How to Ruin Halloween!

Little kennie ham, the purveyor of multiple pseudo-Christian ministries (Answers in Genesis, the Ark Park, and the Creation 'museum') is trying to take any fun out of Halloween. In a post over on his blog, "Sharing Christ with Trick-or-Treaters" and offers his view on how 'trick or treating' should happen. He wants you to:

• Buy one of his booklets to hand out instead of candy (A Biblical and Historical Look at Halloween)
• Or try "reverse-trick-or-treating" when you bring a basket of goodies to bless your neighbors. Include a gospel booklet with your home-baked or store-bought treats. 
• Have a family discussion about this day with a DVD (Halloween, Paganism, and the Bible), it's by the same guy who wrote the booklet 
• Get kennie's “Halloween Learn and Share Kit”, which includes the previously mentioned booklet and DVD and also two different kinds of dollar-bill sized tracts.

Yes, each and every one of his alternatives to costumes and candy involve purchasing something from his store.  He's not just after having others do his preaching, he wants you to pay him for the privilege!

I enjoy Halloween, I always have.  It's one of my favorite holidays.  The best part is all the kids coming to the front door.  The costumes are terrific and it's just plain fun!  When my daughters were younger, trick or treating was usually limited to 2 hours.  For the first hour they would go trick or treating and for the second hour they would help us give out candy to the other kids.  They loved both parts and, to this day, still love it as much as I do.

My local town has a Halloween Parade and several stores filled with Halloween accompaniments.  We decorate inside and out, in fact this weekend we'll be putting up some lights, spiders and webbing, and corn stalks.  The evening before trick or treating my daughter, granddaughter, and I will be hand carving several pumpkins.  The next evening we will thoroughly enjoy giving out candy and seeing the incredible costumes and cutest kids!

I choose not to preach to those kids and their families.  I have no idea what religion they might be, so assuming they would even welcome preaching is hubris personified.  But we know why kennie wants us all to preach his party line -- he doesn't accept any religion but his own.  Remember his 'World Religion Conference'?  He advertised it as:

"Join us for the World Religions Conference July 24-27 and please share this with friends and family members who might be interested.More than ever, Christians need to know what other religions believe and then learn how to reach the lost souls mired in them." (World Religion Conference)

Did you note the phrase 'how to reach lost souls mired in them [religions other than his own].  So he doesn't even recognize that people coming to his door might not appreciate preaching his narrow viewpoint.  I pretty much can picture what will happen next year, if I did as kennie wants -- very few kids coming to the door!  The kids might not remember, but I am pretty sure the parents will.  Having a light on won't make much difference, the neighborhood kids will avoid my house!  Following kennie's suggestions would only ruin a perfectly fun holiday.  Little kennie's not going to ruin this holiday!

I am sorta curious if anyone bothers to go to kennie's house for Halloween?   I wonder what his house looks like, probably something more on the order of a mansion, like many other Evangelical preacher's homes.  So I bet you don't even get past the gate.

In closing I have to post this.  It has nothing to do with kennie and his whining.  It's just cute.

Division along Racial Lines is Bad, but Division along Religious Lines is OK! Really?

The Gospel Herald has an article about one of my favorite targets, little kennie ham of the Answers in Genesis, Creation 'museum' and Ark Park fame. In it they quote little kennie talking about racism:

"There aren't 'white' or 'black' people-we're all the same color," Ham wrote in a Facebook post. "All humans have the same basic color of skin (which comes from the pigment melanin) just different shades--there are no 'white' or 'black' people. Using terms like 'white' and 'black' promotes division, racism, and prejudice--all are brown." ()

My issue doesn't address race, but division and prejudice.  Yes there are specific terms are divide people in many ways.  In recent years we've seen huge examples of divisiveness due to politics, more so than I can ever remember.  But there is another set of divisive terms and for some reason kennie not only doesn't address them, but promotes them.  They have to do with religion.

This is the same man who is hosting a 'World Religions Conference' next month and the stated purpose of that conference:

""Join us for the World Religions Conference July 24-27 and please share this with friends and family members who might be interested.More than ever, Christians need to know what other religions believe and then learn how to reach the lost souls mired in them." (World Religion Conference)"

Let me repeat the last part of that: "reach the lost souls mired in them".  So we are expected to believe this is a person whose wants to end divisiveness and prejudice?  And yet shows absolutely no tolerance for any religious beliefs other than his own!  What makes his belief set any better than any other?  Absolutely nothing!  In my opinion, the fact that kennie believes it, should be a huge warning flag to anyone with a functioning brain!

He preaches that we are all one people, but it only works for kennie if we all share one religion, his religion.  It's not even mainstream Christianity any more, but a narrow version of Christianity based on his personal beliefs.  It may have started with Christianity once upon a time, but it's evolved into something much more divisive and prejudicial.  How can someone claim to against divisiveness when he clearly demonstrate s prejudice against anyone who fails to share his narrow viewpoint.

You can't even work for ham unless you share that view.  Here is a copy from the AiG Employment Website for the requirements for a Plumber:

Remember, this is for a Plumber, not a minister, a plumber.  But to work for kennie at any of his ministries, you have to share his narrow religious viewpoint. I can understand the first three, but what do the last three have to do with your ability as a plumber?  Although, you might ask why kennie would need a plumber, won't prayer handle any problems?

One of the things you can expect if you visit one of kennie ham's monuments to his own ego, is the lack of any sort of freedom of expression.  Back in 2009 the Secular Students of America visited the place and there was a number of email exchanges pretty much guaranteeing that free speech is not allowed, particularly any attire the Creation Museum staff decided was 'godless'.  Here is one example.

I was in attendance that day as well and found the SSA folks to be quiet and reserved.  I didn't notice any 'godless' clothing, but I did listen to a guy who was told to turn his shirt inside out because it said "There probably is no God".  A valid opinion, but not if you are kennie's place.  See what I mean, how divisive is an arbitrary limit on freedom of expression.

This is also the man who was dis-invited from two homeschool conferences back in 2011 for what was described by the organizers for:

"The Board believes that Ken's public criticism of the convention itself and other speakers at our convention require him to surrender the spiritual privilege of addressing our homeschool audience," read the email, posted on the AiG website."Our Board believes Ken's comments to be unnecessary, ungodly, and mean-spirited statements that are divisive at best and defamatory at worst," the homeschooling group wrote, however, that it is "100% young earth" in its scientific stance."

Look at the words:  "divisive at best and defamatory at worst"!  Little kennie, and his 'Hamians', are among the most divisive people on the planet.  They believe so strongly in their particular religious strain, that they are perfectly OK with discriminating against the rest of the world, the overwhelming majority of which don't share his views.  We don't even have to get into his views on the LGBT community to realize how divisive and prejudicial Ham and Co. is.  So take his post about racial divisiveness with a large bag of salt.  He doesn't care about it, he's just using it to market his religion. 

Another City Needed to be Reminded about the Law (and the US Constitution)

When I first heard about Christianburg Va's plan to host a three-day trip to the monument to little kennie ham's ego (the Creation 'museum' and ark park) I had two immediate thoughts: When was the backlash going to happen and what little kennie was going to have to say about it.  The first happened, the second is probably being written now.  If it's not yet being written, I am sure little kennie's blood pressure is on the rise.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), who we have written about before, sent a letter to Christianburg's Park and Recreation Dept and they [the department] realized the error of their ways and cancelled the trip.  I am surprised it happened so quickly.  In my opinion what happened is that whoever was managing that trip hadn't considered the fact that it was a trip to a religious ministry, not an educational or entertainment attraction, as much as little kennie tries to market it that way..  So they changed their minds rather quickly.  So far, things are proceeding as I think they should and, dare I say it, legally.  Government organizations should not be sponsoring such trips and doing so can open you up for legal action.  Gladly it only required a reminder before correcting their error.

Now, the fun starts.  What will kennie say?  Anyone else have an opinion?  You know what I am going to say -- Little kennie is going to play the martyr card and offer this up at yet another example of his Christian Persecution Complex.  Yes, kennie, the whole world is against you because they won't do everything you demand.  Regardless of the fact a city planning such a trip violates the Constitution (Lemon Test) doesn't matter to you.  I'm sure you'll be able to use this and squeeze more money out of your Hamians.

I know that makes me sound like I don't think little kennie is in this for the glory of a God . . . but can anyone really tell the difference between some a megachurch mogel, a televangelist preaching the 'prosperity gospel', and kennie building his ego-driven edifices?  If you don't think his ego isn't involved, you might to read the Bible and see how little kennie keeps 'interpreting' it while claiming Biblical literalism and inerrancy.  The irony is looking at what kennie does and what he says, the gap between them is not-very-surprisingly wide.

Private groups can do what they like, but public organizations -- like city departments and public schools -- shouldn't be doing certain things, and this was one of them.  Yes, kennie, I know you seem to think the Constitution should be re-written to make everything you do legal, but that's not what the law says, nor is it -- in my opinion -- in keeping the spirit of the drafters of the Constitution.  You aren't being persecuted, you are being limited by the law and I know how much that rankles you.  We discussed some of this before in "How Can You Tell When your Religious Liberties are being Violated?", including this graphic:

Little kennie reminds me of one of my neighbors during the late 60's and early 70's.  He was dead set against any form of civil rights for . . well . . . people that weren't exactly like him.  One of his constant complaints were how people like him were being persecuted by women and other men not like him because of the civil rights movement.  Was he actually being persecuted?  No, civil rights was about leveling the playing field and living up to the Constitution's promise about equality.  Just because you don't like something that's going on, doesn't mean you are being persecuted!

Was Kim Davis being persecuted because she went to jail for being a Christian?  No, she went to jail for refusing to do her job, her religion was her excuse and also her get-out-of-jail card because pf pandering politicians! Was that baker in Co persecuted for being a Christian?  No, he was prosecuted, and lost, for refusing to provide certain specific business services to a gay couple.  It's not persecution, it's leveling the playing field that for decades Christians have enjoyed special rights. Losing those 'special' rights isn't persecution, no matter how painful it might feel.

You might disagree with me that Christians have had a lot of special privileges, but think it through. Blue Laws enforced a religious decree from which religion?  How about the addition of 'Under God' to the Pledge Of Allegiance, don at the urging of who? the Knights of Columbus, one of the largest fraternal Catholic organizations in the world.  You can look for, and easily find many, many examples of Christian religion being dominant in everyday American life, whether you support that religion or not.  When was the last time you saw a Muslim theologian giving a benediction at a public event?  OK, maybe the question is when was the first time?

Many of the actions to reduce that dominance and establish the equality so desired by the framers of the Constitution is frequently characterized as 'persecution'.  As I see it, Christians do not want to lose their special status and they wish to continue to be able to use their religion to discriminate against anyone who isn't part of their religion.  Case in point are the state bills being introduced specifically designed to permit religious discrimination, like Indiana's (signed by the new VP when he was the Governor).

I have said it many times, the government should not be a tool of any special interest, including religion.  That might seem a pie-in-the-sky wish, certainly considering the current government leadership, or lack therein, but that's how I feel.  You cannot write a law that has any form of discrimination at its heart.

Book Review: Righting America at the Creation Museum

First off, I haven't read this book (yet).  While I do read a lot, I can't read everything I would like to, there is only so much time in the day.  In this case I ran across this review and thought it was very interesting.  "Book review: ‘Righting America at the Creation Museum’ "  I wasn't going to read it, thinking it was yet another puff piece about little kennie ham's monument to his own ego.  Plus it was written by two University of Dayton professors.  While I do live in the Dayton area, UD is one of the premiere Catholic Universities in the country.  Those of you who have been reading my blog are familiar with my issues over various organized religions.  Secondly it was in the "Mennonite World Review", self-described as "An independent ministry of Christian journalism serving Mennonites and the global Anabaptist Movement"  You can see my skepticism, but I also recognized it as a knee-jerk reaction and I try not give way to knee-jerk reactions.  Which means I have read a great many things that end up quickly dismissed.

So I started reading the review, still expecting to see a puff piece, wow . . . I was surprised.  This book . . . well let me quote the review:

"Susan L. Trollinger and Wil­liam Vance Trollinger Jr. [the authors] describe the Creation Museum as an arsenal for the Christian Right’s culture wars. It’s an apt analogy, but perhaps a better comparison would be a propaganda campaign."

That sort of opening certainly got my attention.  No puff piece would have used the term 'propaganda campaign'!  The review got better:

"They describe exhibits that don’t adhere to stated principles, opportunistic applications of Scripture and dubiously employed uses of theology, history and science — all in a facility that douses visitors with a flood of information in a fast-paced environment that obscures the shortcomings."

I likened the 'museum' as a carnival ride.  An Opportunistic applications of Scripture . . . I would have worded that slightly different, and have in the past.  The Creation 'Museum' and its sister exhibit, the 'replica' of Noah's Ark. are  based on kennie ham's personal interpretation of the first 11 chapters of the Christian Bible, or as I like to say: "The Bible according to kennie ham".  For example:

"The museum’s biblical foundation is problematic. It asserts not only that all Scripture must be read literally but also that it’s commonsensical and doesn’t need interpretation — which is itself an interpretation. Righting America points out that the museum doesn’t address the striking differences between the two creation stories in Genesis and the two sets of instructions to Noah, who first was told to take two of each kind of animal but later seven pairs of each clean animal and one pair of each that was unclean."

See what I mean, little kennie cherry picks the hell [pun intended] of the Bible and then assumes he's the only arbitrator truthfulness.

There are more critiques, some even more damning than what I have posted here.  I encourage you to go read it all for yourself.  If I quote any more, I would simple have to quote the entire article, but that's against the rules to reproduce it in its entirety.  So go and enjoy this reminder that little kennie doesn't represent all of Christianity, as much as he seems to think he does.  He only represents a small minority, a very small minority.  In my opinion most Christians probably think he's nuts.

The Ark isn't Impressive to All!

Today over on the Motherboard website is a nice article on little kennie ham's latest folly, "A Visit to 'Ark Encounter', Where Creationism and Dinosaurs Collide", by Taylor Dorrell.  Little kennie won't like it for a couple of reasons.

First of all, the most obvious reason, is because Taylor didn't bend a knee and give kennie the homage he seems to expect.  To kennie, the world is a binary set of people, those who agree completely with him and everyone else.  The simple fact that 'everyone else' is a huge majority doesn't matter much to kennie, he's convinced in his own righteousness.  Even if you are a member of one of the many similar religious groups -- if you aren't a member of kennie's, you aren't.

Taylor obviously is not.  Instead of simply re-iterating all the things kennie has said about his latest ministry, Taylor wrote honestly about his visit.  I'm not convinced honesty is a word that comes up often where kennie is concerned.  Here's a great quote:

"After experiencing both the Creation Museum and the Ark, I’ve concluded that most of the people visiting are very nice, but I see [Neil DeGrasse] Tyson’s concern with teaching children stories as fact: Ken Ham’s arguments against the Earth being billions of years old rely on the inconsistency of radiometric dating; he doesn’t believe that the light from far away stars and galaxies take billions of years to reach the Earth. When making these arguments, he’s quoting the Bible, not science or any discovery or data in the modern world, as a viable source."

As you can see Taylor sees one of my own issues, the education of our children.  I saw it when I visited kennie's other ministry, the poorly named Creation 'museum' in 2009.  It wasn't so much the adults wandering around looking like they were about to genuflect every three steps, it was listening to the adults 'explain' the exhibits to their children that was positively frightening.

The other reason little kennie might not like this article can be summed up with one little quote:

"I went on the first Sunday it was opened, expecting a large crowd. However there were very few visitors."

Yes, a first hand account on the dearth of visitors.  I know I have been waiting for some idea of how popular, or not popular, kennie's new monument to scientific ignorance is -- but so far the ark folks have been pretty quiet about it.  Other than kennie getting busted claiming the press day picture, with lots of people, was the opening day to the public, so far all unofficial reports have mentioned a lack of visitors.  I am reasonable sure kennie will find lots of people to blame, like the FFRF who sent a letter to area public schools suggesting that visiting the ark is a bad idea, or even Taylor here for not simply re-hashing a kennie ham press release.  But it seems that attendance at the ark ministry isn't coming close to little kennie's extremely generous projections.  Which could leave the taxpayers of Kentucky with a hefty bill.

So I can safely assume kennie will comment on this article, if he can find it among all the other negative articles about the ark park.  I'm sure kennie will accuse the writer of something like being an atheist of some sort, without a clue to his actual religious beliefs.  Obviously kennie isn't responsible for the falling attendance of his 'museum' and the apparent poor attendance of his phony replica . . . well what would you call it?  How can you make a replica of a non-existent ship?  A model maybe, but calling it a replica means that there had to have been an original.  In any event, kennie will find others to blame and if if gets worse, he will get to dump the bill on Kentucky and probably remind us how God told him to do it.

OK, enough of this, I am sure there will be more articles in the future, but the activity does seem to be dying down.  I used to get 5 or 6 links to articles about the ark park every day,  It's slowed to a maybe 2 a week, apparently it's falling just like it's attendance.

Letters to the Editor Should at Least Show a Grasp of the Subject

In a letter to the editor from the Lexington Herald Leader, this little bit of inaccuracy appeared.  I'm not going to quote the whole letter, you can read it for yourself.  But the writer got a few things in error.  He said that at little kennie ham's ark park public school students will be "presented with a theory".  Talk about incorrect!  Creationism, either the wider Christian version or the narrow Fundamentalist Evangelical Ham version is not a scientific theory and trying to equate it to actual science theories is creating an equality that is completely artificial and misleading.  I have to wonder if the letter writer even knows that in saying something like that, he's actually lying?

Then he goes on to say that neither ham's version of Creationism nor Evolution is scientific, which tells me the people of Kentucky are well served because he ended his letter with "(NOT THE STATE EDUCATION CHIEF)" and I am sure every person in Kentucky should have been breathing as sigh of relief that the writer isn't the chief of education in Kentucky or the state of your educational system would rival the absolute worst in the world.

Then the author goes on to pass on one of kennie's mantras, of how "Both models rely on the exact same body of evidence but the adherents of each interpret the evidence differently."  Does anyone still buy into that anymore? Little kennie doesn't 'come' to a conclusion, he already has his conclusion, it's whatever he interprets from his reading of the Bible. He then ignores the majority of the actual evidence and does his best to twist what little evidence remains to fit his preconceived 'conclusions'. I think we need to use a different word than 'conclusions' when discussing kennie ham. A 'conclusion' is something that occurs at the end of a process.  You can't start with a 'conclusion', as kennie does and then he tries to find a way to back to it no matter how convoluted the path he creates.  Yes, kennie does create his own path, for example the log rafts he claims delivered animals around the world following Noah's flood, that's not in the Bible, but a Hamian invention.  So is his explanation of where the Land of Nod is, and . . . well we could be here all day listing the things kennie invented to rationalize Biblical stories.

The most annoying thing in this letter is the mandate that if education is doing its job then "a field trip to the Ark Encounter should not only be permitted but required".  I have to wonder does this writer work for kennie and he's trying to bump up ark park attendance, especially since preliminary numbers do not seem to be supporting kennie's 2 million a year estimated attendance?  Going against the Constitution of the US and having public schools fund a visit to a specific religious ministry isn't something any school system should be contemplating.

Of course kennie is trying to pass off his ministry as an educational, recreational, or historical attraction, but that's just a recent turn of events ever since he found out some people have an actual understanding of the Bill of Rights and a public school funding a school trip to one of his ministries is a clear violation.  His pseudo-museum and ark park are ministries, something he has stated repeatedly and the purpose of those ministries, in his own words is 

• Our work at Ark Encounter is not just a job, it is also a ministry.
• Our purpose . . . to serve and glorify the Lord with our God-given talents with the goal of edifying believers and evangelizing the lost."
• "Yes, our motive is to do the King’s business until He comes. And that means preaching the gospel and defending the faith, . . ."

Sure, educational, recreational, and historical . . . where?  His own words betray him.  I know the author of the letter already buys what kennie is selling, but looking at the many comments about the letter, not too many other people are.  The bodes well for Kentucky's future.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article93154457.html#storylink=cpy

The Definition of an Atheist -- the kennie ham way

Apparently little kennie ham (of AiG, Creation 'Museum' and now the new 'Ark Park' infamy) defines an Atheist as anyone who doesn't believe as he believes.  Here's an example, "Ken Ham: Atheists 'Go Ballistic' When Children Visit Ark Encounter, Speak Against Naturalism"  So who is speaking out against public school kids visiting kennie's monuments to his own beliefs?  Anyone who reads the Constitution for comprehension should be speaking out.The FFRF has voiced a concern about using public funds to send public school children to visit little kennie's church, as well they should.  I bet school system legal advisers are reminding teachers and staff about that same issue.  I bet many of those folks aren't actually atheists, but from kennie's point of view, they must be because they will be advising against visiting one of his ministries.

Seriously, have you read the First Amendment to the Constitution? I don't believe kennie has. Here it is (I underlined the parts about religion):

"The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances." (Wikipedia: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution")

Now, like the rest of the Constitution, anyone with an opinion tries to 'interpret' it in a way that benefits them.  We know kennie is very experienced at 'interpreting' things, just look what he did to a defenseless Bible!  In this case what it means is that over the years various courts, up to and including the Supreme Court of the United States, have made rulings explaining the meaning of the various amendments including the First Amendment (I underlined the part I wanted you to notice):

In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion to another ".

Tell me how public schools funding public school students to visit one of kennie's ministries isn't showing a preference for one religion over another?  There isn't a person in the world who would hazard an opinion that little kennie's tourist traps represent all of the world's religions, right?  A visit to one of his craptastic places of worship is designed to immerse the visitor in kennie's particular belief set, nothing more.  In his often voiced opinion he is the only expert on the Bible, his religious views are the only 'correct' ones, and he is the ultimate authority on everything.  Read his blog, check out his many press releases, or any interview . . you'll see what I mean.

Does anyone actually believe that the same group of parents/teachers would support using school funds to visit a Mosque, a Jewish Temple, or a Hindu Temple?  Highly doubtful!  Imagine that in order to justify visiting kennie, it's part of a larger set of visits to other religious places.  So let's build an itinerary, how many places of worship are there in the United States?  Is it possible to count them all?  Doubtful, so I guess we have to narrow the choices down a bit.  So let's set an upper limit to the number of places a single school could be reasonably fund for a group of students?  Say 10?  Well, knowing school budgets like I do, 10 is probably more field trips than any single group of students will see in their complete K through 12 academic career, but let's use it as an upper limit simply for the sake of argument.

So, if a school system was dedicated to funding 10 school trips to multiple places of worship, let's say it is for the purpose of a Comparative Religion class to frame these visits as actually educational, how do we narrow the 10 locations from the thousands, or more than likely hundreds of thousands of locations representing the thousands of religious groups currently operating within the US?  I am sure that each one feels their site is the most important religious site in the world!

That's a tough question, what would be the best criteria . . . census data?  Worship attendance criteria?  Self-identification?  Popularity of the potential site?  It really doesn't matter what criteria we use, little kennie wouldn't rate in the top 10 in any of those lists.  His narrow Fundamentalist group is only a very small part of the much larger Evangelical population and any objective criteria would probably never mention kennie's places of worship except maybe in the footnotes. (Adherents.com).  Even when you Google tourist sites in Kentucky alone, you don't see mention of kennie's places.  Kentucky seems much more interested in horses, bourbon, nature, and history than in feeding kennie's ego.

It's hard to pin down exact numbers because fundamentalist groups, like kennie's, tends to be lumped into the larger group of Evangelicals because there is such widespread differences between even each group of fundamentalist Evangelicals, let alone once you start looking at the actual mainstream Evangelical groups.  So if we use any measurable criteria to select 10 religious sites, representing multiple faiths, to actually give students a broad base in order to actually compare and contrast various religious faiths, kennie's pseudo-museum and model ark wouldn't appear on the radar.  But suppose a school system did?.

Can you hear the hue and cry if a school did fund such a thing and scheduled 10 such visits!  Look at the issues with school vouchers. When they were passed into law in a number of states no one uttered much noise.  When they were used to send children to Christian schools, again there were a few complaints, but nothing Earth-shattering.  Most people seemed to agree using tax money to send students to private schools, even religious ones, was a good way to alleviate some of the issues surrounding public schools.  But when they were used to send some children to Muslim schools, people started screaming!  And what was the first item on the list used to justify this outrage?  You guessed it -- the US Constitution.

Does anyone really think a plan to send students to multiple religion's sacred sites wouldn't meet opposition . . . and what do you think the main point of the opposition will be? The lawyers would be lining up like there was an ambulance crash!  The first item each and every one would raise would be the first Amendment of the US Constitution.  The same one kennie is trying to use to justify allowing school children to visit his site!

So how does little kennie head off any objections to his opportunity to brainwash schoolchildren?  He is trying to pass off his latest ministry as something with educational, recreational, and/or historical value in order for some gullible parents and teachers to bring students to his ark park. Can anyone really tell me what is educational, recreational, or historical about visiting one of kennie's various churches?  It tells a particularly narrow view of one very Fundamentalist Evangelical branch of Christianity to the absolute exclusion of any other view, even other fundamentalist evangelical viewpoints!  It denigrates real science in order to rationalize its view and kennie spent about $100 million dollars of other peoples' money to build a replica of a metaphorical ark. Where is anything but a purely religious purpose in all this?  I certainly can't see it.

And, in my opinion, if you can see it, I believe you are simply doing what kennie is doing -- a massive case of Rationalization.  Frequently, little kennie has declared his pseudo-museum and ark park are ministries, not educational institutions, not recreational attractions, not historical monuments . . . Ministries!  With the collusion of public officials he discriminates in the hiring of people for his ark park.  He has received tax breaks that could very well leave the people in Kentucky in a financial bind if his incredibly optimistic attendance projections aren't met . . . and so far it appears his numbers far exceeded reality, but he hasn't officially released any numbers that I have been able to find.  He did take a photo from his press day, which was well attended and tried to pass them off as photos of his opening day, but got busted doing that.  

So, as we started out with how I believe little kennie defines an Atheist, but I think he needs a new term.  An Atheist is not someone who doesn't share kennie's particular brand of kool-aid, but someone who doesn't believe in the existence of any deities, not just the one kennie defines for his Hamians.  So rather than discriminate against all Atheists, kennie needs to be more specific, how about 'anti-Ham'?  I know that sounds more like someone who doesn't like pork . . . but that seems remarkably applicable in this case as well.  What do you think?

Kennie's Ark Park about to Open, Sorry Kentucky! I feel your pain!

Yes, I haven't talked about it much, mainly because there isn't much to say.  Little kennie ham, with the help of a newly elected Republican Kentucky Governor, have once again made fools of the people of Kentucky and is opening an exhibit to showcase his narrow theological views and potentially leaving the people of Kentucky to pay for it . . . especially if his highly suspect attendance projections come in more like the reality of his other abortion, the Creation 'Museum'.  And all the time, he can discriminate against many of Kentucky's citizens as potential employees, while the taxpayers get to help pay for the privilege!

Cincinnati.com ran this "Who pays for the new ark? Taxpayers help" and even the Boston Globe ran "Kentucky’s ark defies science but evokes a version of Christianity" it probably will piss little kennie off.  But then when anyone says absolutely ANYTHING he disagrees with, tends to piss him off.

I spoke too soon, he has already commented on the Cincinnati.com's article with "A Cincinnati Enquirer Ark Hit Piece".  I'm not going to quote it, you probably already know what it says, more and more defensiveness and unsupported comments about his motivations, as if the money means nothing to him.  He calls most of the press coverage and 'positive and balanced' and yet I have Google Alerts on both 'Ark Encounters' and 'Answers in Genesis' and something like 90% of the articles I have seen was more neutral and simply announcing it was coming and some of the details already known and well publicized by kennie and his Hamian publicity machine.  Although, maybe innocuous reporting is something kennie would consider positive?  Who knows!

Will I visit the Ark Park?  No!  I've already been to his other 'Monument to Scientific Ignorance', aka the Creation Pseudo-Museum, and have no intention of lining kennie's pockets with any more of my money.  If I want to go zip-lining, there are a great many other places for me to go, there are also many real museums within easy driving distance, especially the Cincinnati Museum Center, with its Children's Museum, History Museum, Museum of Natural History and Science, to name a few of the attractions there.  Indianapolis and Columbus also have some great museums, many of which I have visited at least once in the 20+ years I have lived here.  Wandering around a wooden structure based on a fairy tale that not only claims that an imaginary world-wide flood, but that humans and dinosaurs lived together -- which is contrary to every piece of paleontologist evidence -- is not for me.  I doubt I could contain my laughter with a second trip into kennie's delusions.

I am looking forward to one thing.  In 2010 the Sydney Morning Herald reported on the 'Worlds Most Craptastic Tourist Attractions'.  Kennie's so-called-museum made the cut.  I am looking forward to them running a new article and am curious where the ark park will fall on the list and wonder what word they will use this time to describe these 'attractions', I really did love 'Craptastic', didn't you?