By David Schuh | Managing Editor

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Bill Nye, who garnered nationwide fame with his popular science TV show in the 90s, is now making a new name for himself as an opponent of creationism — and he’s bringing his views to Kentucky.

“Bill Nye the Science Guy” will challenge Creation Museum founder Ken Ham on Feb. 4, in a debate that some say some say isn’t a debate at all.

“Evolutionists are much more reluctant to debate creationists nowadays,” said Mark Looy, co-founder of the Creation Museum.

Ham’s beliefs of strict creationism come alive at the museum, a 70,000-square-foot dedication to the tales of the Bible in Petersburg, Ky.

According to Ham’s Blog, Answers in Genesis, creationism is the belief that the Bible is literal and true, and its teachings are applicable to science and history. This includes the assertion that all creatures on earth were created deliberately and not by evolution.

Looy said creationists rarely participate in these types of debates, but not because they don’t want to do them.

The reason for that, secularists believe, is that there is nothing to debate.

“I don’t agree that it’s a debatable topic,” said Dan Arel, a writer for the Richard Dawkins Foundation, a nonprofit that supports scientific education “in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and human suffering,” according to its website.

Arel wrote a column on Jan. 16 denouncing the debate, creating buzz on the Internet.

Arel not only brushed aside Ham’s ideas, but also blamed Nye, saying it was wrong of him to even consider the matter a debate. He said they must be careful not to give too much credit to something that doesn’t deserve it.

“When you talk about this with creationists, you give them validity when there is none,” said Katelyn Mason, a UK psychology senior and the president of the Secular Student Alliance.

She doesn’t think the debate will be helpful to anti-creationist views because Nye is not well-known in the creationism world.

“This debate will help highlight the fact that so many young people are dismissing the Bible because of evolution,” Ham wrote on his blog on Jan. 2.

Nye, who began his career as a mechanical engineer at Boeing Aircraft Company, has a much different view on the world, one rooted in evolutionary science.

“I say to the grown ups — if you want to deny evolution and live in your world that is completely inconsistent with everything we have observed in the universe — that’s fine,” Nye said on a YouTube video in August 2012. “But don’t make your kids do it, because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and tax payers for the future.”

The YouTube video actually sparked the debate, Looy said.

The video, which has more than 6 million views, highlighted why he believes creationism is a dangerous idea for children. When Creation Museum staff saw the video, Ham posted his own rebuttal on YouTube.

When the museum staff then proposed a public debate, Nye agreed.

“We want to show Christians that you can defend your faith in this science era,” Looy said. “And we want to show non-Christians that you can accept the Bible’s history and its teachings.”

The two-and-a-half-hour debate begins at 7 p.m. on Feb. 4. Tickets sold out in minutes earlier this month, but a free live stream can be found at debatelive.org.