Ben Stein's documentary, "Expelled" turned out to be a really fascinating watch. Seasoned with a little humor, it did a fantastic job at revealing some of the attitudes held against the ID movement. Despite what some reviews have said, Expelled did a good job in capturing the antagonistic attitude that many Academia hold.
It is important to remember before watching this movie what THE PURPOSE of the movie is. Many believed it to be a "slimy" movie that brought no real substance to the debate. However, I must remind the readers that the movie is not about proving Intelligent Design through scientific debate (that is to be done in a scientific setting). I mean, after all, Ben Stein is not a scientist and his quest on this whole issue stemmed from someone being fired for mentioning the possibility of ID being a valid alternative! The PURPOSE of the movie was to show how "unacademic" many scientists have become in how they are treating alternative theories that are arising against the entrenched Neo-Darwinism. Mr. Stein blatantly confesses in the film, and shows through his various interviews, that many top leading Darwinian scientists won't even give ID the time of day for proper debate and cross-examination of the evidence. Thus, as Ben Stein stresses throughout, the Academia (as well as the media) have incorrectly stomped and stiffled ID up front without properly addressing the issue in a scientific fashion. Bottom line: let the evidence speak for itself, not the scientist!
Great film: I recommend it!
post script: I LOVE MY WIFE!!!
5 comments:
just saw Expelled; the fact that Ben Stein isn't trying to win any popularity contests helps to validate his message... i gather that his goal is to promote free thought, especially more thinking about the worldviews that drive American academia
Welcome to my blog, Patrick!
And yes, I totally agree with your comment. It, in the end, is about free thinking and I believe Stein proved that well!
Patrick is spam commenting; he left the same exact comment at my blog.
But I fundamentally disagree. If this movie was about a half-dozen people who believed the earth was flat, in the face of clear evidence, would you want to come to their defense? Or would you see them as either nuts or people who were ignoring evidence that supported ideas contrary to their beliefs? That, my friend, is what the Intelligence Design movement is. Academia doesn't listen to them because there is no remotely good science to refute evolution or prove intelligence design.
I believe, Don, that you missed the point entirely. You have committed the same fallacy that those scientists that Stein interviewed. You are assuming, up front, that their science is false. Somehow these other brilliant scientists (including evolutionary scientists) are believing something as ridiculous as, say, the earth is flat. The very NOTION that they are proposing something else, to you, is blatantly false. Oh yeah? Prove it!
And that is the point of the film. The issue of ID only be resolved, one way or another, if many of these scientists will actually meet it on a scientific level and debate over the issue. It will NOT be solved if they keep labeling it "False" without actually confronting it with evidence. It is a bit of a straw-man argument. They are redefining what they THINK ID is and then attacking that new definition they created.
And lastly, I don't care if Patrick's comments is "spam". His comments are true enough.
Also, Don, the very fact that you think there is NO evidence for design, shows me your own ignorance and perhaps your adherence to your views as beyond mere scientific. I am not an ignorant, intellectually stunted individual. I am no atheist and yet, even then (with my EXTREME strong convictions about Theism) I admit that I can see WHY atheists believe what they do. I am no not so blinded by my view as to think the growing populace of atheists are complete morons for believing what they do. On the other hand, I do believe there is a plethora of evidence that suggests design. I see those evidence based on intellectual inquiry and through the evidence of science. EVIDENCE. Okay, one more time, EVIDENCE!
Additionally, the greatest genecist in the world, Francis Collins, abandoned his atheism due to evidence of "design". Now tell me, Don, are you so arrogant as to say one of the top leading world renown genecist is a moron for believing there is evidence for design? Do you think the science of a flat-earth theory claim is what propelled him to see it differently? If you say yes, I cannot help but truly be convinced of your own lack of knowledge for the other side.
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