Owners of Noah’s Ark Sue Over Rain Damage

The owners of Noah’s Ark have sued their insurance company over rain damage. It didn’t happen on Mount Ararat, but in Kentucky, off Interstate 75, on State Route 36 in Williamstown.

Ark Encounter, a Bible-themed tourist attraction, was partially funded by state economic development dollars because, First Amendment be damned, Biblical Literalism is the state religion of Kentucky. It took 2 years of heavy rain, not forty days and forty nights, to damage a publicly-funded access road, and the park’s insurance provider says that’s not covered. As election time nears, we predict political, not divine, intervention.

Note to nonbelievers: Kentucky’s major tourism attractions are horses, bourbon, music, arts, the outdoors and food, not big Biblical boats with dinosaurs.

More:

“Ark Encounter: State-Subsidized Religious Tourism in Kentucky,” NotionsCapital.com

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Image (“Ark Encounter, after Edward Hicks”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Corporate Person Opens Bible Museum In DC

Today a well-known corporate person, Hobby Lobby, opened the Museum of the Bible in a former warehouse near the railroad tracks in Southwest Washington DC. Once the Washington Design Center, the original building was built as the Terminal Refrigeration and Warehouse Company in 1923.

The new tourist attraction features a ballroom modeled after Versailles (mentioned in la Nouveau Testament, maybe?), replicas of the village of Nazareth and the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey, holograms, the Drive Thru History of the Bible Theater, and a restaurant serving biblically themed meals. Oh, and some historic books and 40,000 artifacts from the Green Family collection (sorry, the artifacts the family smuggled from Iraq were confiscated and won’t be on view). To ensure historical accuracy, the museum has the same advisor as the Creation Museum, where dinosaurs romp with cavemen. In fact, while museum admission is free (a $15 donation is suggested), there’s an amusement park price structure, where you pay to see each special exhibit or attraction.

Hobby Lobby CEO Steve Green and his family believe the government of the USA is based on Christian biblical principles, and the family has enough money to share that misconception with an unsuspecting public.

Unbelievers can beat the church-going crowds. Unlike Hobby Lobby stores, the Museum of the Bible is open on Sundays from 10 AM to 7 PM.

More:

“Just What Is the Museum of the Bible Trying to Do?” Candida Moss and Joel Baden, Politico

“Jefferson took a blade to his Bible: Presidents, faith and the new Bible museum,” Rachel Siegel, Washington Post

“We’re All Living in Hobby Lobby’s Bible Nation,” Sarah Jones, New Republic

“Critics call it evangelical propaganda. Can the Museum of the Bible convert them?” Noah Charney, Washington Post

“Mystery at the new Bible museum: Are its Dead Sea Scrolls fake?” Daniel Burke, CNN

“The Museum of the Bible reflects the discouraging state of Christianity,” Christine Emba, Washington Post

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Ark Encounter: State-Subsidized Religious Tourism in Kentucky

Noah’s Ark may have landed on Mount Ararat, but you can see it in Kentucky off Interstate 75, on State Route 36 in Williamstown. Answers In Genesis, the outfit behind the Creation(ism) Museum, has built a 510-foot-long biblical boat as a tourist attraction, Ark Encounter ($40 admission, $10 parking).  The wooden hull is stocked with pairs of animals said to be on the Ark, including dinosaurs (from the Book of Flintstones?). There’s also a zoo, but don’t expect any dinosaurs there.

Ark Encounter opened on July 7th and was built at a cost $102 million. Of that, $62 million was raised from Industrial Development Bonds issued by the City of Williamstown. The Kentucky state government granted Ark Encounter $18 million in tax incentives and is building a new $10 million highway interchange for the new Christian theme park.

The rationale for granting this public largesse for religious evangelism is that the big boat will stimulate the tourist economy and create jobs. Want to apply for those jobs? You’ll have to sign a statement of faith in Genesis and Jesus Christ, disavowing homosexuality, same-sex marriage and premarital sex. Somehow, Federal Judge Greg Van Tatenhove (alumnus of Christian Asbury University) has ruled that this is all constitutional and isn’t state sponsorship of religion. It seems Ark Encounter is a secular outfit when it gets public funding and tax breaks, but a religious organization when it hires employees. Glory be, it’s a miracle!

‘Two Corinthians Walk Into a Bar ….’

When Republican presidential hopeful, shady golfer and adulterer Donald Trump spoke at fundamentalist Liberty University recently, he quoted from his “favorite book,” the Bible, which someone else read for him (he “has people…”). Mr. Trump elicited ridicule by citing Second Corinthians as “Two Corinthians.” Oops.

Maybe The Donald would have been better off quoting from his “second favorite book,” Art of the Deal. That’s the autobiography he paid Tony Schwartz to write for him.

“Really smart” Wharton grad Donnie Trump may have flunked Bible School, but that didn’t stop gun-totin‘ lawyer and Liberty U. prez Jerry Falwell Jr. from endorsing him. Mr. Falwell, like his televangelist daddy, is a man of faith, facts and democracy be damned.

More:

“Trump Thumps Bible, Bible Thumps Back,” Monica Bauer, Huffington Post

“Trump’s Liberty U Performance Was Insulting to Christians Everywhere,” Tom DeLay, Christian Post

“Bible-thumping playboy: Associated Press explores faith, contradictions of Donald Trump,” Bobby Ross Jr., Get Religion

“Trump’s Bid to Become Born-Again Fails as Jesus Turns Down Friend Request,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Corporate Person Builds Bible Museum in Godless DC

A well-known Corporate Person, Hobby Lobby, is building a Museum of the Bible in a former warehouse near the railroad tracks in Southwest DC. Once the Washington Design Center, it was built as the Terminal Refrigeration and Warehouse Company in 1923.

Museum plans call for completion in 2017. Expect a ballroom modeled after Versailles (mentioned in the New Testament, maybe?), a theater, a replica of Westminster Abbey, holograms, and a restaurant serving biblically themed meals. Oh, and some historic books and 40,000 artifacts from the Green Family collection.  The museum has the same advisor as the Creation Museum, where dinosaurs romp with cavemen.

Stop Putting ‘Science’ in ‘Science Education’!

U.S. students lag behind those of many other countries in science and engineering proficiency, so naturally the American education system is compensating by denying established modern science. Professional educators have developed and agreed on standards of science education, but the fundamentalist Tea Party parents running school boards denounce them as anti-Christian Big Gummint brainwashing of innocent American kids.

“Creationists Once Again Threaten to Make a Mockery of Texas Science Education,” Phil Plait, Slate

“Official Texas Review: “Creation Science” Should Be Incorporated Into Every Biology Textbook,” Josh Harkinson, Mother Jones

“Creationists Portray New Science Standards As ‘Big Government,'” Michael Schulson, Religion Dispatches

 Think “Creationism” makes God happy? Consider this:

“Creationism museum employee struck by lightning on the job,” By Caroline Lee, UPI.com Blog

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Image: Anti-Evolution League, at the Scopes Trial, Dayton Tennessee, from Literary Digest, July 25, 1925

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Michele Bachmann, Commencement Speaker

Regent University, the august academic institution founded by game show host televangelist Pat Robertson, has announced this year’s commencement speaker: former Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R, MN-6).

Mrs. Bachmann’s outstanding record as a taxpayer-hounding IRS attorney, education radical, submissive wife, Tea Party loon, fundamentalist zealot, and prima diva drama queen should be an inspiration to young people everywhere.

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Judgment Day. For Sure This Time. Probably. Could Be.

The Bible predicts that today, October 21, 2011, will be the End of Days, claims Christian broadcaster Harold Camping. Brother Camping also said that about May 21, 1988, September 6, 1994, and May 21, 2011.

Today’s Forecast: fire, brimstone, plagues, dead sinners. The Righteous will fly upwards to Heaven but, due to the recession, they will fly Economy Class.

The world ends on a Friday. How cruel. A merciful God would at least let us have the weekend.

Actually, Mr. Camping is a bit more hesitant about today’s Rapture. He’s saying the world will “probably” end today. We’re waiting to hear the odds from Vegas.

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Paulista Coup at Right-Wing Religious ‘Summit’

Republican presidential candidates debated theology with right-wing fundamentalists this weekend in Washington. The Values Voters Summit, produced by the Family Research Council, staged a “Straw Poll” beauty contest, and lovely and talented Congressman Ron Paul won the tiara.

Conservative blogger Ed Morrisey notes:

” … to say that the Values Voters Summit organizers are skeptical of Paul’s win is an understatement. Tony Perkins [President of the Family Research Council] twice noted that 600 tickets were bought this morning, and that a great many people left after Paul’s speech. The conference sold 3406 registrations, well over their 2007 record of around 2700. If half of those 600 were Paul ringers [aka Paulbots -ml] and we take them out of the equation, then Cain would have finished first, 27/26 with Santorum at 19%. If 80% of today’s registrants were Paul ringers and are removed, Cain would have had 32% of the vote, followed by Santorum at 23% and Perry in third place with 12%.” [Notes and links added]

Creationists Find Cave Painting of Dinosaur

Creationists now claim a cave painting at Utah’s Kachina Bridge formation in south-eastern Utah proves that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. They are probably relying on the famed Biblical commentary “Alley Oop of Moo” rather than the conventional paleontological record.

More:

“Creationists Find Cave Painting of Dinosaur,” Maureen O’Connor, Gawker

 “Debunking the ‘Dinosaurs’ of Kachina Bridge,” Brian Switek, Dinosaur Tracking, Smithsonian blog

 “‘Proof of Creation’ Dino Drawing Just a Mud Stain,” Eric Niiler, Discovery News

 

Image (“New Discoveries at Lascaux”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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