In Bad Company: ‘Ark Park’ Mastermind to Headline Conference Organized by Group Tied to Neo-Confederates
Ken Ham of Ark Park fame meets with group tied to League of the South board member.
Ken Ham, president of the fundamentalist ministry Answers in Genesis, has sold Kentucky lawmakers on the idea that a religious theme park featuring a 510-foot replica of Noah’s Ark deserves taxpayer dollars because it will create jobs. Unfortunately some politicians have been more than willing to jump into bed with Ham, but given his upcoming appearance at a conference organized by a group with neo-Confederate ties, it seems these lawmakers don’t know who they’re dealing with.
On Oct. 18, Ham will headline an event hosted by the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC) at Severn Christian Church in Severn, Md. The IOTC certainly sounds harmless enough - after all, Americans United believes everyone should study the document that guarantees freedom of conscience for all. But in this case, a seemingly innocuous name provides cover for an organization that believes America should be an officially “Christian nation” and supports white supremacists.
As detailed in a blog post by Warren Throckmorton, a professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, the Institute on the Constitution was founded by Michael Peroutka, a former board member and current member of the League of the South. The League is a radical outfit that seeks to preserve the “Anglo-Celtic culture” of the South. The League, which can’t seem to accept that the Civil War ended in 1865, is actually working toward secession (because that worked out so well last time). It has even been labeled a racist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.