Ken Ham Hits Back Against Neil deGrasse Tyson's Claim That Creationists' Beliefs Are 'Crazy Even to Many Christians'
Ken Ham's Answers in Genesis organization has hit back against accusations by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson that many Christians find creationist beliefs to be "crazy," and that Ham was relatively unknown until his public debate with Bill Nye the Science Guy in February.
"Tyson's assertion that no one had heard of Ken Ham before Bill Nye came along is laughable. Answers in Genesis has a long track record as a world-recognized creation ministry, reaching people around the world through the website, social media, highly qualified speakers, books and DVDs, radio programs, magazines, and so forth," AiG's Elizabeth Mitchell wrote on Saturday.
"The Nye-Ham debate did of course attract a lot of attention. In fact, according to Associated Press writer Dylan Lovan, Bill Nye reported he was surprised at the interest in the debate, as it was so much greater than the interest ordinarily shown in his college campus appearances," it added.
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Tyson, who presented the TV series "Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey" earlier this year, spoke out last month about criticism the show had received from groups such as AiG.
"You have to ask yourself, what are the numbers behind the people making these claims?" the astrophysicist said. "Someone like Ken Ham has beliefs that are even crazy to many Christians."
AiG provided regular reviews of the 13-part series during its run, and argued that the show promotes a "blind faith in evolution."
"Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey, if the first segment is any indication, will attempt to package unconditional blind faith in evolution as scientific literacy in an effort to create interest in science," Mitchell wrote back in March.
Mitchell claimed in the latest blog that Tyson "grants himself special dispensation to tell evolutionary unbelievers what to think because he, like Nye, thinks that Bible believers are dangerous." She also continued to question the scientific literacy of the TV series.
"Adults and children need to understand how the world we live in works, appreciate through observational science the amazing designs God created, grasp the significance and scientific reliability of claims about policies that affect us individually and collectively, and evaluate intelligently and critically all science-based assertions that may be affected by a scientist's biases and worldview," the blog states.
"Therefore, yes, we continue to challenge the claim that 'Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey' promotes scientific literacy. We encourage others to equip themselves and their children to be discerning enough to question Cosmos."
'Cosmos' enjoyed high ratings during its run, and won four Emmy awards in August, including "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming."
The questions of evolution, creation, and the age of the earth continue to be a divisive topic among Americans.
A 2012 Gallup poll found that 46 percent of Americans who responded to the survey believe that God created humans in their present form, while 32 percent believe humans evolved with God's guidance — and another 15 percent backed evolution with no divine involvement.
Similarly, a 2011 LifeWay Research poll found that 46 percent of protestant pastors believe that the earth is approximately 6,000 years old, while 43 percent disagreed.
