Local Courier-Journal Doggedly Maligns Us Yet Again

As I was contemplating what to write to you about this month, the Kentucky Courier-Journal (a very leftwing leaning newspaper that has attacked us many times before) published these headlines:

I’m sure you are all familiar with the fact that the mainstream secular media doesn’t really publish news anymore. Rather, they use their platform to push their secular (anti-God) agenda and denigrate Christians, or any who stand for conservative (really, Christian) values. There’s usually an element of truth totally distorted by much fabrication. In other words, they lie!

Actually, because we’re in a spiritual battle, if we weren’t getting opposition (as we have for the entire existence of this ministry), we should be worried about what we are doing. After all, God’s Word tells us that: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Now I want to be bold about something. Many times in the past, I’ve found when our supporters see the way we are attacked, maligned, and lied about, they are burdened to support us even more. So, I will be upfront with you. There’s no subtilty in this! Yes, I ask that you respond to this atheist and media attack by sending an extra gift this month to Answers in Genesis. By the way, I get thank you letters from Planned Parenthood because people who hate what we do donate to Planned Parenthood in my name thinking it will upset me. Actually, it just emboldens me all the more to do all we can to proclaim the truth of God’s Word and the gospel.

A Little Background on Those Newspaper Headlines

Answers in Genesis has always had noticeable and very professional security at its attractions and other facilities. Actually, when we first opened the Creation Museum, atheists mocked us for having security as we did. Now, because of the times we live in, people sometimes call to make sure we have good security before they visit!

As part of our Department of Public Safety, we have eight K9 units that include seven dogs trained in explosive detection, as well as many other things, and one specially trained in drug detection. They are certified every year with a two-day certification course through an outside individual.

Our K9 division is headed up by Sergeant Adam Witherspoon. Adam began his K9 career while in the United States Army in 1994. Taking an interest in police K9 training, he spent time volunteering with the Military Police units on base at Ft. Bliss, Texas. When he completed his service in the US Army in 1995, he attended Rockingham Community College Basic Law Enforcement Training in Wentworth, NC. Upon graduating from the academy, he went to work for the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office. Adam began to volunteer with the department’s K9 teams. During this time, he attended numerous training seminars and schools.

He and his wife Valerie, along with their four daughters, founded Shiloh K9 Dog Training Services LLC. Over the next several years he would go on to attend a Master trainer school in Greenville, NC, and study abroad in the Netherlands, all while training dogs for numerous police departments throughout the United States. Adam has trained countless police and civilian K9s, personal protection dogs, and ADA approved dogs for the hearing and vision impaired. In addition, he has also trained dogs in the field of bed bug detection, autism assistance, mobility assistance for rheumatoid arthritis patients, psychological assistance, and seizure assistance.

In 2009, Adam founded the Police and Professional Dog Training Association (PPDA). PPDA was created by a group of training professionals in North Carolina. It’s mission: To have the highest of standards in training and certification while ensuring politics and influence have no part in the creation of those standards. As the founding president, Adam soon realized that his work at AiG was more important and gave up the seat and became the association’s vice president. Adam is considered to be one of the top K9 trainers and handlers in America.

Now Adam is also an on-fire Christian. He has developed some special programs at the Ark and Creation Museum that enable him to share his passion for K9 training and helping others, while sharing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

He and his team have also been able to organize and present a rigorous three-day training event for our annual canine training conference, designed for outside law enforcement agencies as well as private contractors. Many of those who have attended have stated it’s by far the best such training course they have ever attended.

Registration is open to civilian and law enforcement K9 handlers from across the United States, with some international students. The training encompasses a variety of facets valuable to K9 handlers. Classes consist of patrol work, obedience, explosives and narcotics detection, tracking and trailing, as well as electronic equipment detection such as storage devices, like thumb drives, hard drives, and SIM cards, for the purpose of investigations. The registration fee for attendees is $225.00, while the maximum number of registrants is 50 so as to provide an instructor-to-student ratio that is above training standards.

As a professional courtesy, some law enforcement agencies in which our attractions reside are not charged registration to attend the conference, including the Boone County Sheriff’s Department (Creation Museum) and the Grant County Sheriff Department (Ark Encounter).

Additionally, handlers are given training on K9 first aid relating to some of the most common injuries that their partner may encounter while on duty. These particular classes are taught by a retired professor from an accredited university and a current veterinarian who specializes in canine care and injuries.

Not Mandatory

That sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? So why the attack from the Courier Journal and why the inflammatory headlines for their articles? Well, before each day of training, and at the end of each day, Bible studies are offered for those who want to attend in their personal time. Such studies are not a part of the actual course and are not mandatory. They are totally on a volunteer basis. But that doesn’t stop the secular media from lying about the training event.

Even that group of bullying atheists from Wisconsin, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, got involved. In one of the articles, we read: “The participation in the annual conference has alarmed advocates for a separation of church and state, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which wrote a letter to the KSP in March saying it was ‘unconstitutional and unwarranted’ to send officers to train with a religious entity.”

The training is some of the best you could get anywhere in the world

In other words, because the Ark is a Christian facility running a professional K9 training program, outside law enforcement should not be allowed to go because, well, because we are Christians—even though the training is some of the best you could get anywhere in the world. (Oh, by the way, the Freedom from Religion Foundation is itself a very religious organization as everyone has a religion. Their religion is based on naturalism, which is atheism. They want to impose their anti-God religion of atheism on everyone. They are some of the most intolerant people around!

Community Service

Also, did you know we allow our K9 units to be used in the community at no charge if they are needed? Outside law enforcement appreciate the fact they can call on us when needed. In 2024, we received 34 calls for service, and so far in 2025 we’ve received 9 calls for service with one request to track a potentially suicidal individual with a weapon. Our K9 units have helped clear public schools when there have been bomb threats, etc.

One item (an opinion piece) in the Courier-Journal stated, “It’s a bit of a scandal because, in between teaching them about ‘fetch,’ ‘sit,’ ‘roll over,’ ‘attack’ and ‘kill,’ the folks at the Ark Park [sic] are teaching the police officers about religion from their fundamentalist perspective… So, the folks who believe dinosaurs walked the Earth with humans are recruiting government agencies to spend taxpayer money to send police officers to them where they can try to indoctrinate the officers with their fundamentalist religion.”

That’s typical fabrication. Most of that article basically attacked Answers in Genesis for what we believe—which is the real motive of the writer. Oh, and by the way, $225 for registration is not a lot of money considering the waste of tax dollars the media should be talking about as we’ve seen lately in DC.

The Ark and Creation Museum have had billions of dollars of economic impact on Northern Kentucky resulting in thousands of jobs. We do all we can to help the community (such as providing our K9 units free of charge when outside law enforcement needs them). Numerous hotels have been built because of our attractions. Other attractions (like BB Riverboats, for example) have been greatly impacted by the number of people coming to our attractions in Northern Kentucky. But atheists would rather do without all of that to stop a Christian group from being able to exist and promote a Christian message.

Well, atheists and the secular media meant to do evil by publishing such fabrications to denigrate and malign us and to try to stop law enforcement getting some of the best training possible for their K9 units because we happen to be a Christian organization.

So, I ask you join us to take what they meant for evil and use it for good by supporting and praying for AiG even more so we can reach more people than ever!

I’m reminded of what Joseph said:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20)

Thanks to all our supporters for your generous support of this ministry that is obviously stepping on the devil’s toes, or as someone once said to me, “you must be kicking him in the shins to get so much opposition.”

Thank you for standing with us and for your prayers that help us share the truth of God’s Word and his saving gospel message with as many people as possible . . . including our law enforcement friends!

In Christ,
Ken Ham
Founder CEO