Knowing this monument to ignorance has not collapsed under the weight of its own stupidity, does not fill me with hope for the future of our species. I don't think their are enough smart and rational people to save us from destroying ourselves.
Maybe take heart that they projected 1.4 to 2.2 mil, got a whole lot less, and Great Smokey Mountains National Park, which is within an 8 hour drive of more than half our population in the US, got more than 13 million.
I would like to open up two new related theme parks next door called: 1) Sodom and Gomorra's Revenge; and, 2) Satan's Day Out. I'm sure that attendance rates will be much higher and bring far more profits. Within 5 years, they will be all over the world. Who's in?
The human species may survive. A nation dominated by these pig-ignorant-and-proud-of-it oiks almost certainly won't. And I'm not at all sure, taking the long view, that's a bad thing at all.
I am from an industrial city in Michigan. My mother said that the poison belching out of Dow Chemical (think napalm, agent orange, styrofoam) was the smell of money. All these years later, my sister and I have chronic lung conditions. Coincidence?
Manure degrades a lot faster, and has other purposes than dioxin.
When you realize that the same people patronizing this landlocked schlock boat are the same ones who tithe their income to pastor-parasites, then the figures aren't surprising at all.
It seems like it’s growing, but it has yet to reach the levels Ham expected and that it might have had if we really were as religious as some would like us to believe. This is a last gasp of the young earth creationists to fight the education. It’s actually quite hopeful if you ask me. Less than a hundred years ago this was taught in schools, now it’s relegated to a roadside attraction in the middle of nowhere. It’s telling that Ham is forced to shady dealings to trick school districts into field trips and still failing at for the parents fighting for church state separation.
Any religious revival that depends on the Ark Encounter is doomed to failure. The incompetence of even the political movement will ultimately sink their plans. That is to say, we still need to fight for the right thing and we have had some serious losses to n the battles (SCOTUS) but we can move toward progress and away from Christian nationalism.
"No one in this world, so far as I know---and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me---has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people."
-- HL Mencken, in a column for the Baltimore Sun/Evening Sun dated September 18th 1926
I picture Christian couples visiting Ham's 2nd Commandment-violating graven image taking selfies of themselves wearing IM WITH STUPID t-shirts that each have the arrow pointed at the other.
The problem with a bible-themed tourist attraction is that there just aren't that many things in the book that make for a family-friendly park. Okay, so you've got "Noah saves the world with a really big boat"- so now what? Well, I guess the Tower of Babel make sense... but wait, didn't your godthinghy 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 that? I mean, if you want to claim that's as (𝘩𝘢𝘩!) accurate as your ark, then sooner or later someone's gonna walk through the front gate and ask why, if it's so realistic, goddypoo hasn't yet smited everyone involved in its construction. Good luck coming up with an answer.
But really, where do you 𝘨𝘰 from there? Well, a Christmas manger petting zoo, I suppose... but where's the 𝘞𝘰𝘸! factor? If you want kids to beg their parents to take them there, instead of it always being "that stupid boring place gram-gram took us instead of Disney World," then you're gonna need something 𝘧𝘶𝘯 to do, and it needs to be at least passably kid-friendly (as much as any brainwashing is 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺). Most of the exciting parts of the bible involve a great deal of intra-familial 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 and the wanton slaughter of anyone who so much as dared to glance at a shellfish on sabbath. Whee!
The bible just isn't 𝘧𝘶𝘯. It's dour, and bloody, and cruel... and it has way more "thou shalt nots" in it than "thou shalls," which will 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 put a dent in your appeal to the 1-25 demographic. So, in the end, you're going to face a dilemma: do you want a bible-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 attraction which hews closely to the scripture and which most of its target audience will visit once and forget about... or do you want a bible-𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 attraction where the water slides and roller coasters will be more memorable than the tacky coat of Jesus all over everything, but the place 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 not end up being a complete money pit?
I think that carousel pic above make it pretty clear which way Hammyboy is leaning... and that speaks volumes about how much faith he has in the bible's youth appeal.
I really want to know about the day-to-day operations of this "authentic" Tower of Babel thing. Is there going to be elaborate machinery that "destroys" it every hour, then reassembles it for the next crowd of suc--visitors? Are they going to have a bunch of dress extras standing around the base, spouting gibbberi--er, speaking in tongues? There's the potential for this to be a lot more entertaining than the landlocked Ham-boat has ever been, if ol' Ken doesn't blow the opportunity. What are the chances?
My question is this: Of all those visiting the Ark Park [hey, that kinda rhymes!], how much of their attendance is repeat traffic, versus first-timers? Granted that Hammy-boy isn't likely tracking that, but I think it might be a telling point as to how robust his following is and how long that overdone rowboat will hold up.
I think AIG has enough rubes to keep the park going regardless of attendance until the Civil War, the collapse of civilization, or the new Dark Ages, whichever comes first (assuming they're not all the same event)
Does Hemant have a bet on when this will close? I don't think it will be soon. AIG seems to have money coming out the yin-yang, so I doubt they'll let it go under even if it is costing them money.
It won't close. In fact, after the Christian fascists take over, there will probably be an Ark Park built in every state, and a yearly pilgrimage to your nearest Ark Park will be a requirement of citizenship.
Oh, come on :) The thought of millions of Americans going on a mandated pilgrimage to the Ark Park once a year to ride on the backs of dinosaurs "just like the cavemen [and women] did" is darkly hilarious.
The day will hopefully come when a certain percentage of these people who are delusional enough to have already visited this monstrosity with their children (damn) and have had their kids mocked by other kids who have parents that are smart enough that they realize that this is all a fairytale (there's is 0% proof the the Ark story is just that) --then some of these kids actually get curious enough to look for the origins of the (particular brand of) religion they have been "taught" (brainwashed) and wander on to a site like godisimaginary dot com and become 'woke'--yes, I will use that word... LOL, and the end result would ideally be that this eyesore is abandoned, torn down and relegated to the annals of (real) history. It's called progress.
"Hopefully?" Hope in one hand, crap in the other, and see which one gets filled first. The "progress" you refer to will be reversed after the Christian nationalists and Christian fascists take over the country.
I have to admit it looks bad but there are many people I know who are aware that the separation of church and state is vital to the health of the Republic. I'll hold on to that straw until the inquisitions begin.
I know many people on Team Church who *claim* to support separation of church & state, but when I challenge them with specific questions and scenarios, their actual views turn out to favor Christian nationalism.
Maybe he should visit the Holocaust Museum. Or one of the concentration camps still standing. Things that are real and documented real genocide of humanity. He won't, of course. He knows who was in charge of the Holocaust. Good Catholics and Lutherans.
I'm still wondering why anyone would want to visit a monument to a planetary genocide that never happened? And what on Earth does it have to do with Jesus?
Sitting here with a cuppa and an Anzac biscuit, after a day's walking along the waterfront, the river, and doing some shopping – and I thought of you guys. Real nice Anzac biscuits this motel provides. Quite upmarket. Anyway, I was doing some opshopping and I found a book called Le Dernier Orc. Only $2 and I almost bought it, but my schoolboy French wasn't quite up to it. Anyway I see nothing much doing here – there's not a lot you can say about the ark experience. Seen one ark article seen them all. See you all tomorrow.
I still say that Hambone's missing a golden opportunity to enhance his revenue simply by putting in a recreation of Lot and his two daughters in the cave.
I sleep about 3 hours a night (Insomnia flare) since DM went to the hospital until last night when I dropped and I sleep 6 hours and had several 3 hours naps, it will probavly be over tomorrow.
Knowing this monument to ignorance has not collapsed under the weight of its own stupidity, does not fill me with hope for the future of our species. I don't think their are enough smart and rational people to save us from destroying ourselves.
It's a speciation event. Ark visitors are splitting off to Homo gullabliss. (Some wanted hamboneium for the species name.)
I prefer Homo gullinohabilis.
That's the French spelling.
French would be Homo naivenonhabilis 😉
Maybe take heart that they projected 1.4 to 2.2 mil, got a whole lot less, and Great Smokey Mountains National Park, which is within an 8 hour drive of more than half our population in the US, got more than 13 million.
I would like to open up two new related theme parks next door called: 1) Sodom and Gomorra's Revenge; and, 2) Satan's Day Out. I'm sure that attendance rates will be much higher and bring far more profits. Within 5 years, they will be all over the world. Who's in?
Only if you spell Sodom the way god intended.
https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Sodom%20and%20Gomora&tt=dccf112d
God damn it!
The human species may survive. A nation dominated by these pig-ignorant-and-proud-of-it oiks almost certainly won't. And I'm not at all sure, taking the long view, that's a bad thing at all.
"Despite all that, Answers in Genesis sued its insurers over pandemic-related losses."
Money has no smell (allegedly from Vespasian).
Money smells like cow/pig manuer. At least that's what my Dad said every time we drove past a cow/pig lot.
I am from an industrial city in Michigan. My mother said that the poison belching out of Dow Chemical (think napalm, agent orange, styrofoam) was the smell of money. All these years later, my sister and I have chronic lung conditions. Coincidence?
Manure degrades a lot faster, and has other purposes than dioxin.
Iowa for the win!
"Where there's muck there's brass" (said in broard Lancashire accent.)
He was not far from the original meaning 🤣
When you realize that the same people patronizing this landlocked schlock boat are the same ones who tithe their income to pastor-parasites, then the figures aren't surprising at all.
Something about a fool and their money?
A christian and his brains are parted very early on. Some regain the use. But most? Nuh-uh.
It seems like it’s growing, but it has yet to reach the levels Ham expected and that it might have had if we really were as religious as some would like us to believe. This is a last gasp of the young earth creationists to fight the education. It’s actually quite hopeful if you ask me. Less than a hundred years ago this was taught in schools, now it’s relegated to a roadside attraction in the middle of nowhere. It’s telling that Ham is forced to shady dealings to trick school districts into field trips and still failing at for the parents fighting for church state separation.
Any religious revival that depends on the Ark Encounter is doomed to failure. The incompetence of even the political movement will ultimately sink their plans. That is to say, we still need to fight for the right thing and we have had some serious losses to n the battles (SCOTUS) but we can move toward progress and away from Christian nationalism.
The Ark itself isn't enough. They have to add fun stuff like zip lines and carousels.
They should add the Walls of Jericho, complete with glory holes.
Ugh. Maybe you'd like to touch those, but I'm afraid I might catch some kind of brain-rot disease.
No worries. They'd be reserved for Ham's "special guests," anyway.
There are guys all over this country (and I'm sure there are some in Kentucky) who will do that for 20 bucks and they're a whole lot cleaner.
You mean all the guys who work at Hamland aren't virgins?! Another illusion shattered!
The carousel seems fun, it's the emplacement who is shitty. If they go bankrupt, there is room for it in Paris 😁
Iirc, it was built in Italy.
Whaaaaat* ? An Australian man isn't patriot enough to buy only American products ?
*Whitney Houston (about 19 years old) shocked face when Asshole serge gainsbourg told her "I want to fuck you" on TV.
"No one in this world, so far as I know---and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me---has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people."
-- HL Mencken, in a column for the Baltimore Sun/Evening Sun dated September 18th 1926
I picture Christian couples visiting Ham's 2nd Commandment-violating graven image taking selfies of themselves wearing IM WITH STUPID t-shirts that each have the arrow pointed at the other.
The problem with a bible-themed tourist attraction is that there just aren't that many things in the book that make for a family-friendly park. Okay, so you've got "Noah saves the world with a really big boat"- so now what? Well, I guess the Tower of Babel make sense... but wait, didn't your godthinghy 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 that? I mean, if you want to claim that's as (𝘩𝘢𝘩!) accurate as your ark, then sooner or later someone's gonna walk through the front gate and ask why, if it's so realistic, goddypoo hasn't yet smited everyone involved in its construction. Good luck coming up with an answer.
But really, where do you 𝘨𝘰 from there? Well, a Christmas manger petting zoo, I suppose... but where's the 𝘞𝘰𝘸! factor? If you want kids to beg their parents to take them there, instead of it always being "that stupid boring place gram-gram took us instead of Disney World," then you're gonna need something 𝘧𝘶𝘯 to do, and it needs to be at least passably kid-friendly (as much as any brainwashing is 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺). Most of the exciting parts of the bible involve a great deal of intra-familial 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 and the wanton slaughter of anyone who so much as dared to glance at a shellfish on sabbath. Whee!
The bible just isn't 𝘧𝘶𝘯. It's dour, and bloody, and cruel... and it has way more "thou shalt nots" in it than "thou shalls," which will 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 put a dent in your appeal to the 1-25 demographic. So, in the end, you're going to face a dilemma: do you want a bible-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 attraction which hews closely to the scripture and which most of its target audience will visit once and forget about... or do you want a bible-𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 attraction where the water slides and roller coasters will be more memorable than the tacky coat of Jesus all over everything, but the place 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 not end up being a complete money pit?
I think that carousel pic above make it pretty clear which way Hammyboy is leaning... and that speaks volumes about how much faith he has in the bible's youth appeal.
I disagree, there is so much fun in the book. Judith and Holoph... Sodom an... Judas' death... Maybe you have a point.
After the Babel tower they should continue with bumper cars 😁
Well, there's always Lot & his daughters....
Genesis 19:30-38
I really want to know about the day-to-day operations of this "authentic" Tower of Babel thing. Is there going to be elaborate machinery that "destroys" it every hour, then reassembles it for the next crowd of suc--visitors? Are they going to have a bunch of dress extras standing around the base, spouting gibbberi--er, speaking in tongues? There's the potential for this to be a lot more entertaining than the landlocked Ham-boat has ever been, if ol' Ken doesn't blow the opportunity. What are the chances?
I said the same thing down below in only 16 words. : )
Eta: Yours is a much better comment.
My question is this: Of all those visiting the Ark Park [hey, that kinda rhymes!], how much of their attendance is repeat traffic, versus first-timers? Granted that Hammy-boy isn't likely tracking that, but I think it might be a telling point as to how robust his following is and how long that overdone rowboat will hold up.
Whatcha think?
We can only hope....
Either that or they're visiting to cross it off their bucket list and they're ready to kick the bucket!
I think AIG has enough rubes to keep the park going regardless of attendance until the Civil War, the collapse of civilization, or the new Dark Ages, whichever comes first (assuming they're not all the same event)
C) Both. Some families probably come every few years when their younger children are old enough.
I envision t-shirts that read, "I visited Ken Ham's Ark, and all I got was a bankruptcy filing."
They're relying on resources that involve Dark Money to keep their business going, which is likely why Ham's putrid attractions are not closing, yet.
https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2023/02/Funder-of-Super-Bowl.html
Does Hemant have a bet on when this will close? I don't think it will be soon. AIG seems to have money coming out the yin-yang, so I doubt they'll let it go under even if it is costing them money.
It won't close. In fact, after the Christian fascists take over, there will probably be an Ark Park built in every state, and a yearly pilgrimage to your nearest Ark Park will be a requirement of citizenship.
LMAO
Not funny!
Oh, come on :) The thought of millions of Americans going on a mandated pilgrimage to the Ark Park once a year to ride on the backs of dinosaurs "just like the cavemen [and women] did" is darkly hilarious.
Yeah, I suppose it is darkly humorous . . . until it comes true. Then, not so much.
Why do you think it will come true?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ef42064dbf81674624d6b0ce4de5c5c6c2baa6b6599df17e2545454b1524c4aa.jpg
The day will hopefully come when a certain percentage of these people who are delusional enough to have already visited this monstrosity with their children (damn) and have had their kids mocked by other kids who have parents that are smart enough that they realize that this is all a fairytale (there's is 0% proof the the Ark story is just that) --then some of these kids actually get curious enough to look for the origins of the (particular brand of) religion they have been "taught" (brainwashed) and wander on to a site like godisimaginary dot com and become 'woke'--yes, I will use that word... LOL, and the end result would ideally be that this eyesore is abandoned, torn down and relegated to the annals of (real) history. It's called progress.
"Hopefully?" Hope in one hand, crap in the other, and see which one gets filled first. The "progress" you refer to will be reversed after the Christian nationalists and Christian fascists take over the country.
I have to admit it looks bad but there are many people I know who are aware that the separation of church and state is vital to the health of the Republic. I'll hold on to that straw until the inquisitions begin.
There are plenty on Team Church who also support separation, so there's hope.
I know many people on Team Church who *claim* to support separation of church & state, but when I challenge them with specific questions and scenarios, their actual views turn out to favor Christian nationalism.
Don't get me wrong. I will keep "fighting the good fight" for separation of church and state, even though I expect to lose.
Hope is the greatest of evils, for it prolongs human suffering.
— Nietzsche
Ham has a "boat" based on a fairy tale.
Maybe he should visit the Holocaust Museum. Or one of the concentration camps still standing. Things that are real and documented real genocide of humanity. He won't, of course. He knows who was in charge of the Holocaust. Good Catholics and Lutherans.
Gott mit uns.
I'm still wondering why anyone would want to visit a monument to a planetary genocide that never happened? And what on Earth does it have to do with Jesus?
Wasn't Jesus the bartender? Oops, nope, that was Isaac. Got my boats mixed up.
I think the Love Boat smelled better, too.
Sitting here with a cuppa and an Anzac biscuit, after a day's walking along the waterfront, the river, and doing some shopping – and I thought of you guys. Real nice Anzac biscuits this motel provides. Quite upmarket. Anyway, I was doing some opshopping and I found a book called Le Dernier Orc. Only $2 and I almost bought it, but my schoolboy French wasn't quite up to it. Anyway I see nothing much doing here – there's not a lot you can say about the ark experience. Seen one ark article seen them all. See you all tomorrow.
If you don't know what to do with your book I can help by adopting it 😁
Anzac cookies? No thank you, I'm allergic to oats. 🤢🤮
They also provide a mean gingernut.
Over here, we call them gingers snaps.
One of my favorite cookie is a Swedish oats one. Most brands are vegan :)
The delusional party.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/02/trump-mar-a-lago-obstruction-classified/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjI1Mzk3NzA5IiwicmVhc29uIjoiZ2lmdCIsIm5iZiI6MTY4MDQwODAwMCwiaXNzIjoic3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ucyIsImV4cCI6MTY4MTcwMzk5OSwiaWF0IjoxNjgwNDA4MDAwLCJqdGkiOiJhOWQzZjljMC0zZjQ2LTQ0ZGYtOGQxYi0xOTExNzBmZDUwNjgiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vbmF0aW9uYWwtc2VjdXJpdHkvMjAyMy8wNC8wMi90cnVtcC1tYXItYS1sYWdvLW9ic3RydWN0aW9uLWNsYXNzaWZpZWQvIn0.YZ1yznXdb1N4FBi25qpnxxpmlW2xr84UwCU10xw9Xqc
I still say that Hambone's missing a golden opportunity to enhance his revenue simply by putting in a recreation of Lot and his two daughters in the cave.
RegularJoe beat you to it, an hour ago.
Aw, maaaaan!
(I only got 2 hours of sleep last night thanks to 2 fire alarms at 2AM and 330AM)
I sleep about 3 hours a night (Insomnia flare) since DM went to the hospital until last night when I dropped and I sleep 6 hours and had several 3 hours naps, it will probavly be over tomorrow.