Bill Nye “The Science Guy” went on Newsmax TV’s Midpoint to explain why he believes it is so important to confront creationists.

“I’m trying to spread the word,” Nye said, echoing the language of religious proselytizers, adding that the debate with Ken Ham “was a case where I went in the lion’s den, and my goal was to raise awareness of this extraordinary worldview that’s in our midst here in the world’s technologically most advanced society.”

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When asked why evolution became a “bad word” in some American households, Nye said that it comes down to “the troubling and compelling fact of life — that we’re all going to die. Try as you may, it’s really hard not to die. And so, I think, it drives us a little crazy.”

“The problem is, we have adults with very conservative views who are unwilling to let kids learn about evolution. Do you want to know why?” he asked, before answering, “I don’t know why. Evolution is the fundamental idea in biology, it’s the main idea in life science, it is the fact of life.”

“And yet we have these people who get on school boards, and want to introduce doubt about the main idea in biology. It’s unique to the United States.”

Host Ed Berliner then asked why it is unique to the United States, to which Nye replied, “it goes back to evangelical fundamentalism trying to look for answers for a creation story that is satisfactory. So they cling to this book that was written 5,000 years ago, translated countless times into English.”

“So are these ‘evangelics’ who want to be teaching their kids creationism keeping their kids from becoming smarter than they could be? Keeping them less intelligent?” Berliner asked.

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“Yes,” Nye replied, “absolutely. They’re holding the kids back. These kids will not be able to participate in the future. Because they will not have this fundamental idea that you can use skeptical thought to learn about nature. They will have to suppress everything they see in nature in order to try and get a worldview that’s compatible with the adults, in whom they trust.”

“Suffice it to say, in your opinion, they’re just raising dumb kids?” Berliner asked.

“Not dumb,” Nye said, “just kids who are unable, or who are uncomfortable, with using the scientific method. We’re on television, or on the Internet,” he continued, pointing around the studio, “using lights that are light-emitting diodes that didn’t exist 30 years ago. Who’s going to come up with the next innovation that’s going to keep the United States competitive worldwide if you raise a generation of kids who can’t do physics or chemistry?”

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“Do you want doctors who can’t understand biology?” he asked, rhetorically, before explaining that’s why he debated Ken Ham “in the lion’s den, to raise awareness that we are raising a generation of kids who are discouraged from thinking.”

Watch the entire interview via YouTube below.