Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Bow Tie vs. Necktie, pt. 1: How the Debate Exploded out of Nothing

"My kids won't read the bible, they'll watch Bill Nye / When they start questioning God...I'll make 'em cry"

That was me in 2005.

For a couple days before the highly publicized live-streamed debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham on February 4th, this old line of mine was playing in my mind. I suppose you could say I idolized Bill Nye in the sense that he represented science to me. So naturally, once I read the news of this event, I became excited. On the other hand, this announcement made many atheists react negatively. In short, they don't believe creationists deserve to be taken seriously and given a platform to be heard anywhere, anytime, in any way. Thankfully, Bill Nye - who really just wants to reach out to adults of the future as Ken Ham does - did not pull a Richard Dawkins. Several years ago, I would've sided with Nye's reasoning and I am so thankful to God for the position he's given me to see it from both perspectives now.

The topic of the debate (which was also attacked) was: "Is creation a viable model of origins in today's modern, scientific era?" This debate was born out of Bill Nye's unilateral attack on creationism in a YouTube video posted in late August of 2012, which Ken Ham replied to several days later. When an Associated Press reporter interviewed both about their respective videos, a member of Ken Ham's staff asked him if he would see if Bill Nye would be open to having a debate. Nye agreed, so long as Answers in Genesis covered his expenses.