A federal judge has ruled that the Ark Encounter, an Answers in Genesis project creating a life-size Noah’s Ark attraction, can participate in a Kentucky state program designed to boost tourism.
State officials previously ruled that because it is a Christian organization, the state could discriminate against it.
AIG founder Ken Ham told WND his project originally was determined to be qualified because it met all the state requirements. But, then, secular groups who are “very intolerant of the Christian message” pressured state officials to withdraw the approval.
A lawsuit resulted, and U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove in the Eastern District of Kentucky affirmed on Monday the Ark Encounter’s right to participate.
The ruling concluded “the Commonwealth’s exclusion of AIG from participating in the program for the reasons stated – i.e., on the basis of AIG’s religious beliefs, purpose, mission, message, or conduct, is a violation of AIG’s rights under the First Amendment to the federal Constitution.”
“The decision today is a victory for the free exercise of religion in this country, including in hiring,” said Ham.
The order said the state must process AIG’s application for the program’s tax rebates.
None of the incentive money is being used for the launch of the Ark project.
The program works this way: A tourist attraction has to prove, which the Ark did, that it meets certain conditions, such as the possibility of bringing a significant net economic impact to the state.
After being approved, a part of the sales taxes generated by the facility will be refunded, beginning after the site has been open a year.
The rebate, issued over 10 years, is calculated as a percentage of the sales tax generated at the site, up to a maximum.
The judge also affirmed AIG’s right to use a religious preference in its hiring, specifically noting that “Title VII includes exceptions” for which AIG qualifies.
The lawsuit, filed Feb. 5 by AiG and its affiliates, Crosswater Canyon and Ark Encounter, charged that the state’s previous tourism secretary, Bob Stewart, and the former governor, Steve Beshear, engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
It alleged they “wrongfully exclude[ed] the plaintiffs from participation in the Development Program simply because of who the plaintiffs are, what they believe, and how they express their beliefs.”
“If a tourist attraction, even one that as described here ‘advances religion,’ meets the neutral criteria for tax incentives offered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, can the Commonwealth still deny the incentive for Establishment Clause reasons? This opinion is long but the answer to that question is short – no,” the judge said.
“I rejoice in the court’s decision,” said Ham, AiG president and the visionary behind the theme park. “The state gave us no choice but to bring this legal action. We, along with our attorneys, tried for many months to show these officials why their actions were blatantly violating our rights under the federal and state constitutions, as well as the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. The law is crystal clear that the state cannot discriminate against a Christian group simply because of its viewpoint, but that is precisely what happened here.”
Mike Johnson, the chief counsel for Freedom Guard, which argued AIG’s case, called it an important precedent.
“The court has affirmed a longstanding principle that the Constitution does not permit a state to show hostility towards religion. The First Amendment does not allow Christian organizations to be treated like second-class citizens merely because of what they believe,” he said.
Ham said the First Amendment issues involved were important to him.
“We are standing up for all religious groups and churches that want to maintain their free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment when that freedom is challenged by the government,” he said.
Construction continues on the $92 million first phase of the Ark Encounter, which is scheduled to open July 7, 2016, in Williamstown, Kentucky.
More than $90 million has been raised for land purchase, infrastructure, exhibit construction and the building of the park’s centerpiece: a massive, full scale, 510-foot-long recreation of Noah’s Ark.
Ham told WND the ruling, in a nation where Christian freedoms are “being undermined more and more,” was significant.
“He made it very clear … this neutral program can’t be applied in a way that discriminates against a group just because they’re Christian.”
Ham noted that the decision will impact other Christian organizations that may want to locate in Kentucky.
WND previously reported the Noah’s Ark replica is expected to draw more than 1 million visitors a year.
It will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, attractions built by a Christian ministry to proclaim its message: that man was separated from God and His holiness, and Jesus came to earth as both God and man to open a door for humankind to return to Him.
Ham’s Creation Museum, only a short drive from the Ark Encounter site, has had about 2 million visitors in its first six years of existence, with estimates that the Ark would attract many times that number.
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/judge-sides-with-noahs-ark-in-tax-fight/
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