Of all the bloodthirsty rivalries brought about by clashing ideals and beliefs, not one is more brutal than evolution versus creationism. On February 4, Bill Nye, who is well known for being host of the children’s education program, Bill Nye the Science Guy, debated the topic with Ken Ham, the president of the creationist foundation, Answers in Genesis.
The event took place at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. The debate lasted about two and a half hours and became a topic for much discussion in the following days. All across the board there are people siding with Ken Ham, and people siding with Bill Nye.
The main topic of the debate was the actual age of the earth. Nye believed that the earth was billions of years old, while Ken Ham believed in the literal interpretation of the story of Genesis, claiming that the earth was only 6,000 years old.
According to a poll of more than 37,000 voters on the website, Christian Today, 92 percent admitted that Bill Nye had won the debate. While the results of this poll could have easily been manipulated by evolutionists, it still goes to show just how fervent some people were in their admiration for Bill Nye as a debater.
Nye pointed to numerous scientific investigations to prove his points, and continually challenged Ham’s creation model, stating that he and his colleagues would welcome any clear evidence that contradicts his own models. Nye said that, “we would just need one piece of evidence,” and proceeded to list off a number of different scientific discoveries that could each “change me immediately.”
Casey Luskin, a Christian scientist at Discovery Institute in Seattle, said in his Evolution News blog that he believed Bill Nye had performed more admirably than Ham, and went on to say that “Ham’s main argument was ‘Because the Bible says so,’ and skeptics don’t take the Bible as an authority.” Even at various points in the debate, Nye challenged the validity of the Bible.
While people like Luskin admired Nye’s points of argument, there were those who say that Ken Ham had won the argument before Bill Nye even began speaking.
Journalist Michael Schulster from The Daily Beast called Bill Nye out and stated “Ham might not understand the science, but he gets the politics.” He makes the argument that in the very act of allowing Nye to debate with him, he was able to get his views across to a very wide audience, which was what he had wanted all along.
There were many other people who agreed that Nye’s compliance to debate with Ham was a huge mistake on his part.
Several of Ham’s followers on Facebook rooted for Ham, saying, “maybe somebody else could have done a better job on defending creation, but maybe God was more interested in people hearing the gospel message! And on that note Ken Ham did a great job.”
Of course, neither Ham nor Nye went into the debate hoping to change the other’s mind, but rather to get their views across to the public in a respectable manner. At least one thing is certain. The battle between evolution and creationism is still raging on.
