Oops.
Young earth creationist Ken Ham has spent years spinning tales. He tells people all the answers to all the world’s questions can be found in the Christian bible, the earth is just six thousand years old, and Noah saved mankind after building an ark and collecting two of every animal, placing them in the boat, and withstanding the great 40 days and 40 nights flood God sent.
Along the way, Ham apparently also found the answers to his tax law questions in the good book.Â
He recently “sold” the land his “life-sized” Noah’s Ark replica and museum sits on to himself, or more specifically, to a non-profit he created, for $10. By doing so, he is trying to turn his for-profit Ark Encounter museum into a non-profit ministry, so he can avoid paying 50 cents in taxes on every ticket sold.
Apparently, the Bible’s tax law information is out of date.
“Not satisfied enough with winning a court battle worth $18 million in tax rebates after convincing a judge that his for-profit business, which is actively using religion as a form of employment discrimination, he has now sold the land the theme park sits on, worth $48 million, to his own non-profit entity, Crosswater Canyon, for $10. You read that right, ten dollars,” the Huffington Post’s Dan Arel reports.Â
That “religion as a form of employment discrimination” is very accurate. Ham requires all employees to sign a pledge stating they agree with all of his religious beliefs. It specifies that marriage os only between one man and one woman. Somehow he managed to convince Kentucky officials that by not granting his tax break they were discriminating against his for-profit business that discriminates against others on the basis of religious beliefs.
Ham “once again found a new way to swindle the good people of Kentucky out of their money,” Arel says.
“This allows Ham to claim his land is a non-profit and not subject to the new safety tax passed by city officials which would have collected 50 cents of every entry ticket sold. This move also worries local politicians and residents because it sets up the park to claim exemption from all other taxes as well that includes the funding of public schools,” Arel adds.
So much for “do unto others…”
“In order to apply for the tourism tax rebate, the park had to list itself as a for-profit business but continued to operate as a religious ministry. This move led state officials to decline their application for the rebate,” Arel continues. “Ham then filed a discrimination lawsuit against the state and won, just as the new Republican Governor, Matt Bevin, took office. Bevin was supportive of the park during his campaign and immediately declined to appeal the ruling, paving the way for his newly assigned tourism board to approve the park’s request.”
But Kentucky seems to have caught on to Ham’s religious shenanigans.
“The Kentucky Tourism Arts and Heritage Cabinet has suspended an incentive agreement worth up to $18 million with a Noah’s Ark-themed attraction in Grant County because the park transferred its main property to a non-profit affiliate,” the Lexington Herald-Leader reports Friday.
A “letter to Ark Encounter attorney James Parsons said the ark park’s recent actions put it in breach of the agreement with the state to refund a portion of sales tax collected at the site, which opened last July with a large-scale replica of Noah’s Ark.”
In addition, the letter “said the ark had several violations of the state agreement, including a failure to tell the agency of any change in ownership or get prior written consent to transfer assets. In addition, the agreement stipulated that the tax incentive, approved by the Tourism Development Finance Authority, was made for Ark Encounter. Non-profits can qualify for the tax incentive, but in this case, the agreement was with Ark Encounter, not its non-profit affiliate, Crosswater Canyon.”
The Freedom from Religion Foundation has been tracking and detailing Ham’s moves for years.Â
“Ark Encounter and Crosswater Canyon must stop their dishonest shell game,†Ed Hensley, a FFRF coordinator in Kentucky told  the Lexington Herald-Leader. “They cannot claim to be for-profit in order to get tax incentives and then claim to be non-profit in order to avoid taxes.â€
Through his non-profit ministry, Answers in Genesis, Ham also owns and operates his Creation museum, through which he spreads his pseudoscientific beliefs.
Earlier this week NCRM reported on Ham’s surprising claim, that he’s not “against” gay people. We disproved it by posting 10 of his tweets from over the past few years.Â
“Abortion, pedophilia, polygamy, Euthanasia, gay marriage–symptoms of what happens when a culture abandons God’s Word as absolute authority,” reads one tweet. “Christians need to take back the rainbow,” reads another.
To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.