Kentucky: No tax breaks for Noah's Ark project

[doggie]

You know they only stopped the payments because someone noticed.

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268743/conten ... d=ldt42a0P

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky has withdrawn its offer of tax breaks for a religious-themed park that would feature a 500-foot-long wooden ark because its organizers plan to screen park employees based on religion.

The planned Ark Encounter park has evolved from a tourism attraction into an outreach for the Christian ministry that is building it, state Tourism Secretary Bob Stewart said in a letter to the group's lawyer on Wednesday.

"Certainly, Ark Encounter has every right to change the nature of the project from a tourism attraction to a ministry," Stewart wrote in the letter. "However, state tourism tax incentives cannot be used to fund religious indoctrination or otherwise be used to advance religion."

The long-planned attraction is being built by a nonprofit subsidiary of Answers in Genesis, the Kentucky-based Christian ministry that operates the popular and controversial Creation Museum. Foundation work and earth-moving are underway at the site in Grant County near Williamstown.

Mark Looy, vice president for outreach at Answers in Genesis, said in an email Wednesday evening that the group is exploring its legal options.

The project had received preliminary approval in July for up to $18 million in tax rebates.

Gov. Steve Beshear, who had supported the project since it was unveiled in 2010, said in a written statement Wednesday that the leaders of the project had gone back on a pledge not to discriminate in hiring.

Beshear said "it has become apparent that they do intend to use religious beliefs as a litmus test for hiring decisions."

According to Stewart's letter, Answers in Genesis said in a meeting with tourism officials last month and in correspondence this week from their Covington lawyer Jim Parsons that the ministry intends to screen employees based on their religion.

Parsons wrote that the Answers in Genesis subsidiary Crosswater Canyon, which will operate the Ark Encounter, has the legal right to "include religion as a criteria in its future hiring decisions."

Answers in Genesis says the attraction would be modeled after the massive ark described in the Old Testament story of Noah, which tells of a worldwide flood and the ship that survived. State officials originally hailed it as a boon for tourism like the nearby Creation Museum, which has attracted more than a million visitors to its Bible-themed exhibits since it opened in 2007.

But it drew some critics, including science educator Bill Nye and the group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, who argued that it should be ineligible for tax incentives. Nye, known for his "Science Guy" TV program, was critical of the ark project during a widely publicized debate with Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham in February at the Creation Museum.

The rebates could have given Crosswater Canyon up to 25 percent of the $73 million anticipated cost of the project. The owners would have received that money over 10 years only after the ark is built and open to the public.

Beshear said in the statement that the project can still move forward and be a "successful attraction, drawing visitors and creating jobs, much like the Creation Museum."

[Howl]

Good news! No tax rebate is as it should be! Perhaps Bill Nye was more influential than he realized.

[sparkles]

And somebody cries "PERSECUTION!" in three…two…one…

[jerkit]

Well, duh.

If they're surprised by this, they are truly idiots.

[CelticGoddess]

And somebody cries "PERSECUTION!" in three…two…one…

Exactly. It's seems to be their battle call, doesn't it?

[wildcatgrrl]

As a KY resident, I was thrilled by this decision. Build an ark all you want, but don't expect my state's tax breaks to fund it. They can holler "persecution" all they want; I am Christian and still opposed tax breaks. Though I don't attend church, so I guess I'm actually a heathen no matter what I believe :wink-kitty: Plus, we've already got the Creation Museum. I don't particularly care for my state becoming the fundie Florida with snakes and floods instead of mice and beaches.

[jerkit]

As a KY resident, I was thrilled by this decision. Build an ark all you want, but don't expect my state's tax breaks to fund it. They can holler "persecution" all they want; I am Christian and still opposed tax breaks. Though I don't attend church, so I guess I'm actually a heathen no matter what I believe :wink-kitty: Plus, we've already got the Creation Museum. I don't particularly care for my state becoming the fundie Florida with snakes and floods instead of mice and beaches.

I've always wanted to go to the Creation Museum (*waves from over the river*), but I don't want to give them money. Know of any way to score free tix?

[Trynn]

My dad is debating a family trip to he creation museum. If I go, I will give a detailed report. But I don't know much shut evolution, so it'll be facts only and probably a bit less snark.

[wildcatgrrl]

I've always wanted to go to the Creation Museum (*waves from over the river*), but I don't want to give them money. Know of any way to score free tix?

(waves back) I went to the site and it looks like everyone is free on Christmas Eve. Vets, moms, and dads get certain days free, too. But it's usually $30 per adult. That is insane. I could buy a season pass to Kentucky Kingdom for the cost of two Creation Museum visits, and they have roller coasters and are way closer.

[apple1]

I live within a 45 minute drive of the creation museum (45 minutes if no rush hour traffic is involved, anyway).

I can't imagine wanting to spend my highly-valuable (and too little of it) free time going through it.

(I self-identify as a Christian). I have a few friends that have gone through it and said they liked it - but here's one reason why the museum has money issues --- it's the kind of thing IMO that even those who liked have no interest or reason to keep returning to it. Once is enough to them.

[eh02]

OK - this news made my day. :D

They're already in BAD shape financially, so I hope this can be just one more little push into Ken Ham's inevitable demise.

[RachelB]

(waves back) I went to the site and it looks like everyone is free on Christmas Eve. Vets, moms, and dads get certain days free, too. But it's usually $30 per adult. That is insane. I could buy a season pass to Kentucky Kingdom for the cost of two Creation Museum visits, and they have roller coasters and are way closer.

Whoa. The Creation Museum is open on Christmas Eve?

I guess they don't want their employees to be attending church services or anything like that.

[DGayle]

The state has been on top of this for months, tellig Ken he can't discriminate. But he has made it clear he won't budge. So they followed through, and now he's crying persecution because of course it's persecution to tell Christians they can't discriminate if they want government money.

[doggie]

ok the killer ad. of course liberals are intolerant ken ham is so tolerant for sure.

[bBvideo 560,340:22eawbbi]

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[thoughtful]

:dance: :clap: at the fact that they are not getting the tax break.

:roll: at that stupid video.

[doggie]

You can't sink a dream liner

[Jana814]

Glad they r not getting a tax break!

[precious_one]

Whoa. The Creation Museum is open on Christmas Eve?

I guess they don't want their employees to be attending church services or anything like that.

Waving to all my fellow Kentuckians from the Ville!! Go BBN!!

I was thrilled right along with you Wildcatgrrl.

[jerkit]

Waving to all my fellow Kentuckians from the Ville!! Go BBN!!

I'll be in your stomping ground tonight. My parents just moved to the Ville on Wednesday and I'm going down there to help them unload the moving truck :)

C-A-T-S...

[precious_one]

I'll be in your stomping ground tonight. My parents just moved to the Ville on Wednesday and I'm going down there to help them unload the moving truck :)

C-A-T-S...

Welcome Parents of Jerkit to the Ville!! If they are not familiar with the Ville I would be happy glad to point them to the great things here!!

Our house will be loud on the 27th. My husband is Blue and my son is Red!!! Fun times ahead!!

[jerkit]

Welcome Parents of Jerkit to the Ville!! If they are not familiar with the Ville I would be happy glad to point them to the great things here!!

Our house will be loud on the 27th. My husband is Blue and my son is Red!!! Fun times ahead!!

They are pretty familiar already! My mom lived there before and my brother currently lives there.

I graduated from UK so you can guess what color I'll be wearing :)

[Joan of Snarc]

^ Big game tomorrow.

:cracking-up:

[Becket70]

Let me throw in a complication just for the sake of argument. I don't know if this has been addressed elsewhere but the state of Mississippi may be considering a ballot initiative in 2016 declaring Mississippi to be Christian state. There are other items on the initiative regarding the Confederacy. It is basically a wish-list for your White Christian Fundamentalist who thinks the South won the Civil War. Anyway, if enough signatures are found, this will appear on the ballot and could conceivably win. (I kind of doubt it could pass but you never know). Now, if the Ark project were in Mississippi and they asked for taxpayer funding, if Mississippi were a "Christian" state, wouldn't the money have to go to the project? Some high-profile Evangelical pastors are against this ballot initiative, by the way. They must realize that this is a step too far. But if it wins, it could crop up in other states. Stay tuned.

[ViolaSebastian]

They are pretty familiar already! My mom lived there before and my brother currently lives there.

I graduated from UK so you can guess what color I'll be wearing :)

So much UK love up in this forum today. Now let's all go to Tolly Ho and order some cheddar tots.

[jerkit]

So much UK love up in this forum today. Now let's all go to Tolly Ho and order some cheddar tots.

I thought The Ho closed :(

OMG, I want an Ale8 and a ho burger so bad.