Latest on the Ark Park Ministry

Does this surprise anyone, kennie ham calling the Ark Park a  . . . well you can read some of it for yourself if you want, the headline is: "Ark Encounter—A Great Evangelistic Outreach".  So right there in the headline is 'Evangelistic', gee!  Isn't it time for the lawmakers and citizens of Kentucky to wake up and realize they are giving away potential revenue and other incentives for a totally religious purpose?  Not even a generic religious purpose, but one for a very specific religion!  I would assume so, but they don't seem to care.

Let's quote a few more lines from his post(I added the underlines for emphasis):

•  ". . .we are now starting construction of the evangelistic Ark Encounter project . . ."
• "When you think about the fact that the Ark Encounter will be one of the greatest evangelistic outreaches of our time . . ."
• "I believe the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum will be two of the most powerful evangelistic outreaches in the world today!"
• "How many other centers are boldly, unashamedly, and uncompromisingly standing on God’s Word? Defending our faith against the attacks of our day? Equipping Christians of all ages with answers? Challenging non-Christians with the truth of God’s Word and the saving gospel?"

Does anyone actually believe the whole artificial structure kennie and his folks built to con the people of Kentucky out of revenue?  Really?  The Ark Park is an Evangelical Christian Ministry, nothing more. The people of Kentucky should realize that, and also realize that it's for a narrow sect of Christianity and not even one that is particularly inclusive.  Little kennie doesn't seem to believe that Christians who don't share his narrow view of things even have the right to call themselves Christians.  Instead I propose we should rename kennie's followers to 'hamians' to be able to more easily distinguish them from actual Christians!

The rest of kennie's post is about how he and his ministries keep coming under attack.  Nothing new there.  Anyone who dares to be critical of kennie is obviously the enemy and any criticism is called an 'attack', and not just a plain and ordinary attack, an 'atheistic attack'.  He does mention 'blog posts', I do so hope he counts my little effort here under that heading, it would make me so proud!

So just to be clear, if you oppose anything little kennie does you are not only not a Christian, but you are an atheist and your criticism is an attack.  That seems to hold true even if the rest of the Christian community accepts you as a Christian and also regardless of your actual religious beliefs.

 . . . A brief aside . . .

Let me tell you what annoys me about little kennie more than anything else.  I would like you to remember a lady named Tammy Kitzmiller.  She was a parent in the Dover PA school district and one of the 11 parents who were plaintiffs in the Dover suit.  For whatever reason her name was listed first so the suit is commonly referred to as Kitzmiller v. The Dover Area School District. According to Lauri Lebo's excellent book "The Devil in Dover" and many articles about the trial, Ms Kitzmiller suffered verbal abuse and attacks from self-identified Christians.  In a York Dispatch article they mentioned some of it:

• One letter she received, scrawled in big letters across a sheet of yellow notebook paper, begins, "When you open your eyes in hell. ..."
• One boy at school told the girls to tell their mother to "go to hell," delivering the message through a third person.
• The atmosphere worsened as campaigning began for a hotly contested school board election and people prepared for the trial. There were nasty phone calls and confrontations in restaurants and on the streets.

Imagine what your life is like when you stand against obvious injustice, when you publicly voice opposition to something the local school board was doing that is patently illegal!  You get ostracized by members of your own community, often people you once considered friends and neighbors.  These were attacks, enough to have her stop her daughters from even answering the phone!  This isn't the only example.  I believe the parents who sued John Freshwater after he burned a cross into their son's arm also received similar backlash. The members of the Iowa State University, after they refused to give Guillermo Gonzalez tenure -- tenure let me remind you that he failed to earn -- were vilified by some online blogs and posts, same with Ball State University's president, Jo Ann M. Gora and the whole Hedin/Gonzalez issue (yes, the same Gonzalez who screwed up so spectacularly at ISU).

Little, small-minded, kennie ham is the same sort of person who would encourage such behavior.  That's what he's doing when he calls anyone who criticizes him as an atheist.  Does he know what religion someone is by their critique of his actions?  Of course not!  But he's quick to label because nothing bring out the ire of a Christian, especially an Evangelical Christian, like the label 'atheist'.  In my opinion kennie views anyone who doesn't agree with him an atheist.  That's crap, but that's just what I have some to expect from little kennie.  Of course his 'defense' if you can call it that, is a form that old favorite 'But God is on my side!' and he seems to think that excuses his behavior! 

  . . . OK, soapbox put away and now back to the main reason for this post . . .

I did enjoy his closing paragraph (again, I added the underline):

"If you are looking to invest time, prayer, and finances in a Christian ministry and see a great spiritual return, I believe the evangelistic Ark is a great Kingdom investment opportunity!"

And after touting the recent successes, and the gaining of more State incentives . . . and after whining and crying about any form of criticism being an attack . . . he hits up his 'hamians' up for more money.  Plus he's offering a great spiritual return, not even a mention of a financial return.  Little kennie ham has no shame!  In my opinion, kennie is the modern equivalent of the snake oil salesman!