Creationists Bash Science-Based âCosmosâ TV Show, Demand Equal Airtime
Just this year, Neil deGrasse Tyson rebooted theÂ late Carl Saganâs TV show CosmosÂ for the FOX Network, and although the season is several episodes in, it is causing a controversy amongst a large number of religious zealots.Creation scientists, a small facet of Â religious people who curiously believe that the universe and all itâs inhabitants were created by divine intervention,Â have a bone to pick with the showÂ due in large part to the fact that science debunks almost all of their theories. BecauseÂ CosmosÂ directly clashes with their ideology, theyâve started picketing the FOX Network for equal airtime, as well as boycotting deGrasse Tysonâs work.Fox has responded to their demands, saying that they arenât interested.âWe have no plans to create any sort of alternate, psuedo-scientific based version ofÂ Cosmos.âÂ Said Kevin Reilly, Chairman of entertainment for Fox Networks. âI believe the only way that would even appeal to most peopleÂ is if we filmed it in front of a live studio audience and added in a laugh track.âEnraged with FOXâs reaction, the Creationists have askedÂ that the network at least discuss the possibilities of God being the all-mighty creator of the Earth andÂ mankind itselfÂ in at least one segment of every episode of Cosmos.Â âWe just want the world to know that God is the real creator and one who has evolved allÂ of this world.â Said Melanie Pinkerton, a creation scientist with the Real Origins Group in Los Angeles, California. âSix thousand years ago, He said âLet There Be Light,â and there was. Now we are asking the TV world to âLet There Be Light.â Â We just think itâs right that we get our equal time.âDespite the demands and complaints,Â the ratings for Cosmos areÂ still holding strong. The Creationists themselvesÂ arenât helping when it comes toÂ getting the show taken off the air, either â Most of them have said they watch the program every week just so they canÂ curse at their televisions and shout passages from the bible at deGrasse Tyson.Although there are no plans for FOX to draft any episodes of the Creationist version of the Cosmos series, which the group has decided would be called Genesis,Â they have decided that Ken Hamm, who foundedÂ the Creationist Museum,Â would be the natural choice to host it. Perhaps wisely, no networks have taken an interest in adding the show to their lineup.