Millions watched last night as Bill Nye the Science Guy took on Christian Ken Ham in a debate about the earth's origins. Ham believes the world was created in seven days, while Nye argued in favour of the Big Bang Theory (the er actual scientific theory, not the geeky TV show).
Ham would debate the story of Genesis where it is explained that the world was created by God in seven days, while Nye argued that the earth was created by the Big Bang, and arguing otherwise would lead to America's demise as a world power.
Nye said: "If we eschew science, we won't move forward. We will not embrace natural laws or make discoveries. We will not invent, innovate and stay ahead."
Nye is famous for his popular television show 'Bill Nye The Science Guy', where he explained science in an entertaining fashion. The pair were given half an hour each to explain their thesis, backed with slides and charts. The audience were very quiet and the debate was moderated by CNN Reporter Tom Foreman.
Ham based his argument on the difference between observational science, which you can test using experiments, versus historical science, where you can only interpret it based on existing evidence.
Nye hit back by saying that the natural laws today hold just as true as those in the past, arguing that if the great flood had happened as Genesis describes, there "would be Kangaroos in the Middle East".
Ham then argued that several scientists were, in fact, believers in Genesis and said he "believes science has been hijacked by secularists."
The museum is currently working towards building Ham's $60 million Christian theme park, which academics have criticised Nye for 'funding' by appearing in the debate. Nye previously posted a video asking creationist adults not to teach their kids creationism; Ham replied with a video of his own and thus, the debate at the museum was scheduled.
The admittedly tame debate took place on Tuesday night to a crowd of 900 at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, which Ham is the founder of. Nye was reportedly paid 50-75,000 dollars for speaking. Debate tickets did not come anywhere near covering the cost of the debate, but Ham hopes to make this up in DVD sales.
Twitter users took to their accounts, angrily sparking a hashtag debate of their own while the debate was broadcast.
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