Bill Nye, Ken Ham Creationism Debate Preview: Mass Media Coverage Surrounding Event
Creation Museum CEO and President Ken Ham and Bill Nye "The Science Guy" are set to go head-to-head in their anticipated creationism debate Tuesday night at 7 p.m. EST. National media will be present at the event which will address the question: "Is creation a viable model of origins in today's modern scientific era?"
"In addition to CNN correspondent Tom Foreman, who will moderate the debate, more than 70 credentialed media will be in attendance, such as ABC, NBC, Scientific American magazine, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), Al-Jazeera America, The New Yorker and more," A. Larry Ross Communications reported on Monday, the day before the debate at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.
Furthermore, over 10,000 churches, schools, colleges, and other groups have told the museum that they will be streaming the debate live, including Liberty University in Virginia, which has given an honorary doctorate to Ham.
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Nye, who gained national popularity during his "Bill Nye the Science Guy" PBS-TV program in the 90s, is set to argue in favor of evolution, and has criticized teaching creationism to children in schools, warning that America's future depends on well-educated science students.
"If we raise a generation of students who don't believe in the process of science, who think everything that we've come to know about nature and the universe can be dismissed by a few sentences translated into English from some ancient text, you're not going to continue to innovate," Nye said in a September 2012 interview with The Associated Press.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Nye identified himself as an agnostic and expressed that he doesn't believe he will be able to win Ham over, any more than Ham can win him over.
Ham, who is also the CEO and president of Answers in Genesis, has made the case that the authority of the Bible is undermined when Christians are not taught the literal account of creation, as recorded in Genesis, and compromise their beliefs by accommodating evolution.
"This debate will help highlight the fact that so many young people are dismissing the Bible because of evolution, and even many young people who had grown up in the church decided to leave the church because they saw evolution as showing the Bible could not be trusted," Ham said.
Tickets for the debate sold out within minutes after going on sale in January, though groups and individuals will have several options of watching the event, either via live stream or later on DVD.
AIG explained that the format of the event will allow both Ham and Nye the opportunity to deliver "the best information currently available" for their respective cases, and then they will have the chance for rebuttal and to answer audience questions.
Those interested in watching the live stream or purchasing the DVDs can tune in at debatelive.org at 7 p.m. EST and follow the links.
C-Span will also air the debate on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. ET.
