I wrote about my experiences working at a Six Flags theme park and I now travel the world making its museums, theme parks and attractions my field sites. Yet, this interesting and unique Christian worldview is not the focus of my tour. As we’ll see with a tour of the two attractions, each promotes a Young Earth and literalist view of the Bible (with an emphasis on the book of Genesis). These last concerns stem from the nature of Answers in Genesis’ (AiG) specific and unique beliefs. The two biblically-themed attractions, separated by a 45-minute drive through Northern Kentucky, are significant in many senses, not least because they represent a growing awareness among spiritual organisations that religious experiences may have more impact when developed through contexts of theming and immersion.Ī quick Internet search of these attractions will result in numerous articles, videos and blog entries that focus on a number of controversies, ranging from concerns about tax funding, “ideology” tests for potential employees, political and religious differences between Answers in Genesis (the fundamentalist Christian apologetics organisation who also founded the attractions) and Ken Ham (the CEO behind the attractions), and disagreements about whether it’s appropriate to use evocative techniques to present religious information to the public. In August, I had the opportunity to tour two attractions that have been on my themed and immersive spaces map: Ark Encounter, which opened in 2016, and the Creation Museum, which opened in 2007. Inside, the exhibits illustrate how Noah and the animals lived Credit: IMAGES: SCOTT A LUKAS

Ark Encounter is built to the exact scale described in the Bible.

Ark creative discovery museum