"Ark Encounter" Owner Ken Ham Sues Insurance Company for Rain Damage

The owners of the modern-day Ark in northern Kentucky are worried about damages caused by flooding. Compensatory and punitive damages are requested in a lengthy 77-page lawsuit filed at the U.S District Court that originated in 2019.

Ark Encounter is a young earth creationist theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky. This Christian establishment is known for its "life-size" replica of Noah's Ark. This massive 510 feet long centerpiece is based on the vessel that saved all life in the apocalyptic flood as narrated in the Bible. The ark is the largest timber-frame structure in the world.

But unlike the ark in the Bible, this one, or to be precise, the roads that led to it, were severely affected by the rain. Heavy rainfall in 2017 and 2018 caused landslides that blocked the access road, costing the theme park almost a million dollars in damages.

The theme park claimed that the landslides made access to the ark difficult and dangerous and has filed a lawsuit against its insurers, who refused to pay for the damages caused by the rain. However, according to the lawsuit, the ark was unharmed, and the road has been rebuilt, making the park open for business.

Melany Ethridge, a spokeswoman at the theme park's Dallas-based public relations firm, who, when informed that Ark Encounter decided to file a lawsuit over flood damage, amusingly said, "You got to get to the boat to be on the boat." In a subsequent statement, she added, "The lawsuit speaks for itself. We don't have anything to add at this time other than to say that we are highly confident of the merits of our case as we seek a fair resolution to the matter."

The Ark Encounter is the brainchild of Ken Ham, a Christian fundamentalist. He created the ark along with the Creation Museum to denounce evolution and teach the creation myth. Ham believes the Book of Genesis is "literal history" and does not acknowledge centuries of scientific discoveries. The earth is 6000 years old, with Noah's flood occurring 4400 years ago.

Ham is also infamous for anti-LGBT views. He believes in the literal translation of the Bible and describes homosexuality, bisexuality, pansexuality, transgenderism, transvestitism, and non-binarism as "attacks on the true family God ordained in Scripture." In several posts he made on Twitter, he condemned the LGBT community.

In a post, he warns Christian parents of gay choirs that may "sway minors into the gay lifestyle." For Ham, the trans community is "dangerous." The young people coming out as trans only do so because "society is pushing children away from the biblical definition of male and female and indoctrinating and seducing impressionable young people with the lie that happiness is found in freedom from the 'shackles' of manhood and womanhood."

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