All language subtitles for PBS.We.Believe.in.Dinosaurs.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

female announcer:
A museum built

to re-create Noah's ark...

- We want 7 billion people
to come here.

- We want to be able
to bring that same level

that you see
at the Smithsonian

but without the evolutionary
fairy tale, so to speak.

announcer: Becomes
the front line in the fight

between creationism
and evolution.

- This park tells people
that evolution is not true.

Not only is it
not scientifically accurate.

It's immoral.

- I really wish
there were more people

helping me fight this.

singers: ♪ I don't believe

♪ in evolution

♪ I know creation is true

announcer: Filmmakers
Clayton Brown

and Monica Long Ross
take a behind-the-scenes look

at the controversy surrounding
a biblical theme park.

- Creationists have been
pretty vocal.

They're gonna build
new museums,

and they're really gonna
try hard

to leverage
everything they can.

announcer:
"We Believe in Dinosaurs"

now, only
on "Independent Lens."

♪♪

[thunder booming]

[stirring music]

♪

- Deep in the heart
of Kentucky,

a man is building an ark.

He doesn't think
he's the new Noah,

but he does think
the Bible story

may in fact be factual,

and he wants to open
a theme park to make the case.

♪

- The $100-million ark
is expected to draw

about 1.4 million people
a year.

- Folks here in Williamstown
say the ark

is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.

- That would be incredible
to go see.

♪

- There's gonna be scientists
on-site to talk with folk

about what Noah's ark
is all about.

- This is monumental.
It's huge.

It's--oh, my goodness!

- Did man and dinosaurs
live together?

- Folks in awe.

♪

- When finished,
his ark will be

seven stories tall

and a football field
and a half long.

♪

- Kentucky's
tourism department

has awarded $18 million
in tax breaks

for a biblical theme park.

- If they want to set up
the Noah's ark theme park,

that's all fine;
I'm all happy with that.

Let them use their own money.

♪

- People
get off the interstate

to come to the Ark Encounter,

they're going to encounter
this first.

crowd:
♪ Hey, hey, hey, good-bye

- Ark Encounter is immoral,
impossible, and un-American.

- There's all kinds
of stuff in there

that's not in the Bible.

♪

- The Ark Encounter
is a project

which ultimately will entail
800 acres,

and it's a 510-feet-long ship
set 12 feet off the ground,

and it's gonna be
about 65 feet

if you're standing
on the top of it.

A great lasting ability to be
able to really introduce people

to biblical truth
and biblical history, so yeah,

I would ultimately say this
is gonna be the greatest thing

I will have ever had
a chance to do.

[dramatic music]

♪

This first phase
is something like $57 million.

The whole park itself is
somewhere around $160 million.

People will enter it
from behind here.

All of the queue lines
that we have

are all teaching queue lines,

so basically you're really
kind of learning

about the preflood culture
as you walk along,

really starting
all the way from Adam

and the beginning of creation.

So the ark is just
one huge museum,

the way that it functions.

♪

♪

- Check one. Check two.
Check, check.

- Check one. Check two.
Check, check.

I'm speaking, I think...
[laughs] Oh.

On the relevance--
I'm pretty sure.

I do one of two talks usually,

but I'm pretty sure it's on
the relevance of Genesis,

so kind of focusing
on how that's relevant

in our culture today

and young people
leaving the church.

Well, it's a pleasure to be
here with you this afternoon

and to talk with you about
creation versus evolution.

Is Genesis relevant?

And what we're gonna
talk about is...

We live in
a very visual society,

and we want to be able
to bring that same level

that you see, for example,
at the Smithsonian

but without the evolutionary
indoctrination,

the evolutionary fairy tale,
so to speak.

We need to educate our children
from a very young age

about the truthfulness
and authority of God's word

because they are hearing
all of this stuff out there

in the world about dinosaurs
and millions of years

and evolution and being...

We know from scripture
that if you

look at the genealogies,
especially those

in Genesis chapter 5 and 11,

it tells the names of people,

how old they were
when they died.

So we can actually
add those ages up,

and if you go
from Adam to Abraham,

you'll see
there's about 2,000 years,

and from other genealogies,

we know
there's about 2,000 years

between Abraham and Christ,

and then we, of course, know

there's about 2,000 years

between Christ and today.

So that gives us a grand total
of 6,000 years.

It's only 6,000 years,

not millions and millions
of years being possible.

♪

If we don't take what the Bible
says in one part as true,

then it becomes a problem
for the rest of scripture,

and that's really
what this is about.

♪

And is it all true,
or is only part of it true?

Because if only
part of it's true,

then how do you know
any of it's true?

♪

The scripture doesn't need
anything other than itself

because it is
the ultimate authority,

and it is true, so therefore
whatever it says is true

because it's the, you know,
word of God, so--

but because it's true,
we would expect science

to be consistent with it
and confirm it, and it does.

We've actually gotten
to the point in our home

that we do not use the term
"Bible story" anymore.

It has been outlawed.

We will say "Bible account,"
"Bible event,"

"Bible history,"
but it's not a story.

These are things
that really happened.

This is true.

- Oh, my gosh!

- One of our themes this year
is about rescuing our kids

from the evolutionary ideas,
millions of years,

because it is just rampant
in material for children,

whether it be cartoons
or books or school.

♪

We have a lot
of stationary dinosaurs,

as well as several
animatronic dinosaurs.

- Because kids really are
fascinated by them.

And there's just
something about,

you know, going out
into the museum

and seeing these dinosaurs
and seeing all those things

that you might see
at a "regular" museum,

so to speak,

but from a very different
perspective.

but from a very different
perspective.

♪

Our design team has been
working really hard

on putting together
an exhibit donated to us.

It's one of the--

I think it's one
of the largest

allosauruses ever discovered,

and so that's just great
for us to be able

to display something
just as fine

as what the Smithsonian Museum
would do,

because we believe
that these things

are not millions of years old.

They're actually only
thousands of years old.

But for some reason,
after the flood,

just like with
a lot of other organisms,

the animals weren't able
to survive,

and so they've become
extinct today.

As far as we know,
they've become extinct today.

- I'm very excited, yeah.

Yeah, it's gonna be awesome.

Oh, sorry, man.

When a guy comes at you
with a dinosaur femur,

you get out of the way.

Yeah.

As a creation museum,
this is great for us.

We believe in dinosaurs.

People think we don't
believe in dinosaurs.

You know, we believe
in dinosaurs.

We believe that dinosaurs
and man lived at the same time.

The Bible does talk about,
you know, creation week

and all the mammals and humans
were created on day six,

so that would mean that
they were on the same day.

Does it just have one clavicle?

- Yeah. It's a fused furcula.
- I didn't know that.

- It's called a furcula.It's a fused clavicle.

- Furcula.
- That is a leg.

- Oh, that is weird.

I think that it's just
a really cool thing

to have a real dinosaur
of this caliber.

This is a fossil created
during Noah's flood,

and so we're gonna have signage

that teaches about that idea.

Oh, yeah.
Oh, wait a minute.

Oh, that looks nice.

I like that.
It's easy to read.

If there was a global flood,
you would expect

to find billions of dead things

buried in rock layers laid down
by water all over the Earth,

and that's exactly
what we find.

We look at all these layers
of sediment

not as a record of millions
of years of life on Earth

but rather as record of burial
during Noah's flood.

Just want to take a minute
and thank the Lord

for giving this thing here.

Dear heavenly Father,
thank you so much

that you've allowed
all this come together.

Thank you that we can
have this fossil

and that it's just
a really cool thing.

Thank you for the testimony
that it is of the flood--

of the judgment of the flood

and then ultimately
of your reality,

and just thank you so much,

and especially I want
to thank you for Jesus,

and it's in his name I pray.

Amen.

- Amen.

- There you go.
- There you go.

- Okay, we're gonna
get underway here.

We're going to open
and dedicate a new exhibit here

at the Creation Museum.

at the Creation Museum.

Before we unveil this beautiful
fossil and the reconstruction,

I just wanted
to mention something

about the new ark project

that'll be open in 2016,
by the way,

the life-size Noah's ark
that's being constructed.

Okay, now, if we're ready
for the exhibit to be unveiled,

we shall take down
the plastic curtain.

- Whoa!
- Wow!

[applause]

singers: ♪ I don't believe
in evolution ♪

♪ I know creation is true

♪ I believe that God above
created me and you ♪

♪ So praise his name
for what he's made ♪

♪ Give credit where it's due

♪ I don't believe
in evolution ♪

♪ I know creation is true

♪ I don't believe
in evolution ♪

♪ I know creation is true

♪

- When they started talking
about the Ark Encounter

and getting it all set up,
I was really excited

'cause I was still
a creationist.

♪

Oh, I thought,
"Oh, wow, we'll get

"a whole scale model
of the ark.

That's not been done."

And I really wanted them
to really go into detail

and show
how it all could have worked.

♪

I prefer to use
the term "indoctrination."

♪

These ideas are
very deeply embedded.

You hear them
over and over and over again,

that the Bible
has to be history.

If you go over,
if you believe in evolution,

you're hurting the gospel.

You're making it hard
for people to get saved.

Next thing you know,
you're going to be

a raving atheist
feminist communist,

and then you're just gonna
give up everything.

♪

Hey, can I get a...

I had a lot of people
tell me that

"You're attacking God,"
that "You're trying to--

"you hate God; you are--

you are out to take
people away from God,"

and, you know--and I wasn't.

That was difficult,

because when you grow up
believing

that this is the only way
to hold the Christianity,

you lose creationism,

and suddenly you're like,
"Wait, do I still keep--

Am I still a Christian here?
What do I do?"

This is a picture
of me and Ken Ham.

I was probably about 16
at the time,

and I said, "Hey, Mom and Dad,
I am going to earn some money,

"and I'm going to be
one of the lifetime

"charter members there
because this is something

that's important to me."

♪

There are a lot of gaps

in just
the average layperson's

in just
the average layperson's

understanding of science,
and so creationism comes in

and fills those gaps with...

things that aren't quite right.

They're just wrong enough
to make it sound good,

and that's why, you know,
as a creationist,

I thought that I knew
way more science

than the average person

because I had
so much more information.

I had all of these gaps
filled in.

I just had them filled in
with the wrong ideas.

So I wanted to just share--

if there are people
who are interested

in how creationism is based

and why people believe
these things,

I wanted to be able

to share my experiences,
and that's something

that people have been
pretty receptive to.

♪

I've had a lot of readers,
and I also sent it

to the science editor
of Huffington Post,

and then it got picked up
as well

by the "Lexington
Herald Leader."

♪

The approach
from most creationists

has been very, very hostile.

"Stop being angry at God,"
"Stop being offended at God,"

"God's waiting for you,"
stuff like that,

and that's all frustrating
because I'm a Christian.

I'm not--
I haven't left anything.

[laughs]
It's--

And that's just this assumption
that it comes from evolution

and deep time
and all these things,

they come from this philosophy
of atheism,

that that's where
they're based,

and that's just not true.

- Here in Kentucky,

we have lots
of hilly topography.

When the highways are built,
they break--

they go through the rock
and leave

these outcrops behind,

which are always wonderful
for geologists

and paleontologists.

I mean, that's one
of the great things

about the Maysville area

is, the collecting
is just so easy.

Side of the road,
it's a little bit gray area

whether we're allowed
to collect,

but I've had state troopers
help me collect before,

so usually if you're not drunk
or anything like that,

they won't kick you
off the outcrops,

or at most,
they'll ask you to leave.

People will honk at you
and sometimes

throw beer cans and...
[laughs]

♪

Oh, I think I got this
for Christmas

in probably 1967 or 1968.

And when I was in high school
in the late 1970s,

we had a little bit
of evolution

when we talked about genetics,

but the chapter on evolution
in the book was so cool,

and I had all these fossils
I was gonna bring into class

and show the teacher.

We ran out of time.
We just didn't have that.

Darn it, we just
ran out of time.

We had plenty of time to talk

about the coach's
track victories

and the track team,
but we didn't have time

to talk about evolution
in biology class.

♪

And by the time I was in
my second semester of college,

it was a big deal here.

The local community
wanted creationism

taught in the schools,
and the school board

was divided two-to-two
with one undecided member,

and I got involved in this
quite early.

I was writing letters
to the editor

pretty much end of high school
and college,

pretty much end of high school
and college,

probably that summer.

This is one time
I really wish

the James Bond jet pack
had been perfected.

[laughs]

It seems like always
the very nice place to collect

is something like this

where you have to climb
over all this stuff,

and your feet will ache
tomorrow morning

from stepping
on all these rocks.

That's a pretty neat
bottom feature.

I'm not sure what it is.

♪

I don't know what causes that.

That's interesting.

I was thinking at first,
it might be a trace fossil

of some sort, and it could be.

♪

But sometimes
you just don't know.

[chuckles]

That's the strength
of science, though.

We don't say that we know it

and then refuse
to change our answer.

In science,
it's all right to say,

"I don't know,
might never know."

You might think you know
and might be wrong,

but you can change your mind
based on the evidence,

not because of some sort
of religious dogma.

♪

There's videos of Ken Ham
on the Internet

talking to groups
of schoolkids,

and he'll say things like,

"When a scientist
says certain rock

is such-and-such billions
of years old, what do you say?"

And he'll tell them to say,
"Were you there?"

as if you had to be there
in order

to make an interpretation
of the geologic past.

♪

And you don't have
to be there.

You can observe evidence
in the present

and see things and figure out,

just like forensic science,
what happened in the past.

♪

There's just so many different
crazy things

that would have to be changed
about the world

if we did things
the way the creationists

are doing geology.

But that's my rant,
I guess, for right now.

[laughs]

♪

- You ready?
children: Yeah!

- Okay.

- Sixth day.

- "Oh, were you there?"

[intense music]

[clock ticking]

[intense percussive music]

[man screams]

♪

♪

- I'm Mark Looy, and welcome

to another milestone

in the construction of this

life-size Noah's ark
behind me.

It's going to be
an impressive structure

when it opens,

Lord willing,
summer of next year.

Let me introduce Ken Ham,
our president.

He is the visionary
behind the Ark Encounter,

and he'll say a few words here,

and then we'll lead you
on a tour of the ark.

Ken?

- Okay, thank you, Mark,
and good morning,

and thank you for coming.

The ark itself is going to be

built up on that platform
that you see.

Now, that concrete platform,

the precast concrete
you see there won't be visible

when it's open;
it'll have a wooden...

- The whole point of this park
is to teach people

that these biblical events

were real history in real time
that actually happened,

so that's really
what this is all about,

that there really was a flood.

It's not a bathtub ark.

He created a real ark
for a real flood

that probably destroyed

upwards of 10 billion people
on the Earth.

You've got an ark that was
created to save eight people,

and the rest of the population
was literally obliterated

because God was really unhappy
with what He did.

That's what the Bible says.

[dramatic music]

♪

I'm gonna say, come January,

we, the design team,

can actually get inside there

and start, you know,
installing exhibits,

so that's really gonna be
the next thing.

♪

- Since the last time
we talked,

we were working on
the allosaur at that point,

and a totally different team
was working

on designing the ark.

And I actually--
at that point,

I didn't think I was gonna
get to work on the ark

because we had a special team
for that,

and at some point,

I was switched over
to full-time on the ark, and--

which is awesome;
it's a dream job.

♪

Almost everything
that you're seeing

is going into the ark

to represent animals
that would be on the ark

to be saved from the flood.

A lot of people falsely think
that Noah

had to take two
of every species of animal,

which there's millions
and millions,

and, you know, people
make jokes about that.

But no, no, no,
it would have been

far fewer numbers,
in just a few thousands,

far fewer numbers,
in just a few thousands,

because just like,
you know, you've got dogs,

you don't need
all the varieties of dogs.

You just need two dogs

and then breed out
everything else.

So the same thing is true
with all of the animals.

So that's why the Bible
specifically says "kinds."

♪

Panic? No.

Occasionally I will lay awake

thinking of, you know,
what's next and how--

strategically, how are we
gonna get all this done?

I feel like this is what I've
been prepared for all my life.

And so I feel like
that, like--

that sort of hits me
like a wave

every once in a while,
just purpose.

♪

Everybody who works
for Answers in Genesis

is a creationist.

I actually have been
a creationist

as long as I've been alive,
basically,

but I actually went
through a period

where I kind of
was questioning that.

♪

I thought, "Well, you know,
they seem to have

"some good points
about how the Earth

could probably be
really, really old,"

and I was like, "Uh, you know,

"maybe the Earth
is millions of years old.

What does it matter, really?"

♪

And then when I met Ken

and he just said it, like,

"The Earth can't really be
millions of years old

"if death and suffering
came in

"when Adam and Eve sinned,

"because you couldn't have
millions of years of death

and suffering before sin,
if that's the case."

So it wasn't that I came back
from not believing

in six-day creation,
but at the same time,

I realized
it was more important

than I had even thought
it was originally.

This is actually
a grandfather of the giraffes,

and then this is
a classic stegosaurus.

This one's reclining.

- Yes. Very important.

On the ark,
we're assuming that--

we're assuming,
'cause it doesn't say--

but it would make sense for him
to take younger animals

because they would eat less

and they would have a chance
to live longer after the flood,

so it just made sense
for them to be younger.

Plus, they take up
so much less space.

You know, you think
of dinosaurs, you think,

"Oh, my goodness,
he'd never be able

to get those on the ark."

Well, the eggs of dinosaurs
are only this big.

T. rex, when it was born,
was only, you know, that big,

so you can have a juvenile
with no problem,

so yeah, stegs got big.

These things got really big,
not as big as T. rex.

We got--that's what the guys
are working on in there.

I think a lot of people,
when they look at these,

will assume
that they are raptors

because they're so similar
in size,

but even though T. rex
got to be about 40 feet long,

we're representing them
as juveniles.

♪

I don't feel like I'm gonna,
like, just talk to you

and convert you
as you walk out the door.

♪

[drill whirring]

But I want you to see that,
you know, I'm a normal person.

But I want you to see that,
you know, I'm a normal person.

I am not crazy,

but I do believe
in all of this,

and any opportunity I get
to talk about it, I'll take it.

I think this ape's almost done,

just a couple little
final touches.

I think you've seen that in
several stages along the way.

♪

- When you create a park
like this,

you've gotta do two things:
you gotta entertain people.

You want them to have fun,

but you also want
to teach them,

and so we have a section
within the Walled City,

as I'm calling
this entrance area there,

where we will bring
people through

that will literally show them

what we think was going on
during that period of time,

and it's a lot like walking
through Main Street Disney,

where you've got food
and you've got entertainment

and you've got crafts
and you've got, you know,

things--you know,
gifts, shopping,

all of that kind of stuff.

So as you walk through that,

plus, you know,
with the live entertainment

and the shows that we'll do,

we'll give you
what our rendition is

of what we think
the culture was very much like.

And, you know, it's gonna be
graphic in a lot of ways,

so you can decide
whether you want to take

your children through it
or not.

- Well, let's at least talk
about the society

that we have today.

We have crime.

We have rampant sex
out of marriage.

We have all kinds of deviations

that are going on
within our society today.

You know, so much of it
has fallen apart.

When I was a kid growing up,
everybody was married.

Everybody went to church.

You know,
and the American society

was very different
than it is today.

♪

God says, "That's the kind
of stuff that I'm gonna judge,"

and so that's basically
the kind of thing,

I think,
on a more extreme level

that we'll be showing
within the Walled City itself.

You've got slavery.
You've got bestiality.

You've got all kinds of crazy
stuff that's going on, and...

- You'll just have to wait
and see.

- Tonight
a biblical-based theme park

is creating controversy.

It's about whether
the government is too involved

in helping to build it.

Democratic governor
Steve Beshear

said the government
is very excited about it

and explained why.

- The numbers alone
tell the tale.

This is
a $150-million investment

that is projected to create
nearly 900 jobs,

including almost 550
full-time jobs.

- Folks here in Williamstown
say the ark

is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.

♪

The county went through
some hard economic times

several years ago,

but they're hopeful that will
change now with the ark.

♪

- It looks like
a very Mayberry-type

place to live and all.

It looks very nice,
for the most part.

It's a nice small town,

horrible financial situation,

so you understand
why they're so desperate.

♪

♪

I really feel sorry
for the town.

♪

- President and CEO
of Answers in Genesis

and Ark Encounter,
Ken Ham,

believes the ark will generate
$4 billion in revenue

and bring 20,000 jobs
to the region

over the next ten years.

♪

- The locals seem to be
completely snowed in by this.

They were pretty much told

that the streets
were gonna be paved with gold.

♪

The mayor even told
the citizens

that their utility rates
would go down

because of the Ark Park.

♪

It just seems so flimflam-ish

that I can't really envision
things turning out

like Ken Ham says
they're gonna turn out.

One of the first things I did

when I started opposing
the Ark Park

is, I got a subscription
to the Grant County News,

so I was able to get a sort of
inside source of information.

And I have lots of stories
going all the way back from--

like, this is 2012,
"Ark Park Moving Slowly."

You know, they'll have
guest columns by Ken Ham.

They occasionally have op-eds
by various creationists,

including Mark Looy, the--

one of the spokespeople
for Answers in Genesis.

This one might be replying
to something I wrote.

He didn't mention me by name,
though, in his reply.

Here's when they started
some of the construction.

"Ark Taking Shape."

People that visit
the Ark Park,

they have to pay sales tax,

and Answers in Genesis,

they get back

up to, like, $1.8 million
per year of the tax money

they normally would send
to the state coffers,

so instead of the state
getting the money,

Answers in Genesis gets to keep

a good portion
of their sales tax.

I got on the Answers
in Genesis website,

and I got on there,

and I looked
at the employment thing,

and lo and behold,
there was one for a CAD,

a computer-assisted
design operator,

specifically for the Ark Park,

and basically
what I found was,

they required
the salvation history,

the agreement with Answers
in Genesis statement of faith,

all these different things
that even included

what church you went to
and things like that.

♪

I've never seen a job,
not even for janitor,

that didn't require
the belief statement.

♪

If you're getting
any sort of public funding

and, all at once,
you only hire certain people

based on
their religious beliefs,

that contradicts the idea

that you're actually
helping the economy.

You're just helping
a specific religious sect.

So I wrote the op-ed
where I wrote

the "Herald Leader"
about the discovery

that they were gonna
discriminate in hiring.

that they were gonna
discriminate in hiring.

Unfortunately
the "Herald Leader" said,

"Non-Christians
need not apply,"

and actually,
most Christians aren't eligible

for jobs at the Ark Park.

It's not just unbelievers
and Jewish people, Muslims,

Mormons, anything like that.

Mainstream Protestants
and Catholics

and even Old Earth creationists

would not be eligible
for hiring.

Americans United jumped on it

and sent a formal letter
to Kentucky Tourism

about the tax incentive.

- But one of the most
frustrating things

about this whole situation

is that Ken Ham continually

tried to play on both sides.

He would argue that,
"Oh, the Ark park

"is really just
a tourist attraction,

and, you know, we're welcoming
everybody; it's all right."

- Mr. Ham, do you see this park
as part of a ministry,

as essentially a church,
or is it purely business?

- Well, actually,
the Ark Encounter

is a profit organization

that's set up to give
a particular view

of biblical history;
it's really a--

- But then he would then
tell his supporters

that it was designed

to proselytize
and convince people

of the truth of the story
of Noah's ark

and the truth of the Bible

and persuade them to adopt
the religious views

favored by some
fundamentalist Christians.

- Think of
a Christian facility...

- But I believe it.

- That stands
on the word of God

and 132 ark bays
with exhibits,

and it's gonna really show

that we can give answers
and challenge them

that they need
to put their faith

and trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ.

- Wow.
- So it's an evangelistic ark.

- Yes.
- We have many, many others...

- You can't have it both ways,

and that's where we really
had the problem.

- Americans United
for the Separation

of Church and State
contacted me and asked me

if I would be willing to be
party to their legal action.

I readily agreed to do so

because they thought
it was important to represent

the fact that there
are religious people,

deeply religious people,
who are also uncomfortable

with those sorts
of government benefits

going to a religious purpose.

I think implicit in the idea
of the separation

of church and state
is humility,

that no one religion,
no one philosophy

has all the answers.

And they are very confident
in what they believe,

and they have strong
reservations about me.

I'm confident
in what I believe too.

And I believe if you allow
the free flow of ideas

that a more mature faith

is going to do well
in that conversation,

and so I would just encourage
more conversation,

and I think the scripture says,
"You shall know the truth,

and the truth
shall make you free."

♪

- And at that point,
December of 2014,

the state basically said,

"No, we're not gonna give you
the tax incentives."

You don't really realize
until a particular religion

manages to take over an entire
county and city government

and get them to do
everything they're asked

how important the separation
of church and state is.

how important the separation
of church and state is.

- Park officials are seeking
legal action

after being denied
tax incentives.

The Commonwealth says
it cannot give tax incentives

to a company that
"intends to discriminate

in hiring its employees
based on religion."

- The ark's
parent organization,

Answers in Genesis,
has launched

a billboard campaign
to bolster supporters.

A federal lawsuit
could soon follow.

- Throughout this
whole debate,

Ken Ham continued to insist

that he was not receiving
any state support,

and he would get mad
when we said that he was.

- And let me say this
for all the media:

not one cent has come
from taxpayer money.

[cheers and applause]

♪

- Yeah, he won by a rather
large margin, actually,

in spite of being five points
behind in the polls.

- Governor Bevin is
a fundamentalist Christian.

- You could be an atheist,
and you would appreciate

there's a lot of wisdom
in the Bible.

- He has tweeted
pictures of himself

visiting the Ark Park.

♪

The governor came in
at just the time

when it would've been decided

what's gonna happen
with this ruling,

and the governor had
campaigned in part on the idea

that he would support
the Ark Park.

Basically the judge bought
the idea that the Ark Park

was just another
tourist attraction

and that it should get
the same benefits

that similarly situated
attractions

had received in the past.

♪

- A legal win for a biblical
theme park in Kentucky.

A federal judge says the state
cannot exclude the park

from a tax incentive program
worth millions of dollars.

- We were thrilled, of course,
with the result

because the judge ruled
in Answers in Genesis' favor.

Tickets are now available
online for the Ark Encounter.

- I really wish
there were more people

helping me fight this.

♪

♪

And a lot of people
that I know scientifically

just won't get involved
in this.

They don't want
to take the time.

They say,
"Well, Dan will do it,"

and, you know,

maybe if I stopped doing
some of the stuff I do,

somebody else would step in
and do something, but...

people don't want
to be unpopular.

They don't want to say things

that'll draw attention
to themselves.

I've been the object
of several Ken Ham blog posts

specifically aimed at myself.

♪

And maybe people,
they don't want

to have to deal with...

basically bull[bleep] like that
on the side.

I'm not really sure.

It's like grabbing hold
of something

and it gets sticky
all over you,

and if they were
to come forward

and say very much against
the Ark Park,

they would have the people
from the Ark Park

breathing down their throats
all the time.

♪

[sighs] It is--
it's frustrating.

I mean, people ask me why
I spend so much time on this,

and this is one
of the reasons why.

I mean, nobody else seems like
they give a damn about it.

I mean, I know they really do,

but they can't really come out
and say anything.

♪

- The ark puts us on the map,
so to speak.

One of my favorite headlines
I ever wrote

when I was at the paper was,

"Ark Brings
Flood of Possibilities," so...

I couldn't help it.
[laughs]

I can remember,
as a little girl,

coming to downtown and skating
in the skating rink,

and the downtown area was
always bustling on Saturdays,

and then we went
through the downturn,

the economic times,
when you could almost see

the tumbleweeds blow
through downtown.

And now we're excited

because we've got businesses
coming back.

It's awesome to see
young people getting excited

about the potential
for our community again.

- Okay, so this is
Elmer's General Store.

We've got
hand-dipped ice cream,

homemade fried pies,
and other desserts.

So we do the old-time malts,
milkshakes, and the sodas

and all this stuff,
and then, like I said,

we have the vendors,
and we're looking for more.

We had the experience
of working Gatlinburg

and Pigeon Forge,
so we know what

a tourist attraction can do
for a community,

so we're excited.

- When you're getting calls
from places like China

and Wisconsin and Missouri
and people want to know,

"Where can I stay,
and what can I do?"

we've never had that
in the past,

so you capitalize on that.

♪

- I say we serve about 50
at the moment,

so it just, you know, depends
on your days, of course.

You have ups and downs,
but when we have music shows,

we bring anywhere
from 50 to 150.

we bring anywhere
from 50 to 150.

So we're doing fine, you know.

We can make it, barely,

but the ark really will help
our tourism

and will help, the--you know,

the people coming through
the doors.

♪

You know,
this time next year,

this town is not gonna
look like it is.

♪

I know they're already planning
on having shuttle buses

come and drop tourists off
in Williamstown,

so hopefully, you know,
they'll get an ice cream

or listen
to a song or two here,

and it will really help us.

[loose banjo strumming]

So Jimmy wrote this song about
the ark, and he's lived here--

Jimmy, you've lived here,
what, about 30 years or so?

- 20.
- 20?

- Try that.
See if that fits.

- He's lived here longerthan I've been alive, so--

No.[laughs]

♪

You guys ready?

- Yeah.

[upbeat country music playing]

♪

- ♪ I went overto the edge of the line ♪

♪ And looked into the dark

♪ Yonder in the fieldsomewhere ♪

both: ♪ I declare
I saw the ark ♪

- ♪ Businessman
stood next to me ♪

♪ He'd come to collect
his bounty ♪

♪ They're crawling
two-by-two because ♪

♪ The ark is in Grant County

♪

crowd: ♪ Better keep
a-moving, folks ♪

♪ No, this ain't no trick

♪ The ark has been located

♪ On Highway 36

- ♪ Exit 154

♪ On Highway 36

♪

[applause]

[dramatic music]

- I haven't been
to the Creation Museum

in years and years.

I grew up in central Kentucky,
and I, of course,

had a lifetime pass
to the Creation Museum.

Here I am getting a picture
with my name

on the wall
of lifetime charter members.

Very proud that I was
on the wall there,

and I think I may have subtly
dropped that from time to time

as I was talking to a girl
from a Christian family:

"You know, I'm on the wall
at the Creation Museum."

It was a big deal.

This is--
I was street preaching

in Huntington Beach

in California,
did some street preaching.

I've got some money-shaped
gospel tracts there,

and I'm explaining the effects
of sin on the world

and the importance of Genesis

and the importance
of the Ten Commandments

and everything
that goes along with that.

and everything
that goes along with that.

♪

I don't know,
there might be a degree

to which I think back
to where I was and think,

"What would have changed
my mind?"

I--some of this stuff is new,

so I don't know my way around
at this point anymore.

Hey, where are
the charter member plaques?

Are they further on or...

- They should beright down here.

- Right down here?
Okay.

I was certain
that I knew everything.

I was really, really,
really prideful

in my knowledge of Creationism

and how I knew more
than the scientific community

and I knew more
than all of these people

who are just
accepting evolution

without asking questions.

I regret that I was a big--
you know, a big know-it-all.

♪

Oh, it's a different--
this is a different person.

This is someone else.

You know, this is someone
who lived a long time ago,

many--many years ago.

♪

And I don't know--

I don't think
he'd recognize me.

♪

Feels kind of strange.

♪

- This is the king,

the king of the preflood world.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he talks
in a King Julian voice.

[as King Julian]
Maurice, you crazy fool!

[laughs]

Welcome to my party!

- Everybody would be rooting
for the water

to take him out at that point.

[laughter]

- He's gonna have this
golden helmet going on here.

Yeah, he's just
having a good time.

So it's a very--very fun
diorama to work on,

lot of dynamism.

All these figures,
we started with a 3-D scan

of actual people,

and then from there,
we take it into the computer,

do a lot of resculpting,
but it's really fun stuff.

- We're working out, really,
the face of Noah.

He's the iconic character,
so he's probably

the most important character
that we have.

And then, of course,
you got Ham, Shem, and Japheth

and then all of their wives.

Noah has to be
a very iconic figure

because we're not only gonna
use him in pictures

like this illustration;
we're gonna use him

in static figures
and animatronic figures,

and also we will re-create him
in film as well.

- These are some of
the different face concepts

for the wives of the sons,

so just kind of pulling some
different features from people

from all over the world
so that they show

that it's a compilation

of different characteristics,
so...

Obviously we get
to kind of invent that

'cause we don't know
what they looked like.

We get from the Bible
that Ham's descendants

went to the Americas
through Asia, Africa,

and so we kind of have
a bit of a challenge

to kind of put all those
kinds of features

into the faces
of Ham's wife and Ham.

- Here, you know,you have Ham's wife.

You know, we do--do research; we've--

Some physical features here.

- And so based upon
the characteristics,

then we find
some gave you Asian.

Some gave you,
you know, darker,

more Middle Eastern features.

Some maybe gave you more
African features, et cetera,

'cause you basically--

everything literally comes
out of these three couples.

- You know, middle brown color

with brown eyes
and brown hair.

Some is a little darker.

Some of the people

are a little bit darker,
some a little bit lighter.

- And you have what...

- Skin tone, eye color,stuff like that.

♪

- We're gonna do
a peaceful demonstration.

They have the right
to build their park,

but we also have the right
to protest it,

that this story is not
scientifically accurate.

And not only is it not
scientifically accurate.

It's immoral.

The original idea
was to put up a billboard--

a regular billboard
for 30 days,

and if we raised enough money,
we'd put up a couple.

This was just the shot
to let people know we had--

If you gave us $500,

you can actually take
a photo of yourself.

We want you all wet,
whatever pose,

take several poses,
and we will actually put you

in the billboard
drowning in the ocean.

So it got us a lot of press.

We raised almost $10,000
in a couple days.

The problem was,
the billboard company

backed out
when it got all this press.

We didn't expect radio, TV,
papers would pick it up.

- Atheist group's
anti-Ark Encounter billboard

is rejected.

Two billboard companies
have refused to display

an advertisement
by an atheist group

to protest the Ark Encounter
amusement park in Kentucky.

Tri-State Freethinker,
the president, Jim Helton,

welcome
to "The Bill Cunningham Show."

- Thanks for having me on.

- Now, why do you say
genocide and incest

somehow is part of the ark?

- I don't know how else
to describe it.

In the story of Noah's ark,

God drowns everybody.

Now, some Christians will say
that people are wicked,

but he drowns everybody,
even the innocent:

women, children,
bunny rabbits, everybody.

That is textbook genocide.

I see no other way
to describe it.

And then he repopulates
the Earth through incest

for the second time.

We find this highly immoral.
- What do you mean, incest?

- If you only have one family,
the only way to repopulate

is having sex
within that family.

- They could've had
some other family

on top of the mountains
somewhere.

- Noah's family and his kids,
that was it.

And keep in mind, Adam and Eve
was through incest, too,

to populate the Earth
for the first time,

so this is the second story
of incest.

And if you go
to Ken Ham's Creation Museum,

he says, "Incest is okay
because God said so."

- Well, if God says okay,
it's okay.

- No! Killing people
and incest is not okay.

- Well, what are you
gonna do about this?

You have two companies,
Event Advertising and Lamar,

that said, "Nah, bubba, nah."

What do you do now?

- We went--
a mobile billboard company

reached out to us and said,
"We'll put it up,"

reached out to us and said,
"We'll put it up,"

but then recently,
with all the press it's gotten,

he backed out for fear
of his personal safety.

He did not feel safe
driving it around.

So we have $10,000,
and we cannot find a company

in the state of Kentucky
or Cincinnati

willing to take our money.

- Have you confronted
Ken Ham on this?

- Ken Ham has--
we have had

a back-and-forth
through Twitter.

He has personally called me out

a half-dozen times on Twitter

this morning alone.

He has blogged about us
several times.

So the reason
we call this out is,

it doesn't stop here.

It seeps into our politics.

It seeps into our lawmaking,
and that's why we make a stand.

- Well, you're a heathen
that's gonna burn in hell,

and if that's the case,

I will say a prayer
to get you out.

If you're lucky,
you'll end up in purgatory,

in which case, I can help you.

If you're in hell,
you're beyond my reach.

- Then I'll be in good company.

- There'll be a lot of--
other hell characters

will be down there,
and you'll be burning,

and there'll be
a million serpents

biting your legs for eternity.

- See, again,
you're threatening me

with torture,

which proves my claim
that that's immoral.

Just because I require
facts and evidence

should not be a reason
to torture me forever.

- Well, you're gonna
burn in hell.

- I'm okay with that.
- All right.

What's your website, if any?

- Tristatefreethinkers.com.
- All right.

Well, look, stay in touch.

- All right. I will.
- God bless you, man.

- Thanks for having me on,
Bill.

[laughs]
Bye.

[upbeat music]

How'd I do?

- I'd like to go protest
a protest.

On July 7th,
a group of atheists

are planning on protesting
the opening of Ken Ham's

Ark Encounter attraction.
I actually looked...

Ken Ham was getting ready
to be done with the ark,

and he texted me and said,

"Hey, I just learned
some atheists

"are gonna be protesting
the opening

of the Ark Encounter."

I texted him back and said,
"Man, I would love

"to be there for that.

I would have a great time."

So here's the deal.

I would love for you to help me
get a team of people

that I've assembled
to the Ark Encounter

so that we can protest
the protest.

At the end of the day,
what's fun about it is,

these are people
that right now,

if my worldview is true,

they're on their way to hell.

I get the privilege,
I get the joy--

I'd say more than fun;
it's joy--

of trying to go
into these storms

and rescue people and say,

"Listen, you need the truth."

By the way, don't tell
the atheists that we're coming.

My name is Eric Hovind.

I get the privilege
of traveling around

and talking about creation
versus evolution and really...

We're seeing a resurgence
of the Creation Movement,

people realizing science

doesn't fit
the evolution worldview.

"Let's go back
and rethink this."

And so we're seeing
the Creation Movement

as a whole raise back up.

The evolution worldview says

somewhere between 13 billion
and 20 billion years ago,

there was a big bang.

The idea that the universe
came into existence...

[snaps fingers]
Instantaneously is exactly

what we get out of Genesis 1:1.

So the Bible tells us
that it's our authority,

and science
is gonna confirm that,

and science
is gonna confirm that,

so I'd like to try
to prove to you...

So you have this idea

of a lot of people
believed evolution.

Some people use that
as an argument.

"Well, evolution
must be true."

But majority doesn't determine
right and wrong, you know?

Jean-Luc Picard
can tell you a lot

about the Starship
"Enterprise."

That doesn't make it true.

I know people that can teach me
a lot about evolution,

and it doesn't make it true.

The longest wavelength
we see is red.

Well, if God stretched out
the heavens as a curtain,

we would expect to see
the longer

of the wavelengths of light,
which is the red of the light,

and everywhere we look,
guess what we're seeing.

The red shift in starlight.

The fact
that our vice president

is somebody who believes
in creation,

I think that leads
just even more credibility

to the number of people
out there that go,

"I don't believe this
because I'm ignorant.

"I've thought this through.

"I've looked
at the information.

I've concluded
this is the truth."

And so yeah, I'm excited
that we've got

lots of elected officials
that hold to this worldview.

- Do you believe
in evolution, sir?

- Do I believe in evolution?

I embrace the view
that God created the heavens

and the Earth and the seas
and all that's in them, and--

- Right, but do you believe
in evolution

as the way he did it?

- The means, Chris,

that he used to do that,

I can't say.

- But you don't believe that--

you don't takea fundamentalist view

of the seven daysof creation, do you?

- [laughs] Chris.
- I'm just asking. Do you?

- Chris, where are we going
with this? Is it--

- The idea that if even
one part of the Bible

is not true
that the whole thing crumbles

is a very difficult piece
of terrain to defend,

and it seems obvious to me

that science,
at multiple levels,

clearly has proven the Earth
is more than 6,000 years old,

and why some folks,

in the name of their religion,
I assume,

choose to ignore that
and to cling

to a religious viewpoint

that says otherwise

is not something
I fully understand.

- I never heard anyone say
that Genesis can be inspired,

can be from God
and not be history,

that God can give us something

that's something
other than history.

That was just not an idea
that was ever presented to me.

- I believe the Bible is true
in what it says in Genesis,

principally communicating
the idea

that God created this world,
and I believe this.

I believe that God
has a purpose

and a will for this creation.

That having been said,
science informs

how I understand
what that creation is

and how this planet functions,

and there have been hundreds
and thousands of years

of project--
of progress in human thought

since that time that help us
to better understand

the world that God has made,

and I welcome that aid
in understanding God's world.

and I welcome that aid
in understanding God's world.

- It's like there's a little
voice in your head

that closes the door
whenever you see evidence

that doesn't fit your beliefs
and then opens it

whenever you see evidence
that you can make fit,

and that's something that,

you know,
every creationist had,

a little guy in their head
saying, "Wait, nope, stop.

Don't listen.
Don't look at that,"

and, "Wait,
we can accept this."

♪

I was also debating anyone
who would

pay attention to me
whenever I got the chance.

You know, online, I would find
some poor scientist

and be like,
"All right, let me tell you,"

and so I would debate
everybody I could,

and then they would come back
with really clear,

obvious answers
to what I was saying,

and I would say,
"Hold on, let me go consult

"my Answers in Genesis
material.

Oh, there's the answer,"

and then I would come back
with that, you know,

'cause they have answers--
they have a lot of answers.

That's what they call it,
Answers in Genesis.

♪

- So we have all these
different DVDs,

and if you stop to read
all the different titles,

I mean, it's on so manydifferent subjects,

anywhere frombiblical authority

to how is Genesis relevantin our culture today

to what about geology,and what about the ape men,

and how do you explaindinosaurs, so forth and so on,

so it's literallyjust the whole gamut

related to science fieldsand biblical authority issues.

- A lot of people
love dinosaurs,

and kids love dinosaurs.

This is one of our
most popular books,

"Dinosaurs of Eden"
from Ken Ham,

and so books like this
that walk through

with really good artwork,
and this has got

some up-to-date
scientific information in it

to help the kids understand

all about dinosaurs and things.

Yeah, there are surely
tens of thousands of families

around the country
using our different resources.

Knowing that it's going out
and influencing people is--

It brings me great joy.

♪

- This event is called

the International Conference
of Creationism.

We believe in the authority
of the Bible.

We believe that the biblical
account in Genesis

is historically
and scientifically accurate.

We present various papers.

It's only creation
that's presented.

It's only creation
that is promoted

as opposed to other
scientific organizations

would really promote
only evolution.

Well, this is the creationist
version of that.

- The growth had to take
over a period of time.

- The audience
is being snowed.

I mean, it looks like science,
and unfortunately it isn't.

It's a parody, almost,
of science.

Answers in Genesis puts
these things on their website

they claim
are scientific papers,

and they can range from
very densely written things

to things that invoke miracles
and all sorts of other stuff.

- Grass bank from...

- There are people
with degrees,

but a degree basically means

but a degree basically means

that you're capable
of doing science.

It doesn't mean
that you're a scientist.

- We know that
from modern landslides...

- You basically have to agree

that the Earth
is 6,000 years old,

that Noah's flood
was a real event,

do all these different things
before you could

even publish a thing
in their

supposedly scientific journal.

So your conclusions are,
you know, foreordained.

It pretty much kills
the scientific method

before it even starts.

♪

- And we can start handing
animals out by hand.

♪

- Awesome.

That would be perfect.

- [laughs]

♪

- You know, driving by this
when I was growing up,

it was always,"Okay, all those layers

"came from Noah's flood.

All those layersare about the same age."

But actually getting out
and taking a closer look,

it's not quite so easy
to think that.

- You see stuff
that's really fine-grained.

- Oh, wow.
- See the laminations there?

- Yeah, you can just--you can barely even see that.

It's like it's painted on.

- So things there were probably

deposited really slowly.

Then there might have been
another storm

and layer after layer
of just...

- Gotcha.

- It's so inconsistentwith anything

the creationists are claiming

about the natureof the rock record.

- Yeah.
Oh, yeah.

- Actually, this pieceis actually better on there.

- I know that there were
definitely a lot of concerns

about me when I was--first
started writing this stuff.

I surprised a lot of people,
alarmed a lot of people.

- Well, he probably--
a lot of his family

was invested in supporting
the Creation Museum,

and sometimes
to turn against

what your family believes
can be heartrending.

what your family believes
can be heartrending.

- It's--I'm running the risk
of really--you know,

really upsetting people
I care about.

♪

I kind of feel like,
"Oh, if I can just explain

why and how
and all this stuff,"

but explaining
doesn't always work.

- It takes guts to go after

something you've been
raised with.

- It's been difficult.

♪

A lot of people have asked,
you know,

when I've been talking
about this,

was there a time
that I kind of switched from,

you know, I was believing
one thing, and then I wasn't?

It was definitely a lot
of successive steps,

a lot of small, you know,
gradual things,

learning,
"Oh, I was wrong about this.

That's not quite
how it works."

♪

And there was one day
that I was at work

and on my lunch break
reading about astronomy stuff

and galaxies
and reading about discoveries.

♪

I saw an image of a galaxy

that was running
into the center

of a galaxy cluster.

♪

There was a trail of hot gas

coming out from behind
this galaxy,

200,000, 300,000 light-years.

♪

Basically footprints
in the sky

with paths that go
way, way, way farther

than anything could move
in 6,000 years.

♪

And just seeing that
and seeing, wait,

if something can traverse,
you know,

200,000 light-years of space,

they can't be
6,000 years old.

It just can't work.

♪

I realized at that point
that yeah,

I don't
believe this anymore.

I can't
believe this anymore.

♪

And so I was able
to look at the universe

and hear what it was saying.

♪

This is a new world.

It's a different--
it's a different world

than I thought it was.

♪

♪

[indistinct chatter]

♪

[indistinct chatter]

- Morning.
- Morning.

- I just wanted to touch basebefore it gets a little--

- Yeah, before it starts--
- Little busy.

- It hits the fan, yeah.
- Yeah.

- What's this I'm hearing
about an anti-protester?

- Yes, Eric Hovind,

I believe is his name,coming up from Florida.

He's--Ken Ham, I guess,personally texted him and said,

"They're protesting.

You should come up hereand counterprotest."

- So we just wantedto make you aware,

if there's an issue,we'll just let you know.

- Okay.
- Okay.

- So about 150 people.
- Yeah.

- All right, just try to keep
everybody safe, okay?

- We will.
- Yeah, absolutely.

- You know, as long as
nothing's confrontational,

we're good, you know,
as long as you guys

are, you know,
doing your thing.

Have a good one, guys.
- All right, thank you.

All the kinds,
so he made each kind,

and each kind of land animal
was represented on Noah's ark,

so what we today call dinosaurs
were represented on the ark.

It seems people haven't been
given these answers.

They haven't been
taught genetics correctly,

haven't been taught
about speciation

and natural selection
correctly.

We're gonna correct that
in here

and undo the brainwashing
that's occurred through...

[cheers and applause]

And I encourage you,
when you come

to Answers in Genesis,
talk to our PhD scientists.

You might not understand
what they're saying,

but talk to them.

[laughter and applause]

- What's really going on here,

so we're excited
about what God is doing

and how the truth
will be presented today.

It's gonna be fantastic.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- This is gonna be fantastic.
- I'm not being...

I'm just making surewe're all on the same page.

- We are gonna correct you guys

on some of the misstatements
you guys are making right now.

- Well, good luck with that.

I'll give you timeto get set up and everything,

and as long as we're allin agreement, we'll be fine.

- Let's go!
- We'll work with you all.

- Long as you guys agree
with me, we'll be great.

We are actually here
all about science and reason.

The ark was built
with science and reason.

Look at what
a magnificent structure it is.

Disneyland quality,

some of the very best stuff
that's ever been built.

I think the atheists
should be proud and say,

"Christians, I can't believe

"you've used science
and reason

so well."

- Let's not engage them.
Let's not talk to them.

Let's have zero conversation
with them.

But what I want you to do
is stand in front of the sign

and the back of the sign
for every sign they have.

- I would preferif they go over there

so we're less likelyto have confrontations.

- See, I don't...

- Yes.
- Okay.

- Thank you.

- No, I--
this is me.

- No, I--
this is me.

I made all these signs myself.
- I'm just saying...

- I haven't asked people
to come at all.

I'm telling you,
I have not asked anybody

to show up here at all.

[horns blowing discordantly]

[applause]

- Thank you.

Gonna be a little different
than what you might be,

say, in church
or at some special meeting.

Normally I know you're told
to turn your cell phones,

your smartphones off,

put them in your pocket,
turn them on to vibrate.

I want you to make sure
they're on.

We want you to tweet.
We want you to blog.

We want you to post,

because we want
7 billion people to come here.

[applause]

- 43,000 families
or individuals

that gave 123,000 gifts,
that's you.

Thank you for being
a part of this ministry.

[applause]

♪

- Mary Kay's on her way.

- This park tells people

that evolution is not true,
science isn't true,

the Earth is only
6,000 years old.

This is ridiculous,
but keep in mind,

we didn't build a park
based on genocide and incest.

We're just advertising for 'em
and calling it what it is,

and now we've changed
the conversation.

- Actually, we do know
that it never happened.

- No, we know that itactually did happen.

- Okay, do you realizethat you're being...

crowd:
♪ Tax break there

♪ Here a break, there a break

♪ Everywhere a tax break

♪ Ark Encounter is a scam

♪ E-I-E-I-O

- Parking on the right.

- They killed all the babies
and the animals.

- Should we bring everybody...
- [laughs]

crowd:
♪ Hey, hey, hey

♪ Good-bye

♪ Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na

- Did he know?

crowd:
♪ Hey, hey, hey, good-bye

[applause]

- At this time,
on behalf of the city

of Williamstown
and the state of Kentucky,

I would like to officially
declare the Ark Encounter open.

[cheers and applause]

[marching band music playing]

♪

- The visual impact
of a structure like this

is just crazy.

It's astounding.

I'm really, really excited.

I don't want to be, but I am.

[dramatic music]

♪

It's just insane
how big this thing is.

It's--it's...really,
really, really big. It's...

♪

[thunder rumbling]

♪

You know, so there's
a part of me

that's just super thrilled
that it's here

just because
it's really cool to see...

♪

Even if it can be a little bit
frustrating to think about.

[tools clattering]

♪

It's just massive.

There's no denying that.

♪

- Oh.
[scoffs]

You know, this might be some
people's definition of hell.

[laughs]

I've never smoked marijuana,

but if somebody offered me
a hit of acid right now,

I think I'd take it.

♪

Who knew that Adam and Eve
sacrificed dinosaurs?

Look at that.

♪

- Creationists have been
pretty vocal.

And they're gonna continue
to have dinosaurs.

They're going to have
flashy exhibits.

They're gonna build
new museums,

and they're really
gonna try hard

to leverage
everything they can.

♪

I think these are the same--
the T. rex kind.

♪

It's a little racy in here.

♪

♪

- They had underwear.
- Yeah.

♪

- I can say positively
that the building's nice.

It was
beautifully constructed.

As far as the content,
however, of course,

I have a much more
negative view.

I even hate to say
bad science or pseudoscience.

The anti-science
and non-science

that's depicting the age
of the Earth and universe,

claiming that all the world's
sedimentary geology

is the result of Noah's flood,

the pieces of evidence

that they try to use for that

are really, really bad.

They've been debunked
for years.

It's bull[bleep].

I mean, there's just not
a fair word to--

scientific word
to describe it.

♪

♪

♪

- What's it meant
for downtown Williamstown?

- Nothing.

I was one of these believers

that when the ark came,
it would just--

everything was gonna come in.

Been here--
it's not done it, Joe.

It's not done it.

I think the ark's done well.
[laughs]

And I'm glad for them on that,

but it's not done us
good at all.

And I was very direct
with him, you know.

When somebody asks me
if we're getting

any taxes from it,
I can't lie about it, you know?

Yeah.

It wasn't the friendliest
letter in the world.

He just was
a little upset with me,

and I agree with him
I should promote it,

but, you know, I just--
and I do!

But he didn't like what I said
about a couple things,

you know, and I hate it
that he was angry.

Well, I wouldn't say
he was real angry,

but he was pretty...

straightforward.

Well, let me tell you
something.

Nobody in the ark's
coming into town.

Very--maybe
eight cars a day,

and then they drive through,
and they just,

"There's nothing here."

I hate it too,

'cause this used to be
a wonderful little town.

♪

My hope is that
it is successful, really.

We're hoping some restaurants
will come in here,

but we don't--
I haven't heard anybody

or anything coming in right now

to Williamstown.

♪

I was just as much shocked
as you, and I--

when it closed, I didn't know
it was gonna close,

even though I knew
they weren't doing well.

And I know he thought this was
gonna be the new Gatlinburg.

It's a shame.

- "Well, of course
it's in Kentucky,

"'cause they're a bunch
of religious zealots,"

or, "They're part
of the Bible Belt."

You know,
those kind of comments,

I think
those are generalizations

that are very unfair.

I've had people say,

"Well, do you believe
the theory about the dinosaurs?

Do you believe, you know,
how old the Earth is?"

and I said, "I'm not gonna
address any of that.

"Religion is a personal choice.

"It is a--it is the way
you view the world.

It is"--you know,
I don't know how to explain

faith to somebody.

It is the thing
that is hoped for and unseen.

♪

But again, when you're talking
about the ark itself,

as a community,
we have to put that aside,

and it comes down to,
we are home to the ark.

It is a business,

it is an attraction,
and it is bringing people here,

so we have to capitalize
on that

if we want to move forward
and grow and be successful,

and I am very optimistic
that we can do those things.

Time is what it's gonna take.

♪

♪

- I've lost the sense
that I have to be right.

I've lost the obligation
to always be correct

and always be this authority.

I've lost that sense
of obligation and that hunger

that I have to know everything,

or otherwise,
everything's gonna crumble.

♪

I would definitely
be interested in writing

about how the current
political climate

has changed the way
we look at creationism.

These things are being
turned into policy,

and we're seeing that impact,
and I'm really worried

about what that impact
is going to be.

♪

- No.

I can't say
I miss Kentucky much.

♪

- Yeah, the ark has been
good for business.

That is an understatement.

The attendance here
has doubled.

Yeah.

Yeah, we're actually doubling
our leach beds and our sewage

and all that stuff on property
because of it.

We have no choice.

Since this is so much
of the biblical history,

there's only a little bit
of evidence.

There's only a little bit
of fossil stuff.

There's only a little bit
of that kind of stuff,

so what we want to do is put
another museum over there

that really focuses
on evidence.

We own 50 acres here,
so we've got room to grow.

[no audible dialogue]

- Ham is more complex
than people realize.

I think that he has
a business ability about him,

that he's a good propagandist.

He's a wonderful propagandist.

He holds
the whole thing together.

Within a few years,
he had the Creation Museum

and eventually
had the ark planned.

♪

Like I've said before,
I sort of feel like

I've failed, basically,
fighting this.

My goal was to make sure

that they didn't get
the tax incentive money.

I feel I lost major on that.

♪

It was just something
that I put a lot of time in,

and it just didn't work out.

You can't have
everything work out.

I remember,
when I was a little kid,

my dad took me downtown
without letting my mother know,

and we watched
the movie "Patton."

♪

And I'll never forget
the opening scenes

where Patton's talking
to the troops and saying,

"Someday you're gonna have
your grandkids ask you,

"'What did you do in the war?'

"And are you gonna tell them
that you shoveled [bleep]

"in New Orleans

or you actually went out
and fought?"

[no audible dialogue]

And you can say, "Well,
I posted stuff to Facebook,"

or you can say, you know,
"I actually went out

and at least tried
to do something."

♪

And I think at least--
at least I tried.

And I think at least--
at least I tried.

[chuckles]

♪

- Now, here's another
exciting part of the project.

Rebuilding Noah's ark,
that's only phase one.

We have other phases
planned as well.

We've master-planned an entire
park to go with Noah's ark.

We have, for instance,
a petting zoo,

a stage for live
animal programs,

a children's area,

a Tower of Babel
with a 5-D theater,

a ride through
the plagues of Egypt,

first-century village,
drama theaters...

[voice fading]

[thunder booming]

♪

- This comes
from a politico.com reader

and was among
the top vote-getters

in our early rounds.

They want a yes or no.
Do you believe in evolution?

- Yes.
- I'm curious.

Is there anybody on the stage
that does not agree--

believe in evolution?

- I personally believe
that this theory

that Darwin came up with

was something
that was encouraged

by the adversary.

♪♪