cincinnati .
[ LA Times ]
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