# Kentucky's Ark Encounter: $100 million boondoggle **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907 "2016-07-02T04:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/181 "2016-07-15T15:41:42Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Moses wasn’t there - twas Noah. That’s it-no more decaf for me. > [@simster](#): > > [How Long Did It Take for Noah to Build the Ark? | Answers in Genesis](https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/how-long-did-it-take-for-noah-to-build-the-ark/) is one timeline that I found with googling - So we’ve got a timeline of 55 to 75 years for Noah to both gather the materials and build the ark. How large a work crew did he have? [The website you provided](https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/how-many-people-built-the-ark/) speculates without evidence that there might have been people God allowed Noah to hire to work on the vessel. Seems like a shitty deal to me: Noah to workcrew-“I’ll pay you handsomely to work on this project!” Noah to himself-“I can promise them the moon, because they won’t be alive when this is all over!” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/182 "2016-07-15T15:41:58Z")
The Los Angeles Raiders visited there lat week. The headline. “Raiders of the New Ark.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/183 "2016-07-15T16:26:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That’s it-no more decaf for me.So we’ve got a timeline of 55 to 75 years for Noah to both gather the materials and build the ark. How large a work crew did he have? [The website you provided](https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/how-many-people-built-the-ark/) speculates without evidence that there might have been people God allowed Noah to hire to work on the vessel. Seems like a shitty deal to me: > Noah to workcrew-“I’ll pay you handsomely to work on this project!” > Noah to himself-“I can promise them the moon, because they won’t be alive when this is all over!” The one thing the ‘ark encounter’ project should prove to everyone is how implausible it really was to be built as described in the bible, and that there is no physical way for it to have held ‘2 of every clean, 7 of every unclean’ etc. So, yeah - you _could_ build a boat as big as described in the bible -but it will take more money and materials then they likely had available to them - not to mention manpower. If Noah had been able to convince others to help him build the ark (but could not convince them to get in) - you would think that would be mentioned. Personally - I like the ‘Evan Almighty’ approach to ark building - get the animals to help. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/184 "2016-07-15T16:29:42Z")
7 of every _unclean_ animal?? Wasn’t the whole point of the flood to cleanse the Earth? Why 7 and not 0? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/185 "2016-07-15T17:01:47Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > 7 of every _unclean_ animal?? Wasn’t the whole point of the flood to cleanse the Earth? Why 7 and not 0? Sorry - had the clean/unclean backwards - [QUOTE=GOD@Genesis 7] The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” [/QUOTE] Which of course is a minor revision to the command in Genesis 6 - [QUOTE=GOD @ Genesis 6] 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” [/QUOTE] Earlier it was asked ‘how long the flood lasted’ - [QUOTE=Genesis 7:24] The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/186 "2016-07-15T17:41:17Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > 7 of every _unclean_ animal?? Wasn’t the whole point of the flood to cleanse the Earth? Why 7 and not 0? Unclean animals are forbidden as food, but there is no effort to kell them or rid them from earth. (Apologies if I am being whooshed here) ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/187 "2016-07-15T17:50:14Z")
Of course, they would also have needed feed for all these animals for 150 days, in addition to feeding themselves, unless some of the animals just ate the other animals (some animals are carnivores only). It also means that all creatures, man and the animals, would have been born of incestuous relationships for the species to survive afterwards. Not sure how that’s a cleansing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/188 "2016-07-15T17:51:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > You mean the pyramids weren’t built for storing grain? > > :dubious: Of course they were. That is why building the Great Pyramids counts as a granary in \*all \*your cities. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/189 "2016-07-15T18:46:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Noah to workcrew-“I’ll pay you handsomely to work on this project!” > Noah to himself-“I can promise them the moon, because they won’t be alive when this is all over!” Noah to workcrew: That’s it, we’re done! Noah Moah! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/190 "2016-07-15T18:58:48Z")
> [@simster](#): > > The one thing the ‘ark encounter’ project should prove to everyone is how implausible it really was to be built as described in the bible, and that there is no physical way for it to have held ‘2 of every clean, 7 of every unclean’ etc. I bet there are more than a few people who have never given the Noah’s Ark story much thought either way, just have accepted it as literal truth since that’s what their church says is true. They’ve never had any reason to think much more about it. But then if they go visit the ark in Kentucky, and it’s supposed to be like it was in the Bible and prove that Noah’s Ark was real, they’ll start having some questions. The kids especially. Any of the explanations that the “museum” have just bring up even more questions if you think for more than a second. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ark Encounter brings more people away from Bible literalism, maybe even away from Christianity, compared to how many people it converts into true believers. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/191 "2016-07-15T19:42:45Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ark Encounter brings more people away from Bible literalism, maybe even away from Christianity, compared to how many people it converts into true believers. You’d have to test them. And Newt Gingrich is ahead of you on that–you’d just have to adjust the test. > **[Obama rejects ‘repugnant’ call to test Muslims | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/15/politics/newt-gingrich-hannity-interview/)** > > President Barack Obama on Friday issued a thinly veiled rebuke of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s call for the U.S. to test every person with a Muslim background to see if they believe in Sharia law and deport those who do. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/192 "2016-07-15T21:49:10Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I bet there are more than a few people who have never given the Noah’s Ark story much thought either way, just have accepted it as literal truth since that’s what their church says is true. They’ve never had any reason to think much more about it. But then if they go visit the ark in Kentucky, and it’s supposed to be like it was in the Bible and prove that Noah’s Ark was real, they’ll start having some questions. The kids especially. Any of the explanations that the “museum” have just bring up even more questions if you think for more than a second. > > I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ark Encounter brings more people away from Bible literalism, maybe even away from Christianity, compared to how many people it converts into true believers. And don’t forget Judaism, since Noah and the Ark is an Old Testament story. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/193 "2016-07-15T22:49:48Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Yeah, but the whole planet was much smaller in those days, about the size of the Middle East. The sun, moon and stars were only a few thousand [del]feet[/del] cubits above everyone’s heads, too. Thus confirming that the universe _is_ expanding! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/194 "2016-07-18T02:00:19Z")
I just saw a network TV doc about Ken Ham’s ark, showing vignettes of the construction. Apparently Ken isn’t trying for authenticity here – the wood was cut by power tools and held together by steel bolts thru iron plates. Noah was quite advanced for his time. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/195 "2016-07-18T03:29:58Z")
I’ll forgive him some “creative anachronisms” in the construction. He would likely have been denied a building permit without steel reinforcement. [Here in San Diego, we have a replica of the San Salvador](https://sdmaritime.org/visit/the-ships/san-salvador/), the galleon that Cabrillo sailed to his discovery of California. Lovely little ship, dotting around the harbor this weekend. It has two propellers sticking out the back, something Cabrillo couldn’t even have dreamed of. The U.S. Coast Guard required that the ship have an engine. Oh, well, it’s mostly authentic! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/196 "2016-07-30T18:12:18Z")
My FBF did go, with her daughter; it was combined with a trip to visit some relatives who live a couple hours away. They enjoyed it and highly recommend it to others. :dubious: I saw a You Tube show with some atheist activists who went there (and were recognized by Ken Ham, who was there too!) and a guy named Aron Ra said he had attended a Christian college before he became an atheist and took a class in historical geology. The professors said on the first day of class, “If you believe in a worldwide flood, you won’t by this time next week.” Since I don’t really follow atheist activism, I had never heard of Aron Ra but it appears that he is fairly prominent in those circles. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/197 "2016-07-30T22:04:09Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’ll forgive him some “creative anachronisms” in the construction. He would likely have been denied a building permit without steel reinforcement. > > [Here in San Diego, we have a replica of the San Salvador](https://sdmaritime.org/visit/the-ships/san-salvador/), the galleon that Cabrillo sailed to his discovery of California. Lovely little ship, dotting around the harbor this weekend. It has two propellers sticking out the back, something Cabrillo couldn’t even have dreamed of. The U.S. Coast Guard required that the ship have an engine. > > Oh, well, it’s mostly authentic! It’s no more historically inaccurate than the Flintstones. Good theme park stuff. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/198 "2016-07-30T22:07:43Z")
Question: if Noah supposedly had every species on board the Ark, but we know there’s absolutely no way the hundreds of millions of species of land and sea animals, never mind the aquatic animals, could possibly have all fit on to the ark, let alone feeding some animals to other animals, then that means most of the animals in the world as well as humans that didn’t must have perished. So where did the huge variety of species we have today come from? Evolution, perhaps? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/199 "2016-07-30T22:58:53Z")
Those atheists also pointed out that God ordered Noah to take either 2 or 7 of “each kind”, not necessarily “each species”. I asked my FBF if anyone else was there 😛 and she said, "The place is so big, even with 6,000 people being there, you can’t see them because they’re all spread out. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907/200 "2016-08-01T21:08:46Z")
Just drove past Cincinnati, so we detoured a few minutes to see the Creation Museum (from the outside). I hoped to catch a glimpse of the Ark, but it resides 45’ south of the museum (which was a shame 'cuz the sky opened, and a deluge fell). I did snap a few pics from the outside, including one of a cool dinosaur ( a rather small sauropod with small spines down its length called a “Do Not Climb”). Sorry that my expedition proved so lame and fruitless. Unfortunately, I can’t post pics from my phone, so you’ll have to take my report on faith. Anyway, FWIW, I have been convinced that model dinosaurs do exist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentuckys-ark-encounter-100-million-boondoggle/758907.md?page=11)