The biggest danger of Creationism, Bill Nye the "Science Guy" has said, is that it raises a generation of children who "can't think" and will consequently "not be able to participate in the future in same way" as those who are taught evolution.
In a recent discussion on MidPoint, Nye slammed an older generation of evangelicals "who have very strong conservative views" and who are "reluctant to let kids learn about evolution." He added that their continued presence on school boards leads to debates over curriculum which hampers educators from teaching facts to their students.
"Religion is one thing. People get tremendous comfort and community with their religions," Nye said. "But whatever you believe, whatever deity or higher power you might believe in, the Earth is not 6,000 years old."
He added: "It goes back to evangelical fundamentalism trying to look for answers for a creation story that is satisfactory. So they cling to this book that was written 5,000 years ago, translated countless times into English."
Nye, whose latest book is titled "Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation," recently participated in a debate with Creation Museum CEO and President Ken Ham regarding the issue.
"Creation is the only viable model of historical science confirmed by observational science in today's modern scientific era," Ham argued, adding that science supports his view of a historical six-day creation, as outlined in the first chapters of Genesis.
Nye, an agnostic, retorted that such ideas are fanciful. "If you insist the natural laws have changed, for lack of a better word, that's magical," the "science guy" declared. "Your interpretation of a book written thousands of years ago, as translated into American English, is more compelling for you than everything that I can observe in the world around me."
Although the debate was slammed as "pointless and counterproductive" by many in the science community, Nye stood by the debate, saying he "stepped into the lion's den" in an effort to spread awareness about the" academic opportunities children are denied by being creationism."
"They will not have this fundamental idea that you can question things, that you can think critically, that you can use skeptical thought to learn about nature," Nye told MidPoint. "These children have to suppress everything that they can see in nature to try to get a worldview that's compatible with the adults in whom they trust and rely on for sustenance."
The Christian community is vastly divided regarding the creationism vs. evolution debate. While 51% of Americans believe that the Bible is the Word of God, a study conducted by the National Study of Religion and Human Origins found that "Thirty-seven percent [of Americans] are creationists, 16 percent are theistic evolutionists, and nine percent are atheistic evolutionists."
The study contends that "If we consider only those that are very or absolutely certain of their views this falls to 29 percent, eight percent, and six percent. This tells us that well over half the population are at least somewhat uncertain about what they believe."
