Just this year, Neil deGrasse Tyson rebooted the late Carl Sagan’s TV show Cosmos 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 religious people who curiously believe that the universe and all it’s inhabitants were created by divine intervention, have a bone to pick with the show due in large part to the fact that science debunks almost all of their theories. Because Cosmos directly clashes with their ideology, they’ve started picketing the FOX Network for equal airtime, as well as boycotting deGrasse Tyson’s work.
Fox has responded to their demands, saying that they aren’t interested.
“We have no plans to create any sort of alternate, psuedo-scientific based version of Cosmos.” Said Kevin Reilly, Chairman of entertainment for Fox Networks. “I believe the only way that would even appeal to most people is if we filmed it in front of a live studio audience and added in a laugh track.”
Enraged with FOX’s reaction, the Creationists have asked that the network at least discuss the possibilities of God being the all-mighty creator of the Earth and mankind itself in at least one segment of every episode of Cosmos.
“We just want the world to know that God is the real creator and one who has evolved all of this world.” Said Melanie Pinkerton, a creation scientist with the Real Origins Group in Los Angeles, California. “Six thousand years ago, He said ‘Let There Be Light,’ and there was. Now we are asking the TV world to ‘Let There Be Light.’ We just think it’s right that we get our equal time.”
Despite the demands and complaints, the ratings for Cosmos are still holding strong. The Creationists themselves aren’t helping when it comes to getting the show taken off the air, either – Most of them have said they watch the program every week just so they can 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, they have decided that Ken Hamm, who founded the Creationist Museum, would be the natural choice to host it. Perhaps wisely, no networks have taken an interest in adding the show to their lineup.