{"id":14770,"date":"2014-02-03T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T17:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/bill-nye-vs-ken-ham-are-evolution-and-religion-at-odds\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:23:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:23:50","slug":"bill-nye-vs-ken-ham-are-evolution-and-religion-at-odds","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/02\/03\/bill-nye-vs-ken-ham-are-evolution-and-religion-at-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham: Are evolution and religion at odds?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-254254\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2014\/02\/FT-nye-ham-02-03-2014-03.png\" alt=\"FT-nye-ham-02-03-2014-03\" width=\"319\" height=\"231\"><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Religion and evolution will take center stage Tuesday evening in Petersburg, Ky., home of the <a href=\"http:\/\/creationmuseum.org\/about\/\">Creation Museum<\/a> and the site of a debate between Ken Ham, the museum\u2019s founder, and Bill Nye. The topic: \u201cIs creation a viable model of origins in today\u2019s modern scientific era?\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nye is the former host of the children\u2019s TV show \u201cBill Nye the Science Guy\u201d and a science education advocate; he has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gHbYJfwFgOU\">spoken out against teaching creationism to children<\/a>. Ham, meanwhile, is CEO of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.answersingenesis.org\/about\">Answers in Genesis<\/a> and a believer that Earth is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/creationist-ken-ham-blasts-robert-jeffress-for-anti-young-earth-remarks-91494\/\">several thousand years old<\/a> (a movement known as young-Earth creationism). <!--more--><\/p>\n\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-254255\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2014\/02\/FT-nye-ham-02-03-2014-04.png\" alt=\"FT-nye-ham-02-03-2014-04\" width=\"419\" height=\"434\"><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2013\/12\/30\/publics-views-on-human-evolution\/\">Pew Research survey<\/a> finds that most Americans (60%) say that \u201chumans and other living things have evolved over time.\u201d But a third of U.S. adults (33%) reject that point of view, instead <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/01\/03\/republican-views-on-evolution-tracking-how-its-changed\/\">saying that humans have existed<\/a> in their present form since the beginning of time.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nye (the 2010 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehumanist.org\/humanist\/10_nov_dec\/Nye.html\">Humanist of the Year<\/a> and a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/01\/22\/bill-nye-on-belief-in-god_n_4645891.html?utm_hp_ref=religion\">self-labeled agnostic<\/a>) and Ham may represent extreme ends of the spectrum with their beliefs, but in between are some other perspectives, which can be somewhat difficult to capture in public opinion surveys. For example, roughly a quarter of Americans (24%) believe in evolution with God in the equation, saying that \u201ca supreme being\u201d guided the process (sometimes called \u201ctheistic evolution\u201d).<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some evangelical churches reject evolution, including the Southern Baptist Convention \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/06\/20\/us\/louisiana-baptist-group-chooses-first-black-leader.html\">the largest Protestant church body in the country<\/a> \u2013 which <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sbc.net\/resolutions\/amResolution.asp?ID=967\">supports teaching \u201cScientific Creationism\u201d<\/a> in public schools. (Ham\u2019s organization <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.answersingenesis.org\/blogs\/ken-ham\/2013\/06\/16\/southern-baptist-convention-opposes-boy-scouts-of-america-bsa-decision\/\">has appeared at the SBC\u2019s annual meeting<\/a>.) But many other <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2009\/02\/04\/religious-groups-views-on-evolution\/\">major American religious traditions<\/a> say their teachings are not in conflict with evolution, including the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Roman Catholic Church.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those positions appear to be reflected at least somewhat in our polling. While nearly two-thirds of white evangelicals (64%) say humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time, 78% of white mainline Protestants say humans have evolved \u2013 about the same share as the religiously unaffiliated (76%). A majority of white Catholics (68%) also believe in evolution.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The teaching of the origins of human life in public schools <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2009\/02\/04\/fighting-over-darwin-state-by-state\/\">continues to spark debate<\/a> in several states, including a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/education\/teachers-oppose-va-bill-challenging-mainstream-science\/2014\/01\/29\/faa7924c-885c-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html\">recent proposal in Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Religion and evolution will take center stage Tuesday evening in Petersburg, Ky., home of the Creation Museum and the site of a debate between Ken Ham, the museum\u2019s founder, and Bill Nye. The topic: \u201cIs creation a viable model of origins in today\u2019s modern scientific era?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[161,404,176,259],"bylines":[854],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517,518],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-14770","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-beliefs-practices","category-evolution","category-religion-science-2","category-religion-science-1","bylines-michael-lipka","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion","research-teams-science"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":365,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/02\/03\/bill-nye-vs-ken-ham-are-evolution-and-religion-at-odds\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham: Are evolution and religion at odds?","description":"Religion and evolution will take center stage Tuesday evening in Petersburg, Ky., home of the Creation Museum and the site of a debate between Ken Ham, the museum\u2019s founder, and Bill Nye. The topic: \u201cIs creation a viable model of origins in today\u2019s modern scientific era?\u201d","og_title":"Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham: Are evolution and religion at odds?","og_description":"Religion and evolution will take center stage Tuesday evening in Petersburg, Ky., home of the Creation Museum and the site of a debate between Ken Ham, the museum\u2019s founder, and Bill Nye. 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