Answers in Genesis has released a statement today in reaction to the State of Kentucky rejecting the organizations application for 18 million dollars in tax incentives.

Ken Ham said in the statement,

“We have been working on this project with Kentucky for more than two years, so this just-received denial announcement is as disappointing as it is costly for our ministry without the expected rebate.”

Ham then claimed he would battle this issue in court if he must,

“Our construction has already begun at the Williamstown, Kentucky, site, and it must proceed. We are fully prepared to defend our fundamental rights in court if necessary, as this issue is of huge importance, not only to us, but to every religious organization.”

Ham stated that 2 firms have already agreed to take up the case, those firms are Freedom Guard and the Center for Religious Expression.

“The legal question here has already been answered unequivocally by the courts,” said Mike Johnson, Chief Counsel of Freedom Guard. “No state is allowed to treat religious organizations less favorably than other organizations who seek to avail themselves of a facially neutral economic incentive program. Just because some state officials may not agree with the message of a Christian organization does not mean that organization and its member can be censored or treated as second-class citizens.”

The entire statement by AiG fails to mention the real reason why they lost the tax incentive. They keep claiming over and over again it was unjust because of their religious beliefs, but it had nothing to do with that and everything to do with the fact they are discriminating against potential employees.

The Governor of Kentucky made this perfectly clear in his statement,

“While the leaders of the Ark Encounter had previously agreed not to discriminate in hiring based on religion, they now refuse to make that commitment and it has become apparent that they do intend to use religious beliefs as a litmus test for hiring decisions.”

AiG is calling this decision an “unlawful bias” all while ignoring its own unlawful employment discrimination.

If they get their day in court, I look forward to them being held to the same standard the court has applied in the past.