In a quiet corner of Kentucky, what claims to be the world鈥檚 largest timber-frame structure is hard to miss 鈥� a 鈥渓ife-size Noah鈥檚 Ark鈥� that reportedly cost $100 million.
Called , the 155-metre long 鈥渢heme park鈥� features stuffed creatures and a petting zoo. It opened its doors last month, billing itself as a family-oriented educational treat. That makes it sound like a good place for schools to send students.
Not so fast, though. The park鈥檚 promotional material also describes it as 鈥渁 Christian evangelistic outreach intended to bring the Ark of Noah鈥檚 day to life,鈥� which 鈥渆quips visitors to understand the reality of the events that are recorded in the book of Genesis鈥�. It is, in fact, a hard-core creationist extravaganza replete with pseudoscience. It is no place for field trips.
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But that hasn鈥檛 stopped its founder .
Throughout the Ark, wordy signs, animatronic mannequins and strident videos all insist that it is no Sunday school tale, but a 鈥渉istorically authentic鈥� boat that existed just as Ham and others on the young-earth creationist fringe imagine it.
Perhaps because of disappointing visitor numbers so far, it is offering reduced rates 鈥� $1 a student and free tickets for accompanying teachers 鈥� to tempt schoolchildren through its doors. Schools and parents should know that a visit wouldn鈥檛 educate or entertain, it would misinform and browbeat.
Publicly-funded schools certainly should not take their charges to the park. The . Ark Encounter is all about endorsing Ham鈥檚 particular reading of Genesis as the literal truth. The constitutions of nearby states, from which a trip might be feasible, echo that proscription.
Flood of misinformation
What鈥檚 more, everything in the park is designed to promote scientifically impossible ideas that contradict everything that scientists know. From astrophysics to zookeeping, . It may be impossible to find a single sign in the park that is free of scientific errors.
To give a single example, Ark Encounter is founded on the notion that a boat so unwieldy that it surely would have twisted apart in the roiling waters of a biblical flood. It is a notion that founders on the rocks of genetics, biogeography and naval engineering.
Just as pernicious as the scientific errors and the religious proselytising is a subtler form of indoctrination. The relentless message to visitors is that our world is as fallen and wicked as Noah鈥檚, and that the destruction of the flood 鈥� including the obliteration of all humans other than a virtuous few 鈥� was not just acceptable but praiseworthy.
Under the pretence of illustrating a beloved tale shared by Jews, Christians, Muslims and others, Ark Encounter presents a message as socially divisive as it is scientifically inaccurate, instilling fear, hatred and hopelessness. Those are lessons no school or parent should want their students or children to take on board.
