re: #4 Killgore Trout

I’m not sure is this actually fails the Lemon Test, which is the current legal doctrine regarding separation of church and state.

From Wikipedia:

1. The government’s action must have a secular legislative purpose;
2. The government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion;
3. The government’s action must not result in an “excessive government entanglement” with religion.

Part one seems okay, tax break for job creation is a pretty standard legislative tool. Prong 2 is iffty, as long as they can argue that this is primarily an entertainment venue as opposed to a religious institution then I can see the state being in the clear. After all, they’re funding the theme park part of the project, not the creationism part. Part three is arguable, it will depend on how it’s structured.

Basically as long the the government can argue that they’re funding a theme park to take advantage of a unmet market, and that doing so will be good for Kentucky, they are probably be in the clear.

That being said I would much prefer if it was clear that the government couldn’t fund stuff like this. I would hope that this gets struck down.