BMJ
7th July 2016, 13:53
Link: http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/noahs-ark-replica-built-by-aussie-set-to-open-in-the-us/ar-BBu1vIS?li=AAgfYrC&ocid=mailsignout
A $100 million Noah's ark attraction which took a former Australian science teacher six years to build opens tomorrow in the US.
The 155m-long ark is the brainchild of Ken Ham, a creationist who left his job in Brisbane three decades ago to move to Kentucky, where he has become a spokesperson and polarising leader for thousands of American's living in the country's Mid-West bible belt.
"I believe this is going to be one of the greatest Christian outreaches of this era in history," Ham told the LA Times.
"People are going to come from all over the world."
Ham addressed a media press conference yesterday where he told reporters that almost half the visitors to his ark will be non-Christians.
"In a world that is becoming increasingly secularized and biased, it’s time for Christians to do something of this size and this magnitude."
The staunch Young Earther and president of Answers In Genesis is one of countless people who believe the Earth is just 6,000 years old.
The group claim the design for the ark was based on dimensions used in the Bible.
Once inside, visitors will experience museum-style attractions and cages containing a range of animals, including dinosaurs – which the creationists believe co-existed with humans, despite scientific consensus that they died out at least 65 million years ago.
Earlier this year a federal judge ruled the project could receive a Kentucky sales tax incentive worth up to $18 million, a decision which has angered atheist groups.
"It's a clear violation of separation of church and state. What they're doing is utterly ridiculous and anywhere else, I don't think it would be allowed," leader of atheist group Tri-State Freethinkers, Jim Helton, told the LA Times.
"Basically, this boat is a church raising scientifically illiterate children and lying to them about science."
Helton's Freethinkers are one of many atheist groups planning to protest at tomorrow's opening which is expected to attract thousands of Christians from across the country.
A $100 million Noah's ark attraction which took a former Australian science teacher six years to build opens tomorrow in the US.
The 155m-long ark is the brainchild of Ken Ham, a creationist who left his job in Brisbane three decades ago to move to Kentucky, where he has become a spokesperson and polarising leader for thousands of American's living in the country's Mid-West bible belt.
"I believe this is going to be one of the greatest Christian outreaches of this era in history," Ham told the LA Times.
"People are going to come from all over the world."
Ham addressed a media press conference yesterday where he told reporters that almost half the visitors to his ark will be non-Christians.
"In a world that is becoming increasingly secularized and biased, it’s time for Christians to do something of this size and this magnitude."
The staunch Young Earther and president of Answers In Genesis is one of countless people who believe the Earth is just 6,000 years old.
The group claim the design for the ark was based on dimensions used in the Bible.
Once inside, visitors will experience museum-style attractions and cages containing a range of animals, including dinosaurs – which the creationists believe co-existed with humans, despite scientific consensus that they died out at least 65 million years ago.
Earlier this year a federal judge ruled the project could receive a Kentucky sales tax incentive worth up to $18 million, a decision which has angered atheist groups.
"It's a clear violation of separation of church and state. What they're doing is utterly ridiculous and anywhere else, I don't think it would be allowed," leader of atheist group Tri-State Freethinkers, Jim Helton, told the LA Times.
"Basically, this boat is a church raising scientifically illiterate children and lying to them about science."
Helton's Freethinkers are one of many atheist groups planning to protest at tomorrow's opening which is expected to attract thousands of Christians from across the country.