Sit, roll over… pray?
In Kentucky, a group of police dogs and their handlers recently attended training at the Ark Encounter, a Christian ministry, museum, and tourist destination home to a lifesize replica of Noah’s Ark. Dozens of K9 officers and handlers reportedly trained at the four-day event, where they learned how to track drugs, catch bad guys, and… hear the gospel.
Now, secular advocates are wondering why police forces from across the nation were training at an explicitly Christian event literally at Noah’s Ark.
What is the Ark Encounter?
Before we get too far into this doggone story, it’s worth investigating what the Ark Encounter is. The Ark Encounter is a Christian theme park housed in a “life size” replica of Noah’s Ark. The Ark Encounter was opened in 2016 in Williamstown, Kentucky, by Answers in Genesis, a young Earth creationist organization founded by Ken Ham.
Ham is one of the most influential biblical literalists and young Earth creationists alive today, and is often seen debating scientists about the age of the Earth in viral videos. Through Answers in Genesis, Ham pushes the idea that the Earth is 6,000 years old, and the Ark Encounter - which also doubles as a museum - features exhibits showing humans and dinosaurs living side-by-side.
The Ark Encounter is an explicitly Christian organization, and even teaches fairly niche Christian beliefs. Is it appropriate for law enforcement to have such a cozy relationship with them?
Dogs and Dogma
“Vital to protecting Kentucky families” is how Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman described the K9 training session, which took place over four days last July.
And if you thought this was simply a secular event which just so happened to be hosted at a religious space - well, you’d be wrong. Earlier this year, Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham posted a blog about the event, revealing that the dogs and their police handlers got some training in young Earth creationism alongside their police work.
“This conference continues to grow every year as the word gets out in the K9 handler community,” Ham wrote. “Not only will this kind of training help save lives, but the officers who participated were able to hear the gospel and the message of the truth of God’s Word. Praise the Lord!”
Roscommon County Undersheriff Ben Lowe seemingly backed that up with his own comments, confirming that “officers can earn things by memorizing verses” and that Answers in Genesis was “preaching the gospel to them” at the event.
Leash Us Not Into Temptation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent out a cease and desist letter to Kentucky authorities warning them to “take immediate action to end the Kentucky State Police's partnership with Answers in Genesis” - a letter which has so far gone unanswered.
It seems these K9 officers will continue to march two-by-two into Noah’s Ark until further legal action is taken.
What do you think? The Ark Encounter is an explicitly Christian organization, and a good portion of this police training wasn’t even training police dogs, it was training officers in the gospel. Is it okay for taxpayers to fund officer training which teaches police how to catch criminals one day, then preaches that the Earth is 6,000 years old the next?
When it comes to this sort of pro-Christian police training, are Kentucky officers barking up the wrong tree?
30 comments
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Colleen McAllister
This should not be allowed. Training the dogs is one thing. Training the handlers religious matters is another. Unfortunately our country is under attack by the far right and it has less to do with religious beliefs than a grasp for power.
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Mark Hannon
Maybe the Fire Department can do some fire training on the Ark.
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CB Cuff
I prefer Ricky Gervais version of the 'Noah's Ark' story. Great stand-up comedy, reading from his sunday school story book.
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Najah P Tamargo
Najah Tamargo-USA
OH please!!!! Give it a rest. And SCIENCE has proved how old earth is. Sorry folks......don't care where police train their dogs.....and I don't believe some old guy who lived thousands of years go who had no clue.
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James Riggle-Johnson
It’s hard to believe they made the officers sit through presentations explaining how the Earth is only 6000 years old, which is a ridiculous subject to begin with. When I first read this, I thought they simply chose the place as a training site, which would have been fine, but to include religious study is going too far. Also, the article's puns were really bad. Just sayin.
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David Alan Downes
I don't see where "Christian" comes into play in a place that preaches creationism based on writings in Genesis. If anything, Christ showed the limitations of the values expressed in the Old Testament, like an individual's earthly riches showed God's favor, or that only "worthy" people deserved to be our "neighbor." The Sermon on the Mount (the beatitudes) pretty much turned traditional religious thinking of the time on its head. And when asked about which was the greatest commandment, Christ didn't refer back to the prescriptive ten that were given to Moses; he stressed LOVE of God and neighbor.
In reference to the other article in this month's email, maybe the overbearing superintendent of schools in Oklahoma should only put the New Testament in all the public schools in his state and save the kids from all the confusion in the Old Testament, like what did Noah feed the lions for 40 days while afloat?
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CB Cuff
I heard this was called 'Operation Dogma'.
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Najah P Tamargo
Najah Tamargo-USA
OH please!!!! Give it a rest. And SCIENCE has proved how old earth is. Sorry folks......don't care where police train their dogs.....and I don't believe some old guy who lived thousands of years go who had no clue.
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James Mounts
15 minutes on youtube with cop-watching videos showing how bad cops are will convince you that ANY training which exposes cops to ethics is good. I don't care what religion it is. It may keep you or your family members from being shot someday.
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Ari Joseph Bertine
I dunno, I'm sure they can come up with perfectly Christian reasons to shoot people.
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James Mounts
Problem is, they don't need a reason to shoot people; they do it and then come up with the reason.
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Rudolph M Garza
The Safety Department has 8 k9s trained to search for explosives and drugs on an 800 acre theme park with a large number of visitors that also includes a zoo. There's no doubt these police departments will benefit from their experience.
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Reverend Paula Copp
Wow… that’s funny!
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Ari Joseph Bertine
Police officers, unlike their dogs, can just grin and put up with "training" in religion while letting it go in one ear and out the other. I won't deny that this is shady and Ham thinks he is pulling a fast one, but I'd bet all they are getting out of it is that sweet, sweet government money. The officers are there for their dogs and their job, not to take seriously a laughable man's ridiculous Flintstones sermon. The real issue is the government paying for Ham's services. That does sound legally problematic.
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Robert F. Denk Jr
Separation of church and state. Very simply, no training of government personnel that includes any religious indoctrination is acceptable. Why cannot people get this straight. I am a minister and I cannot condone the efforts of some to make this a Christian Country, IT IS NOT!
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Daniel Gray
No such thing as Separation of church and state. All the Constitution says is there cant be a national religion, and Jefferson didnt even mention this until 15 years after the Constitution was ratified meaning it would have taken a constitutional amendment not a letter to some pastors for this to be in the constitution and this never happened.
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Michael Hunt
Tell us you don't know constitutional law without saying you don't know constitutional law...
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Daniel Gray
Show us where in the Constitution that your "Separation of church and state" actually exists. All the 1st amendment says is that there shall be no national religion.
Guess this shows exactly how ignorant you are of the Constitution and how you showed your ignorance without admitting your ignorance
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Michael Hunt
I'm gonna copy most of this from my comment on a separate blog post, just to speed things up for myself. The First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..." which Thomas Jefferson said provided for the "separation of church and state", which is why that statement is usually used. Nowhere in there does it say that there "would be no national religion" but you can understand that the text of the amendment does provide for that.
This was adjudicated by the SCOTUS in Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947) a decision where, although some justices dissented over one specific instance in the case brought before them, all justices agreed that the Constitution required a sharp separation between government and religion and that all states were required to adhere to the first amendment, not just the federal government.
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Patricia Sydney Solis
LOL. Makes me think of Kentucky police trapped in a kid's maze, with a box of Cheerios at the end as a prize. Fear not, the dogs are like Ariadne, Anima, leading these good men out of the deceptive trap of Minotaur, of group think myth-- follow orders obey like a child to powerful Daddy-- and into liberation via a felt sense of individuation. At its heart is a moral compass that lies within, not an outside authority. Christ leads with the heart of love, not the head and obedience to a story. Education is key. Let's learn about other flood myths in mythology, not just from one's Catholic/Christian upbringing. Manu from Hinduism and also Mayan flood myth. Trump wants to increase the fertility rate, well that involves a lot of sex! Bring back myths of Venus and Aphrodite, Egypt's fertility Goddess Bastet, Japan's fertility first pro-creating couple Izanagi and Izanami. Without hearing other myths along with the Bible,forcing the Bible on kids is indoctrination, omitting other religious texts is censorship and a violation of the First Amendment's insistence on separation of church and state. .
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Shango MasterExorcist, D.D.
How wonderful! Police dogs now know how to find the Ark. On the next Great Flood, they can help all of humanity onto this sacred Ark.
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Edward J Torres
If the owner of the Facilities was willing to let this happen than who am I to question it? I am sure he was asked and not forced into this arrangement. Not all Police officers are bad IMO and if they learn a bit of scripture and hear the word of God in the process of this I am all for it. Judge not.
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Evangelisto Madrid
This is great. I’m glad law enforcement and the governing factors that be are now leaning towards methodologies that will help our society.. and not just talk trash and help degrade what’s already burning. America needs more of this.
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John W
It's a good collaboration between the two groups given the unique construction of the facility that differs from a normal stick and brick building. The folks that run the facility are not so much as preaching / converting but giving the officers a view of their organizational beliefs just as if the officers were to conduct exercises in other civic halls operated by other organizations.
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Rev Ned
Remember Dragnet? 🎼 Dum Dadumdum.
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Steven Ferrell
I worked LE and EMS both for over 15 years. We did emergency training in all types of places, In schools, businesses, churches, muslim buildings, all of which had their various activities going on.
In an emergency in any one of those, you have to be able to separate yourself and the task at hand, from what else takes place at every single situation. Anyone who does not see that, has never worked in emergency services.
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Daniel Gray
their property, they can do this if they wish
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Patricia Ann Gross
I don't object to them using this type of venue for a training session any more than onsite at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, or at a church camp/retreat center that is pet friendly and big/safe enough to host such an event during a time it is not open to the public. If they have the space, are willing and can handle the event, then they should have the right to bid like any other venue for a chance at hosting it. What I object to is making listening to any of the propaganda delivered at this event a mandatory part of the program. If they are willing and curious, I see no harm in them strolling through the exhibits during breaks or after hours.
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Walter J. Holbrook
Speechless
Nothing like bribing officers to learn bible verses. I’m sure the public will appreciate it if these same cops start proselytizing during traffic stops et cetera… 🙄🙄🙄