WebProNews

Tag: creationism

  • Bill Nye Vs. Ken Ham: Who Won the Debate?

    Bill Nye Vs. Ken Ham: Who Won the Debate?

    Bill Nye, beloved 90’s “Science Guy”, defended the theory of Evolution against Ken Ham and the theory of Creationism last night for two and a half hours. Neither one left persuaded to the other side.

    The debate took place at Ham’s Creation Museum where there are displays of some thought-provoking evidence to refute the theory of Evolution in favor of the Bible’s Creation story.

    Ham asserts that all of the answers are in the Bible, and that the Earth is only about 6,000 years old. Nye insists that there are still infinite discoveries to be made in the pursuit of understanding Evolution and that the Earth was created from a “big bang”.

    Nye went on to say, “If we accept Mr. Ham’s point of view … that the Bible serves as a science text and he and his followers will interpret that for you, I want you to consider what that means,” Nye said. “It means that Mr. Ham’s word is to be more respected than what you can observe in nature, what you can find in your backyard in Kentucky.”

    Ken Ham answered a question about where atoms come from with this statement, “Bill, I want to tell you, there is a book that tells where atoms come from, and its starts out, ‘In the beginning …,’”

    The debate was highly publicized and anticipated, but apparently, Bill Nye faced some criticism from his colleagues for appearing at the debate, according to Yahoo. For example, Jerry Coyne, a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago, wrote this on his blog, “Nye’s appearance will be giving money to organizations who try to subvert the mission Nye has had all his life: science education, particularly of kids.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VUXQatryNw

    Regardless of the agree-to-disagree outcome, the debate will give a huge boost to the museum. Ham’s Facebook page had hundreds of thousands of views before the debate, which he explains,

    “I think it shows you that the majority of people out there, they’re interested in this topic, they want to know about this, they don’t want debate shut down,” he said.

    Image via youtube

  • Bill Nye “Science Guy” Debates “Creationist” Ken Ham

    The debate that has raged for centuries, or at least since Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was formulated, and consequent book, “The Origin of the Species” has had religious nuts and science nerds at odds arguing from whence we came. The Bible says one thing science says another.

    The controversy about Tuesday’s debate between “Science Guy” Bill Nye and creationist Ken Ham is no different. When evolutionists face off with creationists – it stirs up a lot of hostility. Even though science has the proof of human evolution, creationists still want to argue.

    The event is being held at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky and in an op-ed published on CNN.com Monday.

    The event can be heard live on YouTube, the evening of Feb 4th.

    Ham is participating in addition to arguing his beliefs, so that this debate might give creationism more of a public voice, he told TheBlaze.

    Ham’s intentions of integrating creationism into the public schools system is also part of the reason he’s taking the theory of evolution on.

    “While we are not in favor of mandating that creation be taught in public school science classes, we believe that, at the very least, instructors should have the academic freedom to bring up the problems with evolution,” he said.

    Ham has stated, they both (he and Nye) have a love for “operational science,” but that there is a difference between what can be seen, and theories that are based on “beliefs about the past, which cannot be tested in the laboratory.”

    Ham is also frustrated that public school children “are censored” from hearing challenges to evolution.

    “Most students are presented only with the evolutionary belief system in their schools, and they are censored from hearing challenges to it,” he continued. “Let our young people understand science correctly and hear both sides of the origins issue and then evaluate them.

    Nye, who hosted PBS’s “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” said that he isn’t going into the debate with Ham as a scientist, but that he plans to debate evolution and creationism as “a reasonable man.”

    “Well I don’t think I’m going to win Mr. Ham over any more than Mr. Ham thinks he’s going to win me over, if I understand that expression ‘win over,’” he told HuffPost Live’s Josh Zepps in an interview this week. “Instead, I want to show people that this belief is still among us … it finds its way onto school boards in the United States.”

    “I’m not going in really as a scientist as such. I want to remind everybody — I’m a mechanical engineer,” Nye said. “I’m going in as a reasonable man and I think that to just call attention to this belief system has value.”

    Atheists such as Richard Dawkins advised Nye against such a debate, pointing out that scientists engaging with creationists is ideologically dangerous and gives undue publicity to those who oppose evolution.

    “The guy challenged me to a duel. What am I gonna do?” Nye argued.

    However, Nye said that he is “frightened” by the push for creationism in science textbooks and instruction.

    “If the United States produces a generation of science students who don’t believe in science, that’s troublesome,” he said. “We want to raise the most scientifically literate students that we can.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Bill Nye Is Set To Debate Creation Museum Founder On Feb 4th

    In what could create a great deal of controversy among both atheists and creationists, a debate has been set at the creationism museum in Kentucky.

    The debate will take place on Tuesday, February 4th, and will feature science expert Bill Nye, or “Bill Nye The Science Guy” and Ken Ham, who started the creationism museum, being a proponent of creationism over science.

    Proponents of creationism could be excited for the museum’s founder to be able to take on such a figure in the world of science.

    Although some atheists or science supporters will be rooting for Bill Nye in the debate, some of them believe that it is not a debate that he should even be having, and that it simply brings more attention to the idea of creationism.

    When it was first announced that Bill Nye would be making the trip to Ham’s museum, a great amount of debate was rightfully stirring with people, and the controversy that surrounds the museum has been brought up.

    The idea for the upcoming debate was sparked after Bill Nye posted a video on Youtube that said that teaching creationism was bad for children. The video received over 6 million views, and Ham wanted the chance to be able to prove him wrong.

    Those who saw Bill Maher’s documentary Religulous are likely to remember the creationism museum since Maher also made a visit to the museum during the film.

    An important thing to keep in mind when going into the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham is that the two sides are not aiming to change people’s minds or win the debate necessarily, but simply being able to bring the issue up, and give people the information to decide on their own.

    In relation to the upcoming debate, Ken Ham said “I don’t think it’s about winning or losing. For me, it’s about overcoming censorship about getting information out there to get people thinking critically.”

    Ken Ham will have the home advantage as they say with it being held at his museum, which could be an intimidating factor for Bill Nye, and Ham’s many followers may hurt Nye’s chances of being able to debate.

    The event is being labeled as “Is Creation A Viable Model Of Origins” and Bill Nye and Ken Ham will square off in an intense debate that will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Tickets to the event were originally $25, but they are all sold out now.

    However, for those that want to watch the debate from home, you can go here. There are also people gathering in various places around the country to watch the event.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Bill Nye Will Visit Creation Museum, Set To Debate Founder

    It is certainly no secret that Bill Nye is a proponent of science, and as a result, he has taken to insulting and disproving views of creationism.

    He has become a well-known scientist, and will challenge Ken Ham, the founder of the creationist museum, in a heated debate at his museum. The Creation Museum is located in Kentucky, and it is the same place that Bill Maher went to in his documentary, for those who saw his film Religulous.

    Bill Nye has also appeared on RealTime With Bill Maher, giving his take on the topic of science vs. creationism already in the past year. Bill Nye believes in evolution, while Ken Ham, the founder of the museum, believes that the Earth is only thousands of years old.

    The man of science became a household name, and popular with young people after being the star of his show called Bill Nye, The Science Guy, which ran from 1993 to 1998. He used the show to educate kids about the wonders of science, and made learning seem cool to young people.

    Ken Ham, representing faith and creationism, and Bill Nye, who will represent science and atheism, face off in a heated debate on February 4th at Ham’s Creation Museum. The event is likely to gain the attention of people of both faith and science based groups, as both people have a large following in their respective fields.

    The issue of creationism vs. science is hot topic among many people, but Ham believes bringing Bill Nye to his museum will help bring awareness of the issue to even more people, especially the younger people.

    In choosing to bring Bill Nye to the debate, he said in a release on Monday, “Having the opportunity to hold a cordial but spirited debate with such a well-known personality who is admired by so many young people will help bring the creation-evolution issue to the attention of many more people, including youngsters.”

    Ham has been wanting to bring Bill Nye to his museum ever since the science education advocate posted a video on Youtube that said that teaching creationism was bad for children. The video received over 6 million views, and Ham wanted the chance to be able to prove him wrong.

    Bill Nye, who is currently the executive director of the Planetary Society, agreed to come to the museum for a debate last month.

    The two figures will have their showdown in an event that is called “Is Creation A Viable Model of Origins?” Tickets to the event will be $25, if any big fans of Bill Nye are able to make the trip.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Evolution in Texas Schools Encounters Resistance

    A report from the Dallas Morning News confirmed that Texas State Board of Education members approved a series of textbooks this week that cover Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in its scientific entirety.

    Almost immediately after the books were approved, a protest was lodged by one textbook reviewer who maintains creationist beliefs. Two of the approved textbooks were sidelined in order to have a panel of science experts examine the text at the request of that reviewer, who pointed out 20 separate issues as “errors.”

    There are only two ways for the board to proceed from here: the errors are dismissed and the books are added to the curriculum, or they are confirmed as “errors” and publisher Pearson Education may need to add corrections and pay a fine before the books are implemented.

    Fox News reported one of the board members, Republican Thomas Ratliff of Mount Pleasant, as saying “To ask me — a business degree major from Texas Tech University — to distinguish whether the Earth cooled 4 billion years ago or 4.2 billion years ago for purposes of approving a textbook at 10:15 on a Thursday night is laughable… I believe this process is being hijacked, this book is being held hostage to make political changes.”

    Steven Meyer, a scholar with the Discovery Institute which is a conservative think-tank that favors the theory of Intelligent Design (a mock-up of evolution and creationism in which God’s guiding hand made it possible for man rise from the primordial ooze), said “[The books] will leave students in the dark about contemporary mainstream scientific controversies over Darwinian evolution.”

    “Unfortunately,” he added, “because Texas is a major purchaser of textbooks, the board’s action may have an adverse impact on science education across America for years to come.”

    On the other side, science teachers and opponents of creationism lauded the Texas State Board of Education. Josh Rosneau of the National Center for Science Education said “The state will give students the foundation for the exemplary education they need to succeed in the 21st century.”

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Rubio: Age of the Earth is 4.5 Billion Years

    When the shift in U.S. demographics became a major story after this year’s presidential election, Florida Senator Marco Rubio‘s name began to pop up as a possible Republican candidate for president in 2016. Rubio’s Cuban American background was highlighted as something that could help the GOP win back voters who aren’t white.

    Rubio ethnicity alone won’t win him the Republican nomination, however. As the Republican Party begins to shift itself toward a more moderate platform, possible presidential candidates will have to find a way to seem moderate enough for a general election while pleasing the party’s far-right base during the primaries.

    This week, Rubio drew a line in the sand with regards to science education and religious beliefs. During an interview with Politico, Rubio emphatically stated that the Earth is at least 4.5 billion years old. That may seem to be an inconsequential statement, and in scientific circles it undoubtedly is. For many of the fundamentalist religious protestants that make up the GOP’s base, though, that statement is akin to heresy. Many Christians, in the U.S. particularly, believe that the age of the Earth is determined by the Bible to be only 6,000 to 10,000 years old.

    “Now, for me, actually, when it comes to the age of the Earth, there is no conflict.” said Rubio. “I believe that in the beginning, god created the heavens and the Earth. And I think that scientific advances have given us insight into when he did it and how he did it; but I still believe god did it. That’s how I’ve been able to reconcile that, and I think that’s consistent with the teaching’s of my church.”

    It’s clear that Rubio is attempting to split the difference in what is sometimes perceived as his party’s dismissiveness toward science. He emphasized that children “have to know the science,” but also stated that parents should have the right to teach them their theology.

    Rubio’s comments come just one week after prominent Christian Pat Robertson also challenged what is known as young-Earth creationism. “If you fight science, you are going to lose your children, and I believe in telling them the way it was.” said Robertson on his 700 Club TV show.