Is Creationist Ken Ham Bearing False Witness About Attendance at His New Noah’s Ark Museum?
Creationist Ken Ham’s Celebratory Tweet Comparing the Protesters to the Attendees Isn’t Factually Accurate – Just Like His Ark Encounter Museum
Christian extremist Ken Ham’s faith-based Ark Encounter theme park in Kentucky opened opened last week to sparse crowds and some protesters.
Protestors greet Ark Encounter visitors on opening day. @NKyTribune pic.twitter.com/J5c8iGYuAE
— Mark Hansel (@HanselMark) July 7, 2016
Friendly Atheist’s Tracey Moody streamed the experience over Facebook and posted the videos on the blog, showing short lines and confused customers trying to find the door.Â
Ark – where's the crowd?
Posted by Friendly Atheist on Thursday, July 7, 2016
Given the videos and photos taken on opening day, Ken Ham’s celebratory tweet comparing the protesters to the attendees wasn’t actually as advertised.
In “Creationist Ken Ham Caught Misleading People About Ark Encounter’s Attendance on Opening Day,” Friendly Atheist’s Hemant Mehta reveals the truth.
Crowd at opening of @ArkEncounter –compared to photo of atheist protestors–yes, they’re a small minority pic.twitter.com/u7aQBiQ4Sh
— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) July 15, 2016
In fact, the photo Ham posted was not of opening day, but of an invited media preview day, one day before the July 7 opening:
.@aigkenham Here s the same pic YOU published on AiG on July 6- a day before it opened. LIAR. @ArkEncounter pic.twitter.com/eqoNYuj9ZT
— Ray_disComfort (@Ray_disComfort) July 15, 2016
An $18 million tax break from the state of Kentucky was given to the Ark, revoked because of their discriminatory hiring practices, including a statement of faith which required employees to be socially conservative Christians, and re-approved after Ham sued in federal court.Â
RELATED: Ark Museum Suing to Practice Religious Discrimination At Taxpayer Expense
In other Ark-related news, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has warned public schools in the area that, in spite of state funding for the Ark, it is still a religious attraction and field trips to the Ark are still illegal. Ham responded by giving a discount to students who visit the Ark on field trips.Â
On Twitter, more documentation of Ham’s falsification, and failure:
Ticket line at Ark Encounter 2:30pm opening day #failure #OhNoahHeDidnt pic.twitter.com/eD3w3k3lRH
— David Silverman (@MrAtheistPants) July 7, 2016
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Image via TwitterÂ
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