Secular tour of the Ark Encounter.

[Kablooie]

By 13 year old Baily Harris.
It's pretty cool!

[tnlurker]

2. for later

[trusty elf]

3. It's scandalous that the construction of this garbage was subsidized by the state.

[wolfie001]

9. Now that's a painting that should hang in the Oval office!!!

[PJMcK]

10. Giraffes! (n/t)

[Fritz Walter]

4. Not in my backyard!

Several weeks ago, I was at a party with some of my neighbors, and one of them said that Jacksonville FL might get its own version of this monstrosity.

A bit of background might be helpful here: the Jacksonville Landing -- downtown, on the north bank of the St Johns River -- was a shopping, dining and entertainment venue that had been declining in popularity over the past decade or so. Especially after a mass shooting at a video-gamers' competition. As the structure is being demolished now, the city still hasn't come up with a plan for the site's future. An open park? Another commercial venture? The only certainty: the taxpayers are going to be footing the bill, not only for the new construction, but also for the multi-million dollar buy-out of the former main tenant. "Ready. Fire. Aim!"

My neighbor said that someone had proposed building an attraction based on this biblical fable at that site. Not to be confused with a seemingly worthwhile, local non-profit, whose purpose is to "help ex-offenders break the recidivist cycle." No, indeed. Never mind the fact that the largest (non-governmental) land-owner downtown -- First Baptist Church -- has announced that they are shrinking their campus from 10 city-blocks down to one. High maintenance, and low attendance, doncha' know. According to one local media outlet, the church is doing this "in an effort to eliminate skyrocketing maintenance costs, while also rebuilding its dwindling congregation by extending its ministry to growing areas of Duval County." My neighbor said that the idea doesn't seem to be gaining much traction. Is 'white flight' hyphenated?

If the members of this 180-year-old congregation don't feel safe going downtown (on a Sunday morning), how willing/likely are WASPs and other thumpers going to pay to visit a scaled-down replica of the northern KY tax debaucle? Especially after sunset.

Stay tuned.

And thanks, Baily.

[panfluteman]

5. I'm sick and tired of all this Either / Or Antagonism Between Religion and Science!!!

I believe in both God and science. The harmonization of both occurs when you see the Bible stories not as literal history, or a misguided attempt at it, but rather when you see the Bible stories as sacred myth or allegory. Take the story of Noah's Ark, for example: Deep down in our DNA, there was the evolutionary memory of past mass extinctions, which the scribes who penned the Noah's Ark story probably intuited - and so, they put it in figurative, allegorical form in the Bible. The myth of a great flood is also very widespread amongst many of the world's cultural and religious traditions - enter the Jungian collective unconscious and the universality of myths and archetypes. Scientism, or a rigid, dogmatic belief in science to the exclusion of everything else, is just as bad as religious fundamentalism; in fact, fundamentalists are of two different kinds: religious and scientific. This young lady is a good example of the latter variety.

Count me as one of those who is a firm believer in the separation of church and state, even though I do believe in God - although I consider myself to be spiritual but not religious, and have many disagreements with the Christian religion. And yes, it is indeed a terrible violation of the establishment clause in our constitution that government subsidies were used to build this monument.

[Kablooie]

8. Religions are guides for human life while science is explanation of natural phenomena.

They are two very different things. Each can be valuable in it's own right.

Those that say that religion is an accurate explanation for natural phenomena are fools that don't understand their own religion as well as science.

[BigOleDummy]

6. Hooray!

More rational thought from this 13 year old than from the whole of the Kentucky legislature. I live in Louisville and am outraged every year anew when this tripe spewing monstrosity starts it advertising cycle. Kentucky has enough problems with its backwards image without THIS thing being ballyhoo'ed along every major interstate for all to see. Luckily "our" late governor , a rabid born againer, has been dethroned from his high perch. (but not before , being repuglican, getting all he could stuff into his pockets)

This monstrosity of a "attraction" is now stiffing and/or trying to stiff multiple local and state entities for taxes owed. This AFTER all those state tax breaks and flat out state spending on its purchase and building. Oh, and the empty parking lots you see? Its like that year round, which is a good thing I suppose but kind of undercuts their narrative of people clamoring for such a …… "spiritually friendly" place.

Thank you Baily! Keep up the good fight.

[SergeStorms]

7. That young lady has a bright future.

It makes my heart soar when I see young people, such as Baily Harris, making their voices heard.

[scarytomcat]

11. now that is a treasure

she is great

[PJMcK]

12. Here are my thoughts about The Flood

So, let me get this straight.

God created the world and all the things in it. God created humans in his image. Humans are sinners. Ergo, god is a sinner.

To correct its error, god decides to wipe out its creation and all living things with a worldwide flood. How is that going to destroy all the sea creatures? Hey god, you missed something there. Aren't you all-knowing?

But back to our story. Noah was the most righteous man on Earth so god lets Noah and his family survive. I liked Baily's comment, "Let the incest begin!" But the bigger flaw is that while Noah may have been righteous, his family obviously wasn't since the sinning continued after the Flood. So, god went through this murderous exercise to no avail. Sounds like god was just making it up on the fly.

It's all such utter bullshit.