--- description: Kentucky's tourism secretary withdrew tax rebates over park's alleged proselytization title: Noah's Ark Theme Park Group Sues Kentucky Over Withdrawn Tax Breaks image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dc1afbc11535705/69877d830b72e324d66dd819/noahs-ark-theme-park.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [faith](/tag/faith/) ## faith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Noah's Ark Theme Park Group Sues Kentucky Over Withdrawn Tax Breaks  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2015 12:53 AM CUT  Concept art of Noah's Ark Concept art of Noah's ArkArk Encounter  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2015 12:53 AM CUT A Creationist group building a Noah’s Ark-inspired theme park said Tuesday it would sue Kentucky for $18 million in tax rebates the state withdrew over its hiring practices. Answers in Genesis President and CEO Ken Ham announced the lawsuit in a [YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9VYxYJ1Fxk&list=PL1v9pqs4w1myzzyn%5F7yC6nDypl8nS-lPL "undefined"), claiming the state breached the group’s right to freedom of religion by [denying the tax incentives](http://time.com/3630186/ark-encounter-noah-tax-break/ "undefined") on the grounds that the group was using the project as an “extension of \[its\] ministry.” Kentucky’s tourism secretary said in December that the park required a “salvation testimony” and a “Creation belief statement” in its job postings, which the state said was hiring discrimination based on religious grounds. “\[The lawsuit\] really involves freedom of religion, free exercise of religion, freedom of speech in this great nation of America,” Ham said in the video. “Numerous bloggers and media outlets have spread a lot of misinformation about the tax rebate program, and also a lot of false information about employment laws as they relate to the Ark Encounter project.” Ham, who became known for his [creation debate last year against Bill Nye “The Science Guy,”](http://time.com/4511/bill-nye-ken-ham-debate/ "undefined") was joined in the video by Mike Johnson, Chief Counsel of Freedom Guard, a religious liberty defense organization that will represent Answers in Genesis. “This is public interest law,” Johnson said. “We’re defending freedom for everyone, and I think that’s an important cause that all of us should be involved in.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3694802/ken-ham-genesis-kentucky-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3694802/ken-ham-genesis-kentucky-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Noah's Ark Theme Park Group Sues Kentucky Over Withdrawn Tax Breaks","datePublished":"2015-02-04T00:53:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:07:43.375Z","description":"Answers in Genesis to sue for $18 million over tax rebates withdrawn for group's hiring practices","url":"https://time.com/3694802/ken-ham-genesis-kentucky-lawsuit/","keywords":["faith","States","Kentucky"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dc1afbc11535705/69877d830b72e324d66dd819/noahs-ark-theme-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dc1afbc11535705/69877d830b72e324d66dd819/noahs-ark-theme-park.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"noahs-ark-theme-park","caption":"Concept art of Noah's Ark","creditText":"Ark Encounter","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3694802/ken-ham-genesis-kentucky-lawsuit/","name":"Noah's Ark Theme Park Group Sues Kentucky Over Withdrawn Tax Breaks"}}]}] ```