The Creationists' Themepark tax-exempt debacle

[Exotix]

Noah's Ark theme park plan still afloat despite a deluge of criticism.

Creationist ministry says attraction will be non-religious, deserves state tax break

Today

Creationists' theme park seeks tax break - U.S. news - Life - Faith - msnbc.com


You won't have to take the Bible literally to be swept away by a full-size replica of Noah's ark, says the creationist ministry intent on building one in Kentucky with state aid.

Nor will you have to be a true believer to work at the 800-acre park near Williamstown, about 65 miles northeast of Louisville and roughly midway between Lexington, Ky., and Cincinnati, just off Interstate 75.

That's why the same group that "brings the pages of the Bible to life" at the privately funded Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., believes its $172 million biblically correct Ark Encounter will be a non-religious tourist attraction eligible for $37 million in state tax incentives once it's up and running.

Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has endorsed the for-profit theme park — which will include a first-century Middle Eastern village, live animal shows, a children’s interactive play area, a 100-foot replica of the Tower of Babel, a 500-seat special effects theater and an aviary — because it will create an estimated 900 jobs.

Their reasoning, however, has not stopped a deluge of criticism by clergy, atheists, newspaper editorial boards and others warning that government support for the project blurs the line of church-state separation.



"I'm no biblical scholar, but as far as I know, Noah built the first ark without government assistance," Sandhya Bathija, a spokeswoman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, wrote in a blog.

"These modern-day entrepreneurs should do so as well."



"We're not concerned about those kinds of comments," counters Mike Zovath, co-founder of Answers in Genesis, the ministry that operates the Creation Museum and also would run the theme park. "Ark Encounter will be a go."




Beshear also dismisses the church-state dispute.

"The people of Kentucky didn't elect me governor to debate religion," he said at a news conference in December.
"They elected me governor to create jobs."





While the criticism has been loud, the law appears to be on the side of the developers.

Federal courts have upheld state incentives for organizations affiliated with religious groups as long as they are not discriminatory, Zovath said.

And the leader of an atheist group opposed to the theme park agrees there likely will not be a court fight over the proposed tax breaks.

"From what I've seen so far, as long as the tax incentives are available evenly and equally to all takers, whether it's an atheist museum or a pornography park, I have no cause to gripe," said Edwin Kagin, 70, national legal director for American Atheists and the leader of a "rally for reason" against what he terms "Arkonuts" at the Creation Museum's opening in May 2007.




Protests over the nonprofit Creation Museum's "recent origin" doctrine, including the belief that people co-existed with dinosaurs after God created the Earth about 6,000 years ago and that scripture trumps science when the two disagree, haven't hurt attendance, the ministry says.




Projected to draw 250,000 people a year, attendance has instead topped 1 million in the first three years, it says.

"The proof is in the pudding; the Creation Museum is a success," said Zovath, who predicts that the Ark Encounter also will exceed expectations.



(Read continues in Link)


First financial hurdle cleared

Devil is in the details

Legal, image issues involved

Broad appeal predicted







Biblical stories are brought to life at Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Fla.
The Bible-based theme park typically sees about 2,000 visitors a day.

Holy Land a theme park of biblical proportions - Travel - Destination Travel - US and Canada - msnbc.com