Reader Tom wrote me that he saw this ad for Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter Park “during the Red Sox game this afternoon, on TBS.”
I’m surprised it doesn’t mention religion or the Bible, but only the size of the Ark. Is this a way to lure the kids when the Park’s apparently having financial difficulties?
I was in Kansas visiting family over the weekend and saw the same commercial several times while flipping through channels in the hotel. I don’t think I’ve ever rolled my eyes harder.
Woah! The Ark’s almost as big as Drumpf’s…hands!
b&
This summer why not visit a big REAL ship?
http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/preserve.htm
If someone “thinks bigger” they will realize that the story of the ark is not possible in any way.
Exactly!
During a Sox game? How far they’ve fallen since “Hi, neighbor, have a Gansett!”
That was on TBS not the proper place to view Red Sox games, NESN, New England Sports Network.
NESN is blacked out, if you currently live in the Evil Empire’s market as defined by MLB… as I do.
I remember Gansetts. Many memories of a sometimes Bleacher Creature swilling luke warm Gansetts in the hopeless September of a Red Sox season.
Didn’t know they were still in business.
I think it’s all but disappeared, gone the way of Old Style in Chicago.
If you are into challenging the cubic cubit crapola of the Young Earther Creationist industry… while it is not quite as old as the biblical Ark story, this article from 1981 by Robert A Moore via the National Center for Science Education remains an excellent debunking resource. https://ncse.com/cej/4/1/impossible-voyage-noahs-ark
That article is quite the Gish gallop!
I think it attempts to cover much of the problems that is – in modern understanding – Gish galloped over by the underlying myth. And it was not like that in turn was simple, such as a local flood, which can happen and which we can find traces of. (C.f. the ancient Chinese floods that their dam works contributed to, now verified.)
That’s pretty comprehensive. Moore hasn’t just hammered a nail into the coffin of the Ark, he’s brought along a nail gun and hammered the lid shut beyond ever prising it open again.
cr
That’s pretty disgusting. Hey kids, remember back when g*d killed everyone.
For God so loved the world, he killed everyone in it, even the children and pregnant women, so one family could repopulate the planet via incest. He’d given them “free will” you see, but didn’t like it when they used it.
And killed them all in a fairly unpleasant way, by drowning.
Yes, apparently he did not know how to just kill people at this time but he could make it rain a whole bunch. Therefore the boat…
Some creator! Reminds me of a little rug rat tired of his castle made of blocks. Bow!..Bam!..Kick!
“Is this a way to lure the kids when the Park’s apparently having financial difficulties?”
It’s an attempt. Not sure how successful it will be. But it is definitely an attempt.
Surprised the producers of the advertisement didn’t mention dinosaurs – that’s still big with kids insn’t it?
Problem is the Ark’s dinosaurs aren’t robotic or otherwise animated and kids who are really up on dinos will see they are depicted incorrectly.
(Not the tom mentioned above)
Mr Ham is going to have to spend a fortune modifying his dinosaurs as new information is gathered about their form and habits.
This (in a sense) means his ideas and his dinosaurs will be truly evolving so I don’t think even Richard Dawkins would object to Mr Ham taking on this worthy task.
He missed a trick there. I briefly visited the Natural History Museum in London and they have an animated T Rex – I tend to regard such things as gimmicky and a little silly BUT I have to admit, this one was really impressive. It was extremely well animated and quite convincing. I’d certainly take kids to see it.
cr
And (from memory) entry to the London NHM is ‘free’ but with a ‘suggested donation’ of – IIRC – 5 pounds (= ~$7) which compares pretty well with the Ark Park’s $40, I think.
cr
Ham thinks the cuteness of the little kids will rub off on him and his grotequerie.
I wonder if the ad will be tax deductible; sleazy Ham has slippery ways.
Hey Dad, can you pay $40 for each adult ticket and $28 for each kid so we can see a big fake boat? Plus $10 parking.
The new motto : it may just be a lie, but at least it is a big one.
I hope the Ark sinks.
The, “stealth-proselytizing” here is obvious: first, cast your appeal to impressionable children; second, don’t say, “Do you want to have your faith in the Bible reinforced?” Just say, “Hey, kids, ya wanna see a really BIG boat?”
I sent this commercial to my brother who was a fundamental Calvinist for 20 years and recently left the church at the cost of his marriage and house. I included a comment which paraphrased Heather Hastie’s comment and added ” such a heartwarming story to tell children “. Here was his reply ….. Almost as heartwarming as God’s plan of what to do with the vast majority of humans that have ever been, while a few worship him for how wonderful he is.