Last night everyone's favorite science guy, Bill Nye, participated in an evolution versus creation debate. His opponent was creationist Ken Ham, CEO of Answers in Genesis.
The event took place at the Creation Museum in Kentucky, a facility headed by Ham. Tom Foreman of CNN acted as moderator while a live studio audience looked on. The event was also live streamed via Youtube and other sites.
As stated by Foreman in his introduction, a behind-the-scenes coin toss took place before the debate, with Ham as the winner. He opted to go first.
The exact question at hand was, "Is creation a viable model of origins in today's modern scientific era?"
Reactions on Twitter to Ham's opening statements, under the tag #creationdebate, consistently cited the website Your Logical Fallacy Is, to call him out on his mistakes. What was most criticized, however, was that Ham stated that nothing would change his mind about his beliefs. Mr. Nye said that simple evidence would change his own. Naturally, people were left wondering why Ham even hosted a debate at a facility he heads if he wasn't even open to receive new ideas. Ham, who argued that creationists could also be scientists, begged the question of what he thinks a scientist is without the hunger to seek new evidence.
As could have been predicted, Nye was the winner because he used evidence. Ham cited diligently the words of the Bible, but provided nothing concrete that could counter the implications of Nye's facts. Ham said, "As a Christian, I can't prove it to you, but God has definitely shown me very clearly through his word."
Both men took on the weighty responsibility of representing the people of their respective beliefs. In the end, Nye embodied the fairness and logic of scientists. Ham, however, may have injured the scientist half of his creationist/scientist persona.
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