Part of the money-making strategy at Answers in Genesis is to constantly promote how popular they are in a never ending cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy. One of the recent lies has been that they bring in so many tourists that hotel chains are building new places near the Ark Park to meet the booming demand.
It is true that the country contains many yokels who like to vacation in a boring wooden box that reassures them that their interpretation of the Bible is true, but it’s not exactly a growth industry. They’ve had to constantly misrepresent their popularity to get support from state and local government, and wouldn’t you know it, hotels aren’t springing up all around the place. Ken Ham has been bragging about one new hotel in the neighborhood, but surprise surprise, it isn’t in response to demand — AiG is spending its own money to have it built. Gotta spend money to make money, you know. If that involves building a whole Potemkin village to make themselves look popular, that’s what they’ll do.
Ken Ham is being quiet that Answers in Genesis (AIG) owns part, or perhaps all, of the new Hampton Inn that just opened adjacent to the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. Moreover, he is trying to make it look as if the supposed “success” of the Ark Park has brought the new hotel to the region. Information below shows that AIG shares a high-level employee with the new hotel, and the LLC that owns the hotel shares a Post Office box with AIG.
AiG is perfectly within its rights to use its own money to build a hotel to serve its little “attraction,” but it does bring into question the purpose of all those tax subsidies it has received, and I also wonder why they are so desperate to hide their role.
Fabulous new housing development going up in Wiliamstown, Kentucky!
Yes but – since a hotel is run for profit, it needs to be taxed, and it needs to be subject to all laws and regulations applying to nonreligious businesses.
@1 Silly man, god told Ken to build a church with beds. You can’t tax churches.
The real estate equivalent of buying your own book to get it on a bestseller list.
You can’t figure out why they’re hiding their involvement?
While Hampton Inn is a Hilton franchise, they do expect more than three people per month to book a room. Add in that they’ll likely launder their money through the hotel, well, Hilton won’t want any part with that and why make it easy when Hilton seeks damages for being sold a bill of goods to affiliate their good name with the No Tell Motel ethos group ruining the place?
Litigation being inevitable, given a brand new hotel, in West Bumblefuck, Nowhere, operated by pathological liars, where Psycho could’ve played out in real life and go utterly unnoticed?
Still, you know the proverb, “A fool and his money have loads of friends on payday”.
Personally, AiG has yet to answer one question for me. If their ark is exactly as Noah built it, where did Noah get the wiring and Celotex from? Homo Erectus Depot?
Has anyone notice Dumb Idiot Ham’s business doings is strikingly similar to the business doings of Stupid Idiot Trump?
I do. In recent years I made comparisons between the two and found both men to have lots in common. They lie compulsively, engage in poor business and political management, run hotels, promote historical fantasies as fact, engage in dark money operations, and run many communities to the ground.
#4. wzrd1
“Add in that they’ll likely launder their money through the hotel,..”
Perhaps this is the real reason why Dumb Idiot Ham also purchase a former Toyota CEO building near his putrid attractions months back. It’s not to make into an educational hub but to make into a money laundering faculty for their own criminal purposes, like Stupid Idiot Trump.
Where’s the golf course and retirement community?
I’ve never been to the place but I imagine the demographic is rather elderly.
A hotel begs the question “are there really enough people who want to visit the cement boat over two (or more!) consecutive days thus requiring overnight lodging”?
After a quick look at the satellite view of their digs, it’s interesting that their parking lot is ever so immensely large, compared to their buildings and exhibits, including an “Eden animal experience”.
Their nearest neighbors, other than the interstate, trees and farm fields, next nearest being the airport.
I can now see one scenario where I might drop in – my airplane crashed on approach to the airport. I suspect that remaining within the burning wreckage would be preferable.
The lord said “do not bear false witness, unless it is part of a taxation grift.” Then, it’s ok.
I wonder if AiG is lobbying the state department of transportation to upgrade the roads in the area to superhighway standards to handle the (non-existent) traffic jams?
Wife wonders whether they will put bibles in the rooms of the hotel.
wzrd1 @ #4…
“Personally, AiG has yet to answer one question for me. If their ark is exactly as Noah built it, where did Noah get the wiring and Celotex from? Homo Erectus Depot?”
It’s the story of a 600 year old man and his two 500 year old sons, building an Ark out of more trees than existed in their entire country. Still, your statement brought this image to mind. https://wp-media.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/files/2016/07/image.jpeg
Also, one of the many pitches which Ham made to the state to fund his roadside attraction was “give us lots of money so that the nearby hotels will see better business”. And I’m guessing that the money to build the hotel that’ll take the piddly amount of money from the nearby hotels, for an attraction that was over-funded by donations and grants, is being partially funded by donations and grants. This being AiG, and all.
wzrd1 @ # 4 & Owosso Harpist @ # 6: … launder their money … a money laundering [facility?] …
Do y’all know something about Ham dealing dope or loan-sharking or suchlike that the rest of us missed?
‘Cuz money scammed from suckers in the name o’ Jesus starts out squeaky-clean and tax-exempt, and doesn’t need a speck of detergent. Every Mammonolater wants to slide their regular business income into the collection basket, not the other way around.
Whatever happened to the whole flood insurance saga from a few years back? Were they able to pass off the damage to their driveway as an Act of God?
HidariMak @12, ah, but there are no hotels nearby, well, at least until one goes into town to the airport. So, those hotels he was talking about would be of his own construction, for the nonexistent multiple day stayers.
Pierce R. Butler @13, to an extent, but self-enrichment runs afoul of IRS regulations, hence, the need to launder the squeaky clean almighty dollars. Can’t donate donated religious money to brib- erm, campaign contributions or air conditioned dog houses at one’s McMansion.
Maybe he’ll use an AI chatbot to fill out the hotel register. That’d be entertaining!
Matt G @14, passing it off as an Act of God would be delightful for an insurance company, as that’s one thing that they refuse to cover.
Which is somewhat odd, as if I ran an insurance company, I’d offer Act of God coverage, provided you can prove that God exists and that God’s action caused the financial injury.
wzrd1@4 : “If their ark is exactly as Noah built it,…”
I’ve wondered why Ken put that bulbous nose on his version of the ark. That’s a hydrodynamic feature used by modern, highly powered, ocean-going vessels. The Ark wasn’t powered at all. It didn’t even have to be boat shaped. It was basically a raft and not even powered by oars. There is so much stupidity that I’m amazed that the visitors can even button their shirts and tie their shoes (one bearded, dino-riding visitor being an exception).
#17.
It’s not an actual ancient boat at all. Dumb Idiot Ham made it in the shape of an oil tanker, an actual modern vessel, entirely out of support for the oil industry.
@ ^ Owosso Harpist : Hmm.. I wonder why? Funding? Ideology? Both? Probly both.
@ 17. Die Anyway : wzrd1@4 : “If their ark is exactly as Noah built it,…”
Is it really really? How does he know – was he there?
According to the ancient builder’s insurrections it was a round coracle, a BIG round coracle.
Towards the end of the video, The Ark Before Noah: A Great Adventure (~ 42:00 ) you can see a scale model on a lake.
Well, the ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, corresponding to approximately 134×22×13 m or 440×72×43 ft. Save, if Noah or whoever had super short or long arms…
But, 6:1 is decidedly not round. Although, the 6:1 aspect ratio would make for a wing with good lift, that’s in air, not water and also 90 degrees out of low drag orientation for a boat hull.
That said, the aspect ratio isn’t exceptionally relevant if there’s no drive system, be it sails, oars or nuclear driven propulsor. And just a tad smaller than the converted collier and first US aircraft carrier, the USS Langley (CV-1).
Without a drive system, the vessel would be at the wind’s mercy and quickly capsize.
Becoming Noah’s one way submarine.
It’s a shame though, all of that work harvesting plywood and Celotex trees resulted in their extinction, along with the money tree.
I’ll just get my coat…
the thing that gets me the most about of this ark crap is trying to make it rational when clearly it is a magical story and thus a magical boat. the whole exercise ship and flood and Noah and his family and all the other people drowning it is clearly a magical tale they can not accept it as such but insist it is real and rational and true. It is just as true as the Tinder box, The fisherman and the Fish or Goldilocks and the three bears
Or The Epic of Gilgamesh?
Which was the origin of the flood myth.
@ 21wzrd1
Who are you going to believe an account written hundreds of years after the event or the cuneiform tablet with the actual dimensions and construction orders?
jrkrideau @24, the clay tablet with my workorder on it, in proper cuneiform, with the royal signet embedded. ;)
At least, with this weather, I’m feeling like I’m that old.
Does it really count as tourism when they’re just stopping to point and laugh?
Good question. Is the hajj tourism when one is throwing rocks at some pillars?
Does someone become a tourist when they stop, point and laugh when I get into a funny face contest and win by default?
I’ll just get my hat.