Kentucky Can Attract Tourists Who Like Bible More Than Bourbon Without Violating First Amendment - Forbes

The gist from Peter's perspective:

The reason the whole thing ended up in federal court was that the Kentucky Department of Travel and Tourism decided that it had to revoke the approval of the project’s subsidy, because it advanced religion in contravention of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. One particular concern was that they were only going to hire people who believed in the message. Kind of an affirmative action program for the home schooled, I guess.

Judge Van Tatenhove ruled that Kentucky could not withdraw the credits on that basis. It is a complicated decision, but it illustrates the tension in the provisions of the First Amendment. The government is not supposed to “establish” religions by enacting programs that favor one religion over the other or even religion over irreligion. On the other hand, the government should not interfere with the free exercise of religion.

Ark Enconunter LLC was approved for the subsidy because it is believed that it will attract tourists to Kentucky where they will spend money. That is religiously neutral. The fact that they intend to promote religion should not help them in qualifying for the subsidies, but it should not hurt them either. That is the essence of the ruling.

I  have read Peter's article over a few times and at first glance it reminds me of the Synder v Phelps (2011).  I don't like it but I have to agree with it (I think). I like Peter's contrast..

With all that said, I think the judge has it right on the constitutional issue. If you are going to give tax credits to get tourist to come to your state, it shouldn’t matter that you want them to go home and read their bibles rather than drive cars fast or drink more good bourbon.

Somebody who knows a lot more than I do about this, Edward Zelinsky of Yeshiva University has a similar view. He wrote me.

This controversy confirms the inadvisability of the kind of state subsidy being extended to the Noah Ark’s tourist attraction. Kentucky, by some measures, has the worst funded public pensions in the country. Under the best of circumstances, it makes no sense for Kentucky’s taxpayers to subsidize for-profit tourist attractions. And Kentucky’s public finances are hardly among the nation’s best.

If Kentucky is going to subsidize tourist attractions, the District Court is correct that the state must use neutral, secular criteria which neither favor nor disfavor religious applicants. But a misbegotten public subsidy, administered in a religiously neutral way, is still misbegotten

Americans United For Separation of Church and State disagrees with the ruling.

Van Tatenhove misses the point. The incentive program may be neutral, but the Ark Park is not. Its purpose is to convince people that AiG’s interpretation of the Bible is correct and that they should adopt it.

On the other hand AUSCS sees a possible upside, as, along with some religious people, they believe that state involvement might harm religion more that it helps.

I am not completely sold on this ruling. I see Peter's point as well as the ACLU's.  I understand the were the judge is addressing the issue, but like Westboro, I dislike Ham, AiG, and the Ark Encounter

Kentucky Can Attract Tourists Who Like Bible More Than Bourbon Without Violating First Amendment - Forbes

ADDENDUM::“The Daily Show” takes down laughably ignorant anti-gay pastor who thinks he’s “discriminated” by anti-discrimination law - Salon.com

Little ole lady Joyce Zeller is the bomb in this clip,,, 

Klepper sits down with Pastor Randall Christy, a vocal opponent of the ordinance, who tells him that, as a Christian, he’s felt “deliberately discriminated” against  in Eureka Springs. The city, FWIW, is made up of 88% Christians. He goes on to explain that the “energy” has changed quite a bit in the town because of the influx of LGBT people and that “family-oriented” shops have been replaced by “gay-oriented” ones. Asked for examples of “gay-oriented” shops, a long, uncomfortable silence ensues.

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“The Daily Show” takes down laughably ignorant anti-gay pastor who thinks he’s “discriminated” by anti-discrimination law - Salon.com

UPDATE::Eureka Springs Defies State Legislature, Upholds Non-Discrimination Ordinance - The New Civil Rights Movement

Voters in Eureka Spring, Arkansas, have voted to retain a local non-discrimination ordinance that defies a new state law forbidding communities to adopt LGBT protections.


Eureka Springs Defies State Legislature, Upholds Non-Discrimination Ordinance - The New Civil Rights Movement

In Arkansas, Gay Rights Ordinance Highlights Clash Between Two Faces of Tourism - NYTimes.com

Today is the day,,,

Local conservatives mounted a challenge of their own, effectively forcing the Council to put the measure on a May 12 ballot.

Opponents of the ordinance are optimistic, noting that voters rejected similar measures in nearby Fayetteville, Ark., and Springfield, Mo. But the Eureka Springs campaign has been tailored to local concerns, focusing on tourism. It is the city’s only substantial industry since the 19th century, when Americans flocked here in the belief that the water held special healing properties.

“If you think tourists are going to be excited about even the possibility that their wives, daughters and girlfriends will be sharing a bathroom with a guy who decides he’s ‘transgender’ just to have a little fun (or worse) at the ladies’ expense, you don’t know tourists and you don’t know sex offenders,” one newspaper ad read.

At the same time, a website promoting gay tourism, Out in Eureka, has already begun incorporating the Council’s passage of the ordinance into its argument that the city is “the antithesis of the redneck stereotype” and a “microcosm of San Francisco.” Gay travelers, it says, can feel at home along with “all manner of colorful characters, misfits, eccentrics and rugged individualists.”

On the tiny twisting streets of downtown, some shopkeepers say they are wary of taking a stand for fear of losing business.

On the tiny twisting streets of downtown, some shopkeepers say they are wary of taking a stand for fear of losing business.

A local ministers’ association refused to allow some Methodist church members to march in the Easter parade, for fear that they would display a banner that could be interpreted as pro-gay. Two Chamber of Commerce board members resigned in protest after the chamber issued a statement opposing the ordinance.

In Arkansas, Gay Rights Ordinance Highlights Clash Between Two Faces of Tourism - NYTimes.com

Amish Leave Pa. In Search Of Greener, Less Touristy Pastures : The Salt : NPR

Rolling pastures dotted with grazing cows, fields of corn and classic buggies driven by Amish in hats and bonnets — these are the images that attract visitors to Lancaster County, home to more than 30,000 of the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Visitors who also bring big money to the state — to the tune of nearly $1.8 billion a year. Which explains why the in a contest sponsored by Pennsylvania's Tourism Office didn't feature the Liberty Bell or the battlefield in Gettysburg — but rather, "I Break for Shoofly Pie," an ode to the traditional Amish dessert.

But pictures can be deceiving, and the office of tourism — indeed the entire state — has reason to worry. The Amish, with their emphasis on family, hard work and simplicity, have drawn hordes of tourists but also an influx of residents, malls, roads and housing developments. The upshot? Swaths of farmland have been lost, and many Amish are now choosing to give up farming or are leaving the state to pursue quieter surrounding and cheaper land.

[,,,]
But the commercial and residential development that is generating construction jobs has also bumped up land prices. , who teaches at Elizabethtown College and is co-author of The Amish, said a 60-acre farm today costs around $1.2 million — not including livestock or equipment.

"The suburbanization of Lancaster County has put a huge burden on them," he said of Amish families. "It's too many babies and too few acres."

Amish Leave Pa. In Search Of Greener, Less Touristy Pastures : The Salt : NPR