Bill Nye the Science Guy's expert opinion: Do you really want it?

As if we didn’t have enough parenting issues to process, now Bill Nye the Science Guy has chimed in with his comments on creationism. In a video that has received over 87,000 comments and more than 2.7 million views since it was posted on YouTube a week ago, he says, if you’re a creationist, fine, but don’t let your kids be creationists. (Watch the video after the jump.)

Does Mr. Nye, a scientist best known for his PBS show from the mid ’90s, really think that any creationists are going to let their kids not be creationists just because he says so? In general, parents really don’t want people telling them how to raise their kids. I am not even a creationist, and Nye’s video made me feel vaguely defensive. I mean, no one at our politically and socially liberal church is a creationist, but the kids have asked me why stories in the Bible conflict with what they learned in school about evolution. Lacking a proper answer, I mumble something about how God organized the whole evolutionary process and give them a chewy snack that will keep them from asking any follow-up questions.

Most parents I know don’t want random TV personalities dictating what is good or bad for kids. I have already been given a whole list of things that are bad for my kids, including:

1. Mothers who work

2. Mothers who don’t work

3. Not putting sunscreen on your kids

4. The chemicals in the sunscreen you put on your kids

5. Sugar

6. Salt

7. Gluten

8. TV

9. Video Games

10. Facebook

11. Provocative clothing for tweens

12. Republicans

13. Democrats

14. Too much homework

15. Not enough homework

16. Overparenting

17. Princesses

18. Pink toys

19. Those little batteries that they could swallow and possibly die from

20. And now, creationism

Check out the video and tell me what you think, not necessarily about the merits of creationism vs science. What I really want to know is have you had a pop culture figure weigh in on something substantial and it really gave you pause? How much do their credentials on the topic matter for you?