Talking past each other: Bill Nye vs. creationist Ken Ham on evolution

I am glad this debate took place though many people advise never to debate Creationists.

Scientists that refuse to debate Creationists in front of a public audience have no standing to rise in front of a city council or state committee and demand Creationism not be taught.

We should not be afraid of debate. Is Science and reason and evidence that weak?

And why on earth should we be in some sort of superior position where we insist Creationism not be taught in schools but insist we will not debate the issue?

So of course it is important that scientists and others that want to keep Creationism out of schools publicly debate Creationists.

That said, it doesn’t mean we cannot discuss proper forums, admission policies, moderation, voting, or format of the debate.

If you take the existence of God as one of your foundational assumptions, then evolution is a fairly reasonable theory.

Therefore any debate on creationism is really a debate on whether this foundational assumption is valid. Otherwise you're just talking past each other.

Here's a link to the actual video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI

I'm not sure "debating" such people is even worthwhile, as it lends some level of credibility to them. Certainly you wouldn't invite someone to debate TimeCube. I guess it could backfire, if enough people are buying into the silly arguments that not debating is spun as a "aha, see they can' even face us" deal.

Why this is even a matter of discussion is beyond me!