# Bill Nye the Science Guy vs Creotard Ken Ham **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 3, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764 "2014-01-03T01:52:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Gateway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dbc845/32.png) [@Gateway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gateway)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/101 "2014-02-05T06:34:57Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI) > > skip 30 or so minutes in to get to the debate. Nye did a great job over all. Thanks, problem is though there is no sound on this computer so for now I will have to watch it on TV ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/102 "2014-02-05T13:43:08Z")
Ham’s now promoting the after-party: > [@](#): > > Watch Ken Ham and Georgia Purdom discuss the debate at [http://debatelive.org](http://debatelive.org) on Wednesday 2/5/14 at 8:00 PM (ET). Victory! [From the Encyclopedia of American Loons](http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2012/05/329-georgia-purdom.html) > [@](#): > > Purdom is of course able to take any strong evidence for a hypothesis to be evidence for a completely opposite one by applying the standard creationist data handling rules: distort, mangle, quote-mine, confuse and assert. Talk about birds of a feather. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/103 "2014-02-05T14:56:42Z")
I can’t help but think that if there was a god, this would be the perfect time to smite someone. Chuck a lightning bolt at Ken Ham, remove a first class douche canoe and give incontrovertible evidence for your existence. It’s Win/Win! ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/104 "2014-02-05T15:24:51Z")
At one point, I thought Ken Ham actually gave the best argument but then reached a bizarrely wrong conclusion. When he addressed “Christians who believe in evolution” and he pointed out all the things in the fossil record that were in conflict with Scripture. He even said a few times, “So they both cannot be true.” So after all this, his conclusion was apparently that we should reject the evidence in the fossil record in favor of the Biblical record. He didn’t come out and explicitly say we should reject the evidence right in front of our faces, but that was the gist of it. I thought Bill Nye would jump all over that argument, but he ignored it. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/105 "2014-02-05T16:51:33Z")
Did Ken make a common error regarding Noah’s Ark? He says there were only 1,000 “kinds” :rolleyes: of animals on the ark so they only had 2,000 animals to take care of. Dude, Genesis Chapter 7: > [@](#): > > 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. (emphasis mine, duh). I don’t know the clean:unclean ratio, but that’s going to be more than 2,000. You would think someone from a company with “Genesis” in their name would know that. Unless they’ve retconned those verses? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/106 "2014-02-05T16:54:36Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > At one point, I thought Ken Ham actually gave the best argument but then reached a bizarrely wrong conclusion. When he addressed “Christians who believe in evolution” and he pointed out all the things in the fossil record that were in conflict with Scripture. He even said a few times, “So they both cannot be true.” So after all this, his conclusion was apparently that we should reject the evidence in the fossil record in favor of the Biblical record. He didn’t come out and explicitly say we should reject the evidence right in front of our faces, but that was the gist of it. Typical, really. This sort of thing is what started me on the road away from Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/107 "2014-02-05T17:25:59Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I love Bill Nye and everything, but let’s be a little honest about his credentials; his experience lies in being a _television show host_, not a teacher. Nye was a Boeing engineer before deciding he really needed to do standup comedy instead. He does know how to explain science and the reasoning behind it as well as anyone, from his TV-hosting experience, and can present it in a nonthreatening, enlightening way. That’s probably what the religious zealots most need to be confronted with, not someone like, well, the average Doper, who’d easily get all frustrated and pissed and look to them like s/he was being out-argued by the Truth. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/108 "2014-02-05T17:50:52Z")
I dunno, he always did seem to be [kind of a prick](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQXqEAYHudQ). ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/109 "2014-02-05T17:53:48Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Did Ken make a common error regarding Noah’s Ark? He says there were only 1,000 “kinds” :rolleyes: of animals on the ark so they only had 2,000 animals to take care of. Dude, Genesis Chapter 7: > > (emphasis mine, duh). > > I don’t know the clean:unclean ratio, but that’s going to be more than 2,000. You would think someone from a company with “Genesis” in their name would know that. > > Unless they’ve retconned those verses? That verse is already a retcon of Genesis Chapter 6, which says “You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.” The total number of animals varies depending on which Chapter you are reading. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/110 "2014-02-05T18:25:22Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Typical, really. > > This sort of thing is what started me on the road away from Christianity. Christianity is about loving your fellow human beings. It blathers on about three thousand times about feeding the hungry and healing the sick. It is not a drunken argument among potheads about the logistics of Noah’s freakin’ ark. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/111 "2014-02-05T18:31:41Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Christianity is about loving your fellow human beings. It blathers on about three thousand times about feeding the hungry and healing the sick. It is not a drunken argument among potheads about the logistics of Noah’s freakin’ ark. Sadly, those aren’t the things that make the headlines. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/112 "2014-02-05T18:39:28Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Did Ken make a common error regarding Noah’s Ark? He says there were only 1,000 “kinds” :rolleyes: of animals on the ark so they only had 2,000 animals to take care of. Dude, Genesis Chapter 7: And where does that “common error” of 1,000 “kinds” of animals come from? Is that figure mentioned in the Bible? And if _those kind of Christians_ really believe that, how do they explain all the “kinds” we see today? I think there are more than 1,001 “kinds” of animals today. Did they just… evolve or something? Or did God get all creative sometime after the flood and start creating again? ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/113 "2014-02-05T18:41:35Z")
Finished watching. Bill did do better than I thought he would do and Ken did a great job of not answering many questions. The highlight for me was the question for Ken about if there was proof the world was more than 10,000 years old would he still be a Christian. His answer amounted to “You can’t prove the age of the Earth so it’s a non-issue.” But he’s a scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/114 "2014-02-05T18:54:41Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Christianity is about loving your fellow human beings. It blathers on about three thousand times about feeding the hungry and healing the sick. It is not a drunken argument among potheads about the logistics of Noah’s freakin’ ark. No need for divinity of Jesus, then? Or for the necessary existence of miracles? Anyway, I said “started me on the road.” Other bits of nonsense from Christianity, and sense from the real world explored and explained by science, kept me going on the same road. Bottom line: I don’t need Christ to think loving fellow human beings is a Good Idea. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/115 "2014-02-05T18:55:34Z")
Apparently even **Pat Robertson** wants Ken Ham to shut up: [“Let’s not make a joke of ourselves.”](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/05/pat-robertson-implores-creationist-ken-ham-to-shut-up-lets-not-make-a-joke-of-ourselves/). ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/116 "2014-02-05T18:58:22Z")
When Pat Robertson thinks you’re a joke, you have some serious issues. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/117 "2014-02-05T19:03:12Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > Apparently even **Pat Robertson** wants Ken Ham to shut up: [“Let’s not make a joke of ourselves.”](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/05/pat-robertson-implores-creationist-ken-ham-to-shut-up-lets-not-make-a-joke-of-ourselves/). How _dare_ you make me agree with “Squints” Robertson! You are now officially off my Christmas card list. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/118 "2014-02-05T19:26:31Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > Apparently even **Pat Robertson** wants Ken Ham to shut up: [“Let’s not make a joke of ourselves.”](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/05/pat-robertson-implores-creationist-ken-ham-to-shut-up-lets-not-make-a-joke-of-ourselves/). It’s far too late in the game for that. Pat Robertson made joke of Christianity long ago. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/119 "2014-02-05T19:35:33Z")
Ken Ham’s position was damaged most during the Q&A section at the end. When asked, what evidence could change your mind, he could offer nothing but “I’m a Christian…” ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764/120 "2014-02-05T20:13:40Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > At one point, I thought Ken Ham actually gave the best argument but then reached a bizarrely wrong conclusion. When he addressed “Christians who believe in evolution” and he pointed out all the things in the fossil record that were in conflict with Scripture. He even said a few times, “So they both cannot be true.” So after all this, his conclusion was apparently that we should reject the evidence in the fossil record in favor of the Biblical record. He didn’t come out and explicitly say we should reject the evidence right in front of our faces, but that was the gist of it. I thought Bill Nye would jump all over that argument, but he ignored it. There were a number of arguments that he could/should have used to really destroy Ham. For instance: what about the nonsensical argument that any and all science is actually copying christian ethos and/or logic? Just mentioning greek thinkers would have made his argument seem even sillier than it already was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-nye-the-science-guy-vs-creotard-ken-ham/677764.md?page=7)