{"id":880,"date":"2026-07-10T11:09:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880"},"modified":"2026-07-10T11:09:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:09:48","slug":"dinosaurs-on-noahs-ark-a-maga-theme-park-clings-to-creationism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880","title":{"rendered":"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creationism hasn\u2019t generated much coverage in the mainstream media over the past decade. The days when fundamentalists challenged scientists to \u201cdebates\u201d over evolution now seem quaint in the era of Donald Trump, whose belief is that you never need to persuade when beating your opponents into submission is an option. Under the president\u2019s leadership, the right has shifted from arguing about dinosaur bones and carbon dating to making more blunt demands for book bans and even stripping women of the right to vote.<\/p>

Read more Trump\u2019s FCC pressure on \u201cThe View\u201d could backfire<\/a><\/p>\n

This is not to say that evangelicals\u2019 attachment to creationism has gone away, even if it has faded from mainstream discourse. This week, one of the most elaborate and ridiculous bits of Christian right propaganda, Kentucky\u2019s Ark Encounter, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Readers who might be unaware of this facility should imagine an amusement park minus the fun and whimsy.<\/p>\n

The centerpiece of the spectacle is what purports to be a full-size replica of Noah\u2019s Ark, complete with dinosaurs living among humans, because that\u2019s the only way fundamentalists can justify their belief that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. The anniversary\u2019s festivities include hellfire-and-damnation preachers, a play about prisoners of war in World War II and a speech by the guy who owns Hobby Lobby, a program that apparently passes for children\u2019s entertainment in white evangelical circles.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

(Stefani Reynolds \/ AFP)<\/span> A visitor looks at a display at the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky.<\/p><\/div>\n

At first blush, the continued existence of the Ark Encounter and its host institution, the Creation Museum is confusing. During George W. Bush\u2019s presidency, there were repeated efforts to force public schools to teach Genesis in science classes, but after losing a 2005 federal trial that exposed how clownish creation \u201cscience\u201d truly is, the Christian right mostly abandoned those efforts. Internal messaging aimed at evangelicals, though, has stayed strong in pushing the view that evolutionary biology is false and that God really did create the world in seven literal days. And so it is that the Ark Encounter, which was built at the tail end of Barack Obama\u2019s administration, continues to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, even as its traffic has been declining.<\/p>\n

The park\u2019s true purpose is essentially to preach to the choir \u2014 to create propaganda for the evangelical community, feeding their narrative that they\u2019re victims of a grand conspiracy against their religious beliefs. This became clear when the Ark Encounter\u2019s founder Ken Ham threw a tantrum in response to what any reasonable person would see as soft-glove coverage of the anniversary. The Cincinnati Enquirer\u2019s Jolene Almendarez wrote a\u00a0story that mostly highlighted how the facility draws religious tourists to northern Kentucky. But being a decent reporter, she also made sure to quote the popular educator Bill Nye the Science Guy, who correctly pointed out that creationism is \u201canti-science.\u201d In response, Ham recorded a video telling Almendarez to shut up because \u201cno one asked your opinion\u201d and she has no \u201cexpertise in science.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut who decides which scientists are credible?\u201d Ham asked. \u201cIs a scientist no longer credible simply because he or she believes Genesis?\u201d<\/p>\n

Almendarez did reach out to an expert by asking Nye, who has decades of experience educating the public about what is and isn\u2019t science. But Ham\u2019s gambit is insulting on another level, because this is also a common sense issue. One doesn\u2019t need advanced degrees to know that evolutionary biology is a science and \u201cbecause the Bible says so\u201d is not. As Hemant Mehta of the Friendly Atheist explained, \u201cthere aren\u2019t two sides\u201d here, because one side is backed by scientists who \u201cknow what they\u2019re talking about\u201d and the other is \u201cfundamentalist Christians and the people they\u2019ve duped.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Bonnie Tyler\u2019s anthems will live forever<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

(Luke Sharrett \/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/span> Replica vegetables grow just blow deck inside a life-size replica of Noah\u2019s Ark at The Ark Encounter.<\/p><\/div>\n

This imbalance is why creationists have abandoned most efforts to force their ideology into schools. The more they put themselves up for public debate in places like courtrooms and legislatures, the more evident it became that creationism was based on nothing deeper than \u201cbecause the Bible said so.\u201d \u00a0They really didn\u2019t want a debate that allowed people to hear from both \u201csides.\u201d Because once the case was laid out \u2014 without rhetorical trickery and with plain facts, such as \u201cdinosaurs were real, here are the fossils\u201d \u2014 the Christian right\u2019s arguments collapsed.<\/p>\n

Evangelicals, though, no longer need to take their case to the public to bolster their cultural narrative of religious oppression in a hostile, humanist world. Because going to a place like the Ark Encounter is not about fun, and it\u2019s certainly not about learning. It\u2019s about standing around an exhibit featuring a statue of a dinosaur inside a replica of Noah\u2019s ark and riling yourself up about a secular, godless world in which scientists promote, well, science.<\/p>\n

In many ways, the silliness of creationism is the point. I recently discovered this firsthand, after I covered evangelical podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey in a column and on my YouTube show \u201cStanding Room Only.\u201d Most of my focus was on how she promotes a view of Christianity that is overtly hostile to empathy, so much so that she even wrote a book titled \u201cToxic Empathy.\u201d But in her outraged response, Stuckey became most emotional over an aside in which I mocked her for denying that dinosaurs existed millions of years before humans.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

(Luke Sharrett \/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/span> Replica dinosaurs are pictured in a cage onboard a life-size replica of Noah\u2019s Ark at The Ark Encounter.<\/p><\/div>\n

Turns out this is an entire schtick for Stuckey. She makes videos \u201cquestioning\u201d the existence of dinosaurs and then lashes out at the people who inevitably make fun of her for this. However sincere she is with her beliefs, it\u2019s hard not to notice that the whole merry-go-round is profitable, drawing in views and bonding her more tightly with her evangelical audience in a shared sense of victimhood.<\/p>\n

For white evangelicals, claims of Christian persecution are crucial to their tribal identity and to providing moral justification for their behavior toward those they perceive as different and suspect. Leaders of the Christian right understand that a sense of collective humiliation is a useful organizing tool that keeps their followers in a state of perpetual grievance and alienation from the rest of the public \u2014 and causes them to stick more tightly together. That\u2019s why Ham is swift to insist he\u2019s being taunted, even when he\u2019s not. The \u201cwoe is me\u201d act draws in plenty of followers and funds, which certainly helps soothe the hurt feelings of having smarter people dunk on you for putting dinosaur statues on a fake ark.<\/p>

Read more Anti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kentucky’s Ark Encounter turns 10, and its founder Ken Ham is as bitter as ever<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1205,88,1206,90,4,572,1070],"class_list":["post-880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-ark-encounter","tag-christian-evangelicals","tag-christian-fundamentalism","tag-christian-right","tag-commentary","tag-evangelicals","tag-kentucky"],"yoast_head":"\nDinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kentucky's Ark Encounter turns 10, and its founder Ken Ham is as bitter as ever\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T11:09:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/575a18a32a98848d8e528a247d8c24ed.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1692\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1142\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T11:09:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880\"},\"wordCount\":1184,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ark Encounter\",\"Christian Evangelicals\",\"Christian Fundamentalism\",\"Christian Right\",\"Commentary\",\"Evangelicals\",\"Kentucky\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880\",\"name\":\"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T11:09:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1142,\"caption\":\"Life-size replica of Noah's Ark at the Ark Encounter historically themed attraction near Williamstown, Kentucky. (Photo by: Ron Buskirk\\\/UCG\\\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=880#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Across America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism - Relocation Across America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism - Relocation Across America","og_description":"Kentucky's Ark Encounter turns 10, and its founder Ken Ham is as bitter as ever","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880","og_site_name":"Relocation Across America","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T11:09:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1692,"height":1142,"url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/575a18a32a98848d8e528a247d8c24ed.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf"},"headline":"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism","datePublished":"2026-07-10T11:09:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880"},"wordCount":1184,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg","keywords":["Ark Encounter","Christian Evangelicals","Christian Fundamentalism","Christian Right","Commentary","Evangelicals","Kentucky"],"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880","url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880","name":"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism - Relocation Across America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-10T11:09:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a32df709b46c39fa89cc5b90f81f7506.jpg","width":1692,"height":1142,"caption":"Life-size replica of Noah's Ark at the Ark Encounter historically themed attraction near Williamstown, Kentucky. (Photo by: Ron Buskirk\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=880#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dinosaurs on Noah\u2019s ark? A MAGA theme park clings to creationism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/","name":"Relocation Across America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}