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 Bill Nye and Ken Ham will debate the origins of life Tuesday at the Creation Museum.
February 3rd, 2014
01:15 PM ET
Ken Ham: Why I'm debating Bill Nye about creationismEditors note: Ken Ham will debate Bill Nye on February 4 at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, with CNN's Tom Foreman moderating. The debate will be livestreamed at CNN.com at 7 pm ET, and Piers Morgan Live will interview Ham and Nye on Tuesday at 9 ET. WATCH TUESDAY NIGHT'S DEBATE HERE: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/cvplive/cvpstream1.html Opinion by Ken Ham, special to CNN (CNN) - Public debates on evolution and creation have become increasingly rare. Several hundred well-attended debates were held in the 1970s and 1980s, but they have largely dried up in recent decades. So I look forward to a spirited yet cordial debate on Tuesday with Bill Nye, the "Science Guy" of television fame. I also look forward to the opportunity to help counter the general censorship against creationists' view of origins. 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. Even though the two of us are not Ph.D. scientists, Mr. Nye and I clearly love science. As a former science instructor, I have appreciated the useful television programs that he hosted and produced, especially when he practiced operational science in front of his audience. He and I both recognize the wonderful benefits that observational, operational science has brought us, from cell phones to space shuttles. But operational science, which builds today’s technology, is not the same as presenting beliefs about the past, which cannot be tested in the laboratory. For students, the evolution-creation discussion can be a useful exercise, for it can help develop their critical thinking skills. MORE ON CNN: Bill Nye: Why I'm Debating Ken Ham Most students are presented only with the evolutionary belief system in their schools, and they are censored from hearing challenges to it. Let our young people understand science correctly and hear both sides of the origins issue and then evaluate them. Our public schools arbitrarily define science as explaining the world by natural processes alone. In essence, a religion of naturalism is being imposed on millions of students. They need to be taught the real nature of science, including its limitations. Nye, the host of a popular TV program for children, should welcome a scrutiny of evolution in the classrooms. As evolution-creation issues continue to be in the news - whether it relates to textbook controversies or our debate - there is an increasingly bright spotlight on the research activities of thousands of scientists and engineers worldwide who have earned doctorates and are creationists. On our full-time staff at Answers in Genesis, we have Ph.D.s in astronomy, geology, biology, molecular genetics, the history of science, and medicine. Yes, creationists are still a small minority in the scientific community, but they hold impressive credentials and have made valuable contributions in science and engineering. I remember the time I spoke at a lunchtime Bible study at the Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington. I was thrilled to meet several scientists and engineers who accept the book of Genesis as historical and reject Darwinian evolution. They shared with me that a belief in evolution had nothing to do with their work on the Hubble Space Telescope. Why should our perspective about origins be censored? Our young people — and adults — should be aware that considerable dissent exists in the scientific world regarding the validity of molecules-to-man evolution. It’s an important debate, for what you think about your origins will largely form your worldview. If you believe in a universe that was created by accident, then there is ultimately no meaning and purpose in life, and you can establish any belief system you want with no regard to an absolute authority. Ultimately, I have decided to accept an authority — our infallible creator and his word, the Bible — over the words of fallible humans. Ken Ham is founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis (USA) and founder of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. The views expressed in this column belong to Ham. soundoff (4,336 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Next »
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The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814
Geo,
Do you believe that Julius Caesar was assassinated and if so, what do you base this belief on?
Do you believe that Hercules completed his twelve labors and what do you base this belief on?
Harry, not trying I be rude. I'm just taking a well accepted historical event to try to determine what method or methods he uses to validate the believe. Just trying I see how he validates ancient history. You can also answer if interested.
@Truth Follower – It's quite clear where you're going here, and yes, it's reasonable to look at historical records (as we were discussing in the other thread), but Harry's question is directly on point. It's one thing to accept someone existed, that they died, even that they died in a particular fashion, etc; it's quite another to accept a supernatural narrative in the absence of any supporting physical evidence.
I can accept the claim that he was assassinated until such time as we have other ideas suggesting otherwise.
However if the claim came out that Caesar then rose from the dead 3 days later or walked on water then I would dismiss those.
Do you believe that Joseph Smith took golden tablets from the Angel Moroni and his other assorted claims? There are sworn statements backing him up. Surely you cannot doubt them. So you must be a Mormon.
Historic records written at that time
and not centuries later
And that Thom Jeffs quote not mine
Do you believe TJ existed
History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.
Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.
So what about Shiva and Vishnu and Thor and Apollo and all the other gods
When do they get a creation museum for their work
"Most students are presented only with the evolutionary belief system in their schools, and they are censored from hearing challenges to it."
In todays society the church is more likely to censor and ridicule non accepted beliefs and force that censorship on the masses than the governments.
As in every society, throughout time.
If evolution is so indisputably true then why is the public school system so afraid to allow creationalism to be taught along side of it? Bill Nye asked to see where the Bible could predict something that would take place in the future.....Ken should have pointed him to Revelation chapter 21.
The public school system isn't "afraid" to teach creationism along evolution as a scientific theory because it isn't science. It's just a Trojan horse to teach religion in the public schools. When Sunday school allows evolution to be taught alongside scripture by someone who actually understands it. then we can talk.
Churches are for a specific belief system as opposed to schools are public place which should not back a specific belief. Your argument is mute.
correct, they not should not back a specific religious belief system, which is why creationism has no place in schools.
Evolution is no more a "belief" than the Germ Theory of Disease, Cell Theory, Atomic Theory, or the Theory of Gravity. Evolution is both a fact (i.e. a change in allele frequency in a population over time) and a scientific theory (i.e. the fact of evolution in combination with empirical physical evidence from every relevant scientific discipline (physics, chemistry, biology, geology, astronomy, etc) to explain extant and extinct biodiversity).
P.S. it's "moot" not "mute"
Please be specific when you mention "Christian" creationism
There are many other religions with their own creation dogma.
Why do you think the Christian one is the only one that is correct
If you can
Are you open to all creation stories being taught in science classes? Or just yours?
If you're going to teach mythology in science class, why just the Christian literal interpretation of Genesis? It's far from the only creation myth out there.
Because creationism isn't science, it's religion. If you teach creationism, then why not teach all the other religious and cultural creation myths as well?
There are some awesome creation myths out there, but not a single one can meet the test of science:
1. Repeatable
2. Makes testable predictions
3. Those testable predictions are tested to be true by independent observers
Creationism can't even meet 1.
What exactly is the creationism story that people want taught in school? It is one thing to believe the universe was created by some design (but billions of years ago), and another to say earth was created in 6 days a few thousand years ago. Both are a form of creationism, but the former can even incorporate evolution and can never be proved or disproved, while the latter has been scientifically debunked.
thats Panthrotheism what you are proposing.to add more,that God willed everthing,that we are part of Him matterially amd spiritually,that we are evolving to higher levels of intelligence and cosciousness,that gradually with evolution give to us the responsibility of charting or making our history and that all religions are His will and had serve Its purpose and intentioms but has a limited specific applications for its time of existence.
Do churches teach evolution? Hypocrite. You want your beliefs everywhere, but don't want others beliefs to have the same right.
Choke on the steaming pile you're dumping here.
Because creationism isn't science. It has no scientific theory and no way to be falsified which has been admitted by creationists in court. It's not the school system but the courts that decided it has no place in a science class. Teach it in a comparative religion class where you cover all of the world's myths.
If you want to teach you kid a particular religious dogma
Send them to a religious school
Nit a public one
People in this country are scared of christians.They know down deep in there being ,that Jesus was right.They want to be there own God.
Amen
and you want to own god. MINE. ME ME ME. Universe created for ME. god is MINE. heaven is MINE. i am CHOSEN. i am SAVED. Not you, ME ME ME ME.
Scary? Sometimes, especially when this ignorant women-hating baloney is trotted out like ghosts of the past and forced into our public schools.
Who ever said we want to be a God? That is a pretty bold claim to make now using the scientific method?
nice claim LJ.
complete nonsense of course but never mind.
They've brainwashed you so well that you can't even have a conversation on the subject. Well done.
Not long ago, the bible said the earth was 6000 years old, and god told the writers that, why did he mislead these guys 1700 years ago?
How does the bible explain that scientific and undesputed facts say the earth is 5 billion +/-. Only the leaders of religeous groups explain it by re-interpreting the words written in the 3rd/4th century AD.
How does the bible explain that the same creatures evolved differently in different places? Why are there people of color from Asian tints, african tints, european tints, american tints etc... If we are all in the image of god?
Why is there a Jewish bible, a christian bible a muslim bible if there is just one god?
Bible never says how old the earth is. Archbishop James Ussher from the 1600s counted up the generations listed in the Bible and decided that the earth was created on October 23, 4004 bc.
It was a Teusday.
Creationism is self centered arrogance – thinking that HUMANS are SO special that there is a universal, all knowing, eternal being that's obsessed with each & everyone of us.... words escape me trying to decribe the absurdity of that notion. Puts us on a level with gods to do anything we want in 'His name'.... it's sociopathic
It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” Romans 14:11
When will god send down an arch angle to settle this.
He seemed to use them quite regularly in the past?
If folks here mention god, they should point out they mean the christian one and not all the other gods that billion of non christians worship
How come we have colors of human beings? How come human languages are subjected to change over period of times? How many languages do we have now on earth? As we see everything is ever-changing, ever-moving, ever-going, etc., everywhere here and beyond universe... Hence it is Infinity!!! In other words, nothing is impossible for what you see is what you get!!!
God law for menstruating women
Leviticus 15:19
19 " 'When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.
It is written. Amen.
Teach creation in church / Teach evolution in science class. Easy enough.
I thought that Ham was by far the more polite debater. He did not attack Nye personally. Whereas Nye kept saying Ham's ... as if he is the only person who beleives this way. That being said I wish Ham had said more to discredit evolution and talked more about the scientific proofs of creationism and a great deluge.
The reason for that: Ham's views are NOT science. Sorry. End of story.
What scientific proof is there of Creationism ?
Let me see, there is non that anyone can find, only the word of a group that wrote the bible, as we know it a couple millenia ago.
That's analogous to saying that Spiderman is real because it's written in a (comic) book.
It's because there ARE NO proofs of creationism.
There aren't any. He didn't bring up the bogus talking points because he knows they are fully debunked and he will have no rebuttal. He saves those for the ignorant believers. Much like a politician.
Well, is there a polite way to tell someone their beliefs are stupid and absurd?
There is no scientific theory of creationism. None. They've admitted that. So there isn't much to talk about in terms of science.
'and talked more about the scientific proofs of creationism and a great deluge.'
because there is no scientific proof.
Creationists may feel free to expound upon their belief that the earth is 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs moseyed around with Adam and Eve in some garden somewhere while Eve ate an apple that a talking snake cajoled her into eating.
I, in turn, am also free to laugh my butt off at them.
Most fish are either salt water tolerant or fresh water tolerant and can not live in the other habitat.
How did they survive the flood?
There is way more data and evidence of evolution than anything mentioned in the bible.
When does Ham mention that
So which major US university has a Dept of Creation Science.
Could someone name one?
Oh man – that was on last night's Jeopardy...geeze...what university was it????
well to be fair Liberty University in Virginia does but I am not sure if that counts as a 'major university' or not.
So how do we know the bible is the word of God?
Blind faith
Which god?
Ham's god?
What about all those other gods?
And they lesser gods?
God told us and God is infallible. Since God is infallible what he tells us is true. Chase your tail until you get dizzy and believe that stuff.
So when does this museum teach the creation theories of all other religions.
Some how they are less than the christian theory
very true. But you give to much credit to them by calling their unfounded stories theories. they do not have any supporting evidence to prop up a legitimate theory.