Thursday, December 2, 2010

Full-Scale Replica Of Noah's Ark Planned For Grant Co.



The Creation Museum will announce details Wednesday afternoon of its planned expansion.

Answers In Genesis, which built and operates the religious-themed attraction, plans to build a full-scale wooden replica of Noah's Ark based on biblical descriptions.

The $24.5 million project will be constructed by the same team that built the Creation Museum.

The religious ministry is soliciting online donations to help construct the project, which they expect to draw an estimated 1.6 million visitors per year.

Ken Ham, president and CEO of Answers In Genesis, cites poll data showing that an estimated 63 percent of Americans would visit a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark if one were built in the U.S.

"We see a full-scale, wooden ark as something so significant that it will shake up this nation," Ham said. "It would be a clear reminder to America about the truths of the Bible. The building of a huge ark is a unique and powerful opportunity to reach millions in our nation (and around the world) with a bold statement: God's word is true." ...

via Full-Scale Replica Of Noah's Ark Planned For Grant Co. - Cincinnati News Story - WLWT Cincinnati.

Cool. Once they get two of every animal on earth inside I'll go visit. That shouldn't be so difficult, right?
I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them." 22(P) Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. - biblegateway

No problem. You get a couple elephants, a couple tigers, a couple goats ... wait ... and two each of the 5,486 other mammal species ... and  two each of the 450,000 species of beetles, two each of the 9,084 reptile species, two each of the 102,248 species of spiders and scorpions ... wait, and the 350,000 types of plants, .... and the fugi ... and the birds?! ... and the 447,752 other insect species after you take away the beetles, spiders and scorpions!!!?? ...oh crap... and what about all the fresh water fish species?! Do I have to build fish tanks on the Ark?  A "type" of animal is not enough. Unless you agree that evolution of new species took place, you can't just collect one pair from every genera of animal.

Get the point?  The task is not actually possible. Unlike the Creation Museum people, Noah and  Utnapishtim both had the good sense to protest this absurd idea. Some things are simple for a boss to command, but impossible for a worker to actually do.  The devil is in the details.

The 50,000 animals estimate on christianansswers.net is laughable. The number is at least 12 times that. For example, even if we think that the 5,000 aquatic beetle species world-wide could all survive in salt-water, that still leaves 445,000 species of beetles to collect and feed. If you could collect two each of 10 different beetle species per day--they aren't all in once place, you have to hunt for them---, it would take you 45 years to collect them all. Fourty-five years of work and you would only have one kind of animal ... beetles ... on your Ark. Well, if you are 500 to 600 years old already, another 45 years collecting one kind of bug isn't so bad.

But wait, every species has to have the right habitat to survive, some need heat, some need cold, ... and the right kind of food. How do you figure out what food each type of beetle likes to eat?


A whole pack of miracles would be needed: 1) Put the animals into suspended animation so no one has to feed them. 2) change the laws of physics so the boat does not sink under the weight of the rhinos, hippos, etc.3) Make all the predators peaceful so they don't eat the other animals on the way to and from the boat at the start and end.


Adults who take this story literally are embarrassingly ignorant about the real diversity of life on earth.


Why not do something more Christian? $24.5 million could feed a lot of hungry people.

1 comment:

Cheng said...

Perhaps the entry ticket to see this amazing spectacle, (which of course wouldn't just be a big wooden boat) could be a pair of breeding critters. You could select and pledge to donate from an online list and then turn up with your offering. Book early for the more easily procured types.
Oh Xeno, you forgot the several million species of bacteria presumed to be around but not yet discovered. Ooh! should we include viruses? Not technically alive, but all part of god's wonderful creation.
I wonder how much excrement that many animals could produce in 40 days? The mind boggles.
Christians. Gotta love 'em.