By Billy Hallowell
An atheist group has reached its fundraising goal for a billboard campaign that will take aim at the Bible and, more specifically, creationist leader Ken Ham’s Kentucky-based “Ark Encounter” amusement park.
The Tri-State Freethinkers, who represent 1,000 members in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, raised more than $2,700 in just one day, pledging to use the funds to publicly “counter the Ark Encounter and send the message that celebrating genocide and incest is immoral!”
While the atheists behind the Indiegogo campaign setup to support the effort said that Ham and his organization Answers in Genesis have the “right to celebrate their mythology,” the “freethinkers” believe that heralding Noah’s story is immoral and inappropriate — especially for a family entertainment establishment.
“The Ark Encounter is a water park based on a representation of Noah’s Ark. They are receiving state tax incentives while maintaining their discriminatory hiring practices,” the description reads. “Scheduled to open in Williamstown, Kentucky on July 7, 2016, the park celebrates a biblical parable of genocide and incest.”
It continues, “Help us remind the surrounding community and potential patrons that the biblical story of Noah’s Ark is immoral and should not be encouraged as a family fun day.”
The text goes on to proclaim that the Genesis story surrounding Noah and his ark is not historical in nature, charging that such a prospect is not scientifically possible.
While the Tri-State Freethinkers had an initial goal of raising just $2,000 for the single, panel-sized billboard, additional benchmarks have been set, including an effort to raise $6,000 for one large billboard or six smaller billboards for a month, among other larger-scale goals.
If the atheists are able to raise $150,000, they pledge to build their “very own genocide and incest park.”
In addition to the billboard campaign, atheist activists plan to protest on the opening day of the “Ark Encounter” on July 7, 2016, saying that they will use excess funds that are raised to make such an event happen.
“The more money we get, the more billboards we can put up in all different areas,” Jim Helton, president of the Tri-State Freethinkers, said in a YouTube video advertising the effort. “In addition to, we want to do a counter protest on their opening day and throw a huge party and invite all the freethinkers and atheists to come from all over to show support for reason and logic and not superstition and myths.”
As TheBlaze previously reported, “Ark Encounter” centers around a life-sized replica of Noah’s ark. The massive, wooden vessel — which is based on the dimensions presented in the Bible — is so large that it will be a theme park and museum of sorts, housing 132 Bible-themed exhibits that Ham described as “state-of-the-art.”
“As Christians, we believe that we have an obligation to what God’s word tells us to do, and that is to do business until he comes, to go out and preach the gospel and to stand up on the truth of God’s word,” Ham recently told TheBlaze. “We also see, in this culture, an increasing anti-Christian element … we see the loss of Christian freedom in some areas and the restriction of the free exercise of religion.”
The Tri-State Freethinkers, who represent 1,000 members in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, raised more than $2,700 in just one day, pledging to use the funds to publicly “counter the Ark Encounter and send the message that celebrating genocide and incest is immoral!”
While the atheists behind the Indiegogo campaign setup to support the effort said that Ham and his organization Answers in Genesis have the “right to celebrate their mythology,” the “freethinkers” believe that heralding Noah’s story is immoral and inappropriate — especially for a family entertainment establishment.
“The Ark Encounter is a water park based on a representation of Noah’s Ark. They are receiving state tax incentives while maintaining their discriminatory hiring practices,” the description reads. “Scheduled to open in Williamstown, Kentucky on July 7, 2016, the park celebrates a biblical parable of genocide and incest.”
It continues, “Help us remind the surrounding community and potential patrons that the biblical story of Noah’s Ark is immoral and should not be encouraged as a family fun day.”
The text goes on to proclaim that the Genesis story surrounding Noah and his ark is not historical in nature, charging that such a prospect is not scientifically possible.
While the Tri-State Freethinkers had an initial goal of raising just $2,000 for the single, panel-sized billboard, additional benchmarks have been set, including an effort to raise $6,000 for one large billboard or six smaller billboards for a month, among other larger-scale goals.
If the atheists are able to raise $150,000, they pledge to build their “very own genocide and incest park.”
In addition to the billboard campaign, atheist activists plan to protest on the opening day of the “Ark Encounter” on July 7, 2016, saying that they will use excess funds that are raised to make such an event happen.
“The more money we get, the more billboards we can put up in all different areas,” Jim Helton, president of the Tri-State Freethinkers, said in a YouTube video advertising the effort. “In addition to, we want to do a counter protest on their opening day and throw a huge party and invite all the freethinkers and atheists to come from all over to show support for reason and logic and not superstition and myths.”
As TheBlaze previously reported, “Ark Encounter” centers around a life-sized replica of Noah’s ark. The massive, wooden vessel — which is based on the dimensions presented in the Bible — is so large that it will be a theme park and museum of sorts, housing 132 Bible-themed exhibits that Ham described as “state-of-the-art.”
“As Christians, we believe that we have an obligation to what God’s word tells us to do, and that is to do business until he comes, to go out and preach the gospel and to stand up on the truth of God’s word,” Ham recently told TheBlaze. “We also see, in this culture, an increasing anti-Christian element … we see the loss of Christian freedom in some areas and the restriction of the free exercise of religion.”
Note that the Atheists are condemning genocide and incest without an ethical premise upon which to do so. They refers to genocide when it was not. They condemn incest as does the Bible, contextually. They erroneously imply that Genesis was written 2,000 years ago.
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