Creationist Ken Ham has very strict standards when it comes to hiring people — not so strict standards when it comes to accepting donations. His Ark Encounter theme park late last month was unanimously approved for an $18 million tax break — paid for by the citizens of Kentucky, thanks to the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority — and after many years of trying to get his second creationist-motivated museum moving, he says they have secured financing and broken ground. What Ham doesn’t say much about is a reported donation worth $1 million from the leader of a certified white supremacist hate group…. Daniel Phelps, the president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society and vice president of Kentuckians for Science Education, isn’t pleased. In an op-ed at the Lexington Herald-Leader, “Non-Christians need not apply,” Phelps explains his concerns…. “Ark Encounter is run by Answers in Genesis and is clear about its religious basis,” Phelps writes. “According to that organization, the Earth is only approximately 6,000 years old, Noah’s flood was in 2350 B.C., and there were dinosaurs on the ark (some of which were fire-breathing dragons).”
This story might be cause for outrage here on the West Coast, but it takes place in Kentucky- where Church isn’t separate from State; Church IS the State. For good, God-fearing Conservative patriotic Kentuckians, the idea of keeping God out of government is akin to allowing Satan to have his way with your daughter. The idea of providing a tax break to an organization that openly refers to it self as a “ministry” probably seems perfectly normal to most Kentuckians, who think the Devil is a registered Democrat bent on forcing the gay agenda down their throats (I know; I went there….). And the Constitution? Well, that was written by God and delivered to us by Jesus Christ, who arrived accompanied by a platoon of angels who are all registered Republicans. This IS a Christian nation…amiright??
Evidently, the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment, which codifies the separation of Church from State is considered by Kentucky state government to be inconvenient and therefore obedience is deemed unnecessary.
Let’s consider something radical for a moment. Think about what would happen if a Muslim or Jewish group applied for a similar tax break. The piecing cries of righteous outrage would be heard from Frankfort to Paducah…and beyond. How DARE the godless heretics think they can use OUR tax dollars to push their heathen religion on our good, God-fearing children? There’s no way such an idea would ever get off the ground- nor should it, because it’s a clear violation of the Establishment Clause…as is the tax break for the Creation Museum. ‘Course, in Kentucky (as in many other places), being a Christian means not having to bother with laws (or parts of the Constitution) you find inconvenient. Hey, we’re a Christian nation, so of course the tax break is perfectly appropriate. It’s What Jesus Would Do.
Except that it’s not at all, and when Christians feel they have the perfect right to use tax money as they see fit, how close are we to becoming a functional theocracy? There are those on the Right who would be exultant over being able to use the Bible as the ultimate authority over all aspects of life. The down side of this mean becoming the domain of zealots and hypocrites like Iran, Pakistan, and other countries where Church and State are one and the same.
Not all Kentuckians are Christians…and yet their tax dollars are being used to underwrite a museum dedicated to the proselytization of a brand of Socially Conservative Christianity that has little to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ. An $18 million tax break is being provided to something dedicated to a theology far removed from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s far less about love, tolerance, and compassion that it is controlling the behavior and thoughts of their followers.
Welcome to our new theocracy.
