Reactions and Reactionaries to the Ark Encounter

Judging by the hysteria in some quarters of the liberal press and blogosphere, you might think Sarah Palin was just elected president.  Aside from eliciting snide questions and backhanded compliments from Barbara Walters, Governor Palin is not presently the focal point of liberal angst.  While the media coverage has been extensive and overall positive, see e.g. here, the liberal literati express indignation at a theme park that shows the flood and Ark as history.  The editors of the two largest newspapers in Kentucky worked themselves into a lather in opposition to the park.  See here.  Genesis as history is unacceptable to many of our cultural elite.  Even Jay Leno, who is considered one of the more conservative entertainers, took shots at the Ark Encounter.  See here.

Jay Leno and the Kentucky editors simply reflect the perspective of our cultural elite who genuinely believe that the more a person reads the Bible as history and as the inspired word of God, the more ignorant and un-educated the person must be.  With the passing of each decade of the 20th Century, European and then U.S. cultural elites increasingly took aim at religion in general and the truth claims of Christianity in particular.  In the first half of the 20th Century, it was socially unacceptable to openly denounce basic Christian truths.  Since the close of the 20th Century, western cultural elites treat as unacceptable to publicly proclaim fundamental Christian truths, such as salvation through Christ alone, the inerrancy of scripture, the reality of Satan and an everlasting Hell.  To believe in the historical claims of the Bible is a cause for public ridicule, at least according to our self-proclaimed educated elite.  At the core of our cultural “elite” are those that make their living with words — the literati (a.k.a. chattering class) – journalists, professors, playwrights, screenwriters, and to a large extent attorneys.  Though they make up a tiny minority of our population, such elites disproportionately affect what we see and think of ourselves. 

The chattering class’ hostility to all things Christian is pervasive, for matters big (the Ark Encounter) and small (how we greet each other in December).  For example, major media outlets strip Christ out of Christmas.  Nearly 99% of network Christmas coverage is “Jesus-Free.”  See here.  Further, ever increasingly over the past decade, we are told that the word “Christmas” and the wish “Merry Christmas” are offensive. Perhaps to the chattering class, but not to the rest of us.  We are told to say “Happy Holiday” instead of “Merry Christmas,” despite the fact a significant majority of people in our country prefer to hear “Merry Christmas.”  See here. Very few, if any, are offended.  See here.  When it comes to Christmas and all other things Christian, too many of our chattering class colleagues are bah humbug Scrooges. 

The chattering critics insist rebuilding the Ark to biblical scale is an outrage or at least an embarrassment.  Again, they do not report that Americans disagree with such sentiment.  76% of Americans believe Noah’s Ark was actually built.  63% of Americans would take their family to visit the Ark.  (American Research Group polling data.) The outrage isn’t the Ark or keeping Christ in Christmas.  The outrage is a cultural literati that relentlessly assails all things Christian while pretending to reflect American culture.

Merry Christmas!