Who won the big evolution versus creationism showdown between Ken Ham and Bill Nye last month? According to Ken Ham, this one goes to the Creation Museum.
Ham, who founded the museum, announced Thursday that the attention generated by the debate spurred investors to kick up their support of a proposed 510-foot Noah's Ark, the cornerstone of a proposed $73 million theme park aimed at making creationism fun (check out the ambitious plans here). At the last minute, he said, a $62 million municipal bond offering raised enough money to begin construction. It's set to be finished by summer 2016.
“It was a challenging time, one that on a human level required a miracle to overcome,” Ham said in a statement. “And God in His providence supplied our needs" -- in the form of Nye, apparently.
More from the Associated Press:
"It did help," Ham said of the Feb. 4 debate with Nye. "We obviously had a big spurt toward the end [of the bond deadline], and I think it was people who were involved in this, who really decided they were going to do something."
...Reached by phone Thursday, Nye said he was disappointed the project would go forward and said he hoped it "goes out of business."
"If he builds that ark, it's my strong opinion, it's bad for the commonwealth of Kentucky and bad for scientists based in Kentucky and bad for the U.S.," Nye said. "And I'm not joking, bad for the world."
"I challenge them to try to float this ship, to try and make this a seaworthy ship," Nye added.
Here's the Science Guy's takedown on the biblical ark (the gist: Come on, how were they able to feed all of those animals?):
Shares