Oh Come On!!! Damn you Ken Ham!

[Ravenshire]

Why would a non-Christian want to work at the Ark exhibit?

Don't know about you, but I've worked shitty jobs for shitty people to pay the bills until I could find something better. Or can't you imagine that a non-christer might want to actually pay bills?

[Jackalope]

No problem - and you know, despite all your country's problems, it's my second home. I just get tired of the "Americans are dumb, hurt durr" meme. Yeah, many of us are fucked up, and certainly our national politics are shit, but it's shitty to tar all of us with that brush, much as it is to tar Mexicans as lazy welfare cases, because it just isn't so.

May I ask why a second home?

I agree, stereotyping is dangerous, even when we're talking about religious people it's irrational to lump them all into one category. I guess the american stereotype comes more from the south.

For the last 20+ years I have vacationed in Mexico - not in the Americanized tourist zones but in the less traveled areas (though some are still filled with gringos). I usually spend 2-3 weeks a year down there. What I love most about Mexico is the warmth of it's people. Yeah, I get that some of that is the gratitute for American dollars, but it either goes beyond that, or I'm a terrible judge and f character - and I'd hate to think it was the latter.

[Zen Badger]

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A Noah's Ark theme park created by famous evolution-denier Ken Ham has just received an $18 million tax break from the citizens of Kentucky, many of whom will be prohibited from being employed there.

This is intentionally misleading. The tax incentives are available to all tourist attractions in the state and are only given if the Ark meets attendance-performance standards and tourism dollars flow into the state. They are not given to help build the attraction. Denying the Ark exhibit such incentives would be a violation of their religious freedom.

“We have held that the guarantee of neutrality is respected, not offended, when the government, following neutral criteria and evenhanded policies, extends benefits to recipients whose ideologies and viewpoints, including religious ones, are broad and diverse.”- The US Supreme Court

What Ham doesn't say much about is a reported donation worth $1 million from the leader of a certified white supremacist hate group.

False, which is precisely why no link or source is given.

But Daniel Phelps, the president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society and vice president of Kentuckians for Science Education, isn't pleased.

Of course he is not; he’d much prefer that contrary ideas were censored from the public.

In an op-ed at the Lexington Herald-Leader, "Non-Christians need not apply," Phelps explains his concerns.

Why would a non-Christian want to work at the Ark exhibit?

Phelps writes. "According to that organization, the Earth is only approximately 6,000 years old,

Yup.

Noah's flood was in 2350 B.C.

2348 BC.

and there were dinosaurs on the ark (some of which were fire-breathing dragons).

No, the belief is that the modern day conception of a fire-breathing dragon is a corrupted characterization of a dinosaur.

That organization, by the way, calls itself a "ministry."

Irrelevant. They do a broad scope of work.

The job description included this statement: "Our work at Ark Encounter is not just a job, it is also a ministry. Our employees work together as a team to serve each other to produce the best solutions for our design requirements. Our purpose through the Ark Encounter is to serve and glorify the Lord with our God-given talents with the goal of edifying believers and evangelizing the lost."

No problem there.

All job postings at Answers in Genesis include this statement: "All job applicants for the non-profit ministry of AiG/Creation Museum need to supply a written statement of their testimony, a statement of what they believe regarding creation, and a statement that they have read and can support the AiG Statement of Faith."

Again, no problem there. A creation museum wants creationists to work for them, imagine that.

The AiG Statement of Faith claims "it is imperative that all persons employed by the ministry in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, should abide by and agree to our Statement of Faith, to include the statement on marriage and sexuality, and conduct themselves accordingly."

Again, no problem there.

It also requires all employees to believe and support "the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ as Sovereign, Creator, Redeemer, and Judge," and the "66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant throughout. Its assertions are factually true in all the original autographs. It is the supreme authority in everything it teaches. Its authority is not limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes but includes its assertions in such fields as history and science."

Amen.

"The only legitimate marriage sanctioned by God is the joining of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other, and has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. Any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography, or any attempt to change one’s gender, or disagreement with one’s biological gender, is sinful and offensive to God."

True.

In other words, LGBT people and most Christians need not apply.

People who do not take the mission of AIG seriously need not apply. If they are such a terrible group and so hateful then why would a LGBT person want to work for them? That’s funny.

Given Ham's strict devotion to an extremist form of religion where everyone must believe as he does -- something it's safe to say even most Christians do not -- how can any other entity of his creation toss those tenets aside and abide by the laws of man?

Also irrelevant and untrue. I disagree with Ken on several things (as do several of his own employees) but I could get a job there because I believe the core tenets of the faith.

Even Disneyland don't get discounts taxes.

Disneyland is in California, not Kentucky there bub.

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[pocaracas]

Around here, Portugal, it is unconstitutional to discriminate people based on religion belief. This means that you, as an employer, must accept everyone's applications for a job and then filter out those who don't fulfill your criteria. These criteria must be present in the job ad...
I can see that this would make it difficult for this museum in particular... then again, I think even museums must apply for some permission to operate and this kind of museum would probably never get such a permission around here.

[Dystopia]

Around here, Portugal, it is unconstitutional to discriminate people based on religion belief. This means that you, as an employer, must accept everyone's applications for a job and then filter out those who don't fulfill your criteria. These criteria must be present in the job ad...
I can see that this would make it difficult for this museum in particular... then again, I think even museums must apply for some permission to operate and this kind of museum would probably never get such a permission around here.

In my opinion there is no problem in allowing creation museums, they may be stupid and probably no one would try to create one, but I don't think it should be illegal to legalize it - I agree with the constitutional part, our article 13th is very clear

[Tonus]

You don't have to support the philosophical ideals of a place to work there, as long as you're able to do your job and not be disruptive. I don't see why a creation museum would be worried about the religious views of the guy who wants to sweep the floors or stand guard at night. I suppose they might be concerned that their IT personnel could abuse their access and control if they were ideologically opposed to such a place, but there are laws designed to deal with that sort of misbehavior. And of course nothing stops those lawless atheists from pretending to be true believers in order to wreak havoc!

[Natachan]

They would want to work there for money. When you need to eat and pay rent, a disagreement over ideologies is less important than being able to pay a grocery bill. And if Ham accepts the tax break he will have to allow gays and atheists to work at his park, as per anti-discrimination law.

[ManMachine]

You Americans are crazy...

If valuing the freedom of ideas and thought makes someone crazy, then you’re right, Americans are crazy. However, being crazy has gotten us quite far in the world.

People with no water value water, I can see why you might value ideas and thought.

MM

[ShaMan]

Well I think all of us here can agree that Americans are really one piece of work.

Please, since you've taken the time to make a post, take another moment to explain your apparently bigoted generalization.

Because I hate my country.

Oh, I see now. Projecting your hatred onto others... got it. Thanks.

[DeistPaladin]

We Americans are no different from any other people in the world in that you get what your country invests in and who is really running it.

If you live in a country that slashes the public education budget, you get a "dumbed down" public. It's only gotten worse with "no child left behind".

If you live in a country where 6 major corporations control most of the media, all of which have an interest to spin the news in favor of corporate interests, you get an uninformed public.

If you live in a country were religion is so dominant, you get a superstitious public.

So it would be with any other people. I'm not better than any of my fellow Americans. I'm just lucky to have gone to a private school, be informed enough to look to foreign media sources to round out my understanding of world events and to have been raised without religion.