By Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press with BJC Staff Reports
A nonprofit group advocating church-state separation urged Kentucky officials in an Aug. 22 letter to deny tax incentives for a proposed theme park based on Noah’s Ark, claiming the break would compel taxpayers to support both employment discrimination and a particular religion.
In July, Kentucky officials gave preliminary approval of $18 million in tax breaks for Ark Encounter, a project of Answers in Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry that teaches young-earth creationism through programs including the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, opened in 2007.
Lawyers representing Americans United for the Separation of Church and State said public support for the Ark project was problematic from the start, but a recent online job posting requiring applicants to subscribe to the organization’s statement of faith crosses a new line.
A career opportunity for a computer-aided design technician for Ark Encounter describes the position as “not just a job” but “also a ministry.” Items needed for possible employment include a “salvation history,” and a “creation belief statement.”
The statement affirms “the great Flood of Genesis was an actual historic event, worldwide (global) in its extent and effect,” and that “Scripture teaches a recent origin for man and the whole creation, spanning approximately 4,000 years from creation to Christ.”
When Ark Encounter originally sought tax incentives to build the theme park in 2011, Answers in Genesis entered into a “tourism development agreement” that it would not discriminate on the basis of religion when hiring for the project.
The Americans United letter said Ark Encounter’s policy of religious discrimination raises concerns under Article 5 of the Kentucky Constitution, which forbids governmental preference by law “to any religious sect.” When the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority gave preliminary approval for the tax incentives in July, the chairman said it was because the project would boost tourism, benefiting area hotels and restaurants and generating tax revenues for the state.
From the September 2014 Report From the Capital. Click here to read the next article.
