Rating:
4.5 out of 5
By Vic Holtreman
Short version: Your opinion of the film will with almost complete certainty be predicted by your opinions on Darwinism vs Intelligent Design.
Yes, I know everyone is looking for reviews of Morgan Spurlock’s Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? Here’s a spoiler: He doesn’t find Osama. His movie is funny and entertaining, but I think this film will generate far more debate and discussion and is as relevant to what’s happening today as Spurlock’s movie.
Having said that, I believe that writing this review is almost a pointless exercise, but I’ll write it anyway. Why? Because your opinion of the film will with almost complete certainty be predicted by your opinions on Darwinism vs Intelligent Design.
I’ve been scouring a few sites looking to see what people thought of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed and it is expectedly getting skewered. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 9% at the time of this writing and over at IMDB.com it’s sitting at 3.3/10. The interesting thing about the rating over at IMDB is that 88% of the votes are either a “1″ or a “10,” with very few in between. I’m guessing that most of the votes on the “1″ side are from people who haven’t even seen the film.
|
|
Much like the reviews and viewer opinions of Michael Moore’s psuedo-documentaries or Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” are influenced by whether the person in question agrees with the views espoused in those films, that will be the situation here in even more stark relief. Considering the fact that most reviewers over at RT loved those films, it’s no surprise to me that Ben Stein’s film was skewered.
I don’t blame anyone – it’s just about impossible to judge a documentary on a hot-button subject without bringing personal bias into it.
A couple of the eventual items that will be highlighted in the movie are hinted at with the opening credits, which are made up of what looks like old archival footage from World War II. The movie credits are blended in to look like they are part of the original footage, which I thought was kind of cool. Ben Stein walks onto the stage of a crowded auditorium to talk about the fact that no matter the era, freedom is the one constant that has defined America throughout its history.
From there he goes on to expand on his main point: No, it’s not that Intelligent Design theory is superior to Darwinism… but that the mere mention of I.D. by someone in an academic position can lead to not only denial of tenure, but to outright censure and loss of their position. You read that right: not the teaching of the theory – just the mention of it as a possible valid theory.
He interviews a number of academicians and scientists who have met the fates described above and cites what led to their firings, etc.. Stein also interviews those in institutes of higher learning that came pretty close to visibly spitting whenever they were questioned about the topic.
One of the things that has people up in arms about this film is that Ben Stein draws a connection between Darwinism and Nazi Germany. He says quite clearly that he is NOT implying that Darwinists are Nazis – only that Hitler was influenced by the theory and sought to “accelerate” human evolution by eliminating the weak, infirm and supposedly inferior races.
I understand Stein’s reason for including this in the film – more than one athiest in the film emphasized the belief in no ultimate moral standards. The logical conclusion from that is that due to the idea of moral relativism (”well, maybe that was considered bad 50 years ago but times have changed”) is that eventually we could go beyond abortion and voluntary euthanasia to selecting people to be euthanized “for the good of mankind/the human race/our country” with no guilt of sense of wrongdoing.
The problem here is that the idea of a “designed” universe is rejected out of hand, there IS no room for discussion (similar to the global warming debate). If someone disagrees they are shouted down with “idiot/ignorant/stupid” and of course, “creationist.” End of conversation.
As far as I’m concerned, the unadulterated hubris of those in academia in their 100% certainty that there is no God in a universe where so much is still unknown is for lack of another word, galling.
You’re either going to think that Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a huge disinformation campaign of a film and hate it, or you’re going to think that it’s a big eye opener when it comes to the current dangers to our freedom and the discussion of important issues.
On a final note, I’ll be monitoring the comments below carefully. I’ve said before that I have NO problem with people with opposing opinions as long as those opinions are stated in an intelligent and civil manner with no personal attacks. In any case, especially online, I’ve found these discussions pointless as no one is going to change anyone’s opinion on either side.
Loading ...
202 Comments
Hey T Edward, come on seriously what do you think of the new Hulk poster?
Hey 790, I’ve actually read up on that guy before. Richard C. Hoagland has shown himself to be an opportunist and, on occassion, an outright liar. He was the guy that proposed the face on Mars was actually put there by a civilization of ancient space aliens when the viking orbiter first spotted the “rock formation”. NASA said that it was just a naturally occurring geological formation and that shadows and photographic distortion gave the rocks the appearance of a face. This myth persisted until earlier this decade when multiple Mars orbiters, from both the US and Europe, photographed the rock formation close up. Unless agents from the US and many, many European countries are all involved in “covering it up”, then this is really nothing more than an interesting rock formation. You can read all about this guy at the following link, as well as see some photos of the “face on mars”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_C._Hoagland
The more I read of this guys claims, the more I think he’s into Scientology lol!
Cheers!
“Actually, that illustrates to me beautifully the idea of the need for an Uncaused Cause or First Cause as it is known in philosophy”
&
“Of course, the question an athiest, I’m sure, will ask: ‘Who created God?’”
Bingo! I’ve used that argument before myself because it points out the flaw in the theist logic. They argue that everything has to be created, only to turn around and argue that their chosen deity is the exception to the rule, thus contradicting themselves. I on the other hand see it as an progression that would continue into absurdity, and cut that progression off one step before the theists do, simplifying things considerably.
Somewhere along the line, something has to exist without an explanation we can yet figure out. For me, I just knock one additional rung off that ladder and leave it at the pre-bang universe. Maybe one day there will be evidence of something beyond that and there will be an answer, but until then, I’m going to go with the simplest answer. I’ve heard somewhere that it’s usually the correct one.
“I’m sure someday some very gifted scientist will come up with some theory about how life began from nothing (abiogenesis) but it will just be another theory.”
This kind of comment REALLY irritates me because it confuses definitions and makes the discussion meaningless. When dealing with science, a theory is about as close to a law as you can usually get. It has plenty of evidence to back it up, and it matches up with that evidence better than any other explanation. The longer a scientific theory hangs around, the better it is because it’s survived more and more attempts to disprove it and gained more supporting evidence in the process.
Yet the way many are speaking in these discussion, they tend to substitute “guess or conjecture” in place of “a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena” when using the word “theory,” especially when they are trying to discredit one.
All this does is lead to people talking at cross purposes because they won’t agree on the definition of “theory,” rendering the discussion pointless.
Its interesting that recently doctors have basically come to the agreement that the human body looses a few ounces in wieght after the moment of death.
Could that be the soul…..?
“And ironically, the entire purpose of “intelligent design” is to repackage creationism in an effort to get religion past the courts and into science classes.”
Here is where never the twain shall meet: To atheists, the worst thing that can happen in the school system is the re-introduction of God in to the classroom. To Christians, the worst that ever happened in the classroom was the removal of God from it.
The thing that drives me insane about the NEA and the ACLU is that they’re trying to change things from “freedom of religion” in the U.S. to “freedom from religion.”
And removing God from the classroom has worked out SO well for the youth of this country, hasn’t it?
Vic
Well Darron we will have to agree to disagree on Hoagland.
Btw all new space images go thru JpL and nasa before there released to anyone or any space angency.
And that updated photo of the face on Mars was intentionally filtered only using 1/5th of the resolution.
Also Hoaglands not a scientologist just for the record.
I enjoyed the movie. It brought me back to my college days, when I had no money to enjoy a movie. Instead, I would attend the lectures and debates that would dicuss the push & pull of theology vs science. And while I came away from this movie with the very same conclusions I did following those lively debates of younger years, I am reminded of the real reason to participate in such dicussions. So long as one approaches this topic with an open mind, it is through that process of debate that we may just learn something. We may just learn that we didn’t know everything after all — No matter the ultimate conclusion you draw. I enjoyed the movie, because of the passion with which the producers seek converts, and because it gets the intelectual juices flowing. I disliked the movie because it brings nothing new from those debates of so long ago, offering me no choice but to leave with the same conclusions. It’s worth seeing, no matter what side of the wall you’re on.
Its interesting that recently doctors have basically come to the agreement that the human body looses a few ounces in wieght after the moment of death. Could that be the soul…..?
Not to be crude, but it’s not the soul. Rather, stuff that would typically be found in a used diaper! =D Sorry… just had to do it…
“they’re trying to change things from “freedom of religion” in the U.S. to “freedom from religion.”
And removing God from the classroom has worked out SO well for the youth of this country, hasn’t it?”
The argument is that “freedom of religion requires freedom from religion.” It’s an argument I agree with. The more Christian influence there is in out government, the greater the chance that the government will discriminate against not just atheists, but also Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism, and others. That’s the kind of thing the first amendment is intended to prevent.
Religion in public schools is a dangerous proposition as those schools are supposed to educate students of all religions. If you have an organized prayer in public schools, you run the risk of alienating the students who aren’t of the majority religion, making them stand out, and setting them up to be targets for the other students, making the school a hostile place for them, and making it harder for them to learn.
Removing religion from the classroom has made things better, safer, for those students. The problems arise when parents don’t do their jobs.
Also Hoaglands not a scientologist just for the record.
Sorry, I only said that in jest because Hoagland has made claims of ancient alien races living on Earth… it made me think of those verses from the Scientologist’s religious texts about nuclear bombs being detonated in hundreds of volcanos around the Earth 80 million years ago by an ancient alien race…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
Cheers!
Ah, but we’ll have to disagree, Flame. The issue is that not only do those organizations want to keep anything about God being taught in the classroom, they don’t even want to allow any MENTION of God in schools. This is actually similar to the premise of this film: Students have actually been disciplined for even mentioning God or reading their personal Bibles while at school. If students want to gather for prayer and it’s not a school-sponsored prayer they should be utterly and completely free to do so.
But of course if homosexuality, trans-gender issues or anything like that is to be covered in class, it’s a-ok. Same goes with social clubs.
That’s not separation of Church and State, that’s the State impinging on the religious rights of the public.
And I don’t know how you can think that students are better off or safer than they used to be. My wife went to a public Jr High the other day and during the lunch break they actually had armed police officers stationed in the cafeteria. Is that an indication of how great removal of God in kids’ live has worked?
On the other hand, of course you’re right, ultimately it comes down to the parents, many of which these days are unfortunately, raving idiots when it comes to how they raise (or more accurately, DON’T raise) their children. Look at how the U.S. compares to the rest of the world when it comes to academic performance in high school and below. Even third world countries are outscoring our kids.
Yeah, things are just great.
Vic
FlameStrike,
What about a moment of silence? I find nothing wrong with that, yet the opponents hated it because it was too much like prayer (even though it was silent). I understand what you are saying but I would disagree that “Removing religion from the classroom has made things better, safer, for those students“; the school system has gotten worse over the decades and I am forced to agree with Vic that removing prayer, the Ten Commandments, etc… has done a dis-service to the system. Just my opinion.
Hey Vic/John,
Can you point me to any studies that have been done showing a correlation between removal of prayer from schools and an increase in school violence? And, if so, what is the specific cause? I’m guessing that in a society where everyone has the same “moral guide” as it were, it’s much easier to keep everyone controlled and pointed in the same direction… Just thinking out loud here. I did some google searches but couldn’t find any published work on the subject. Just a Yahoo Answers page that seemed to indicate removal of prayer from schools caused a “moral vacuum”, but I didn’t cite any references. Cheers!
ps – this surely is the thread that just keeps going and going and going and…
Well Darron Scientology isn’t the focal point of life existing here before.
I’m also in the camp that believes that alien life seeded this planet eons ago.
And more than likly created us.
However this dosnt mean they wernt taking orders from a Divine being or had a Divine plan.
(IMO) intellidgent life exists so that the cosmic soul can exist in the phsycal realm.
Scirntology has nothing to do with it…..
Scirntology has nothing to do with it…..
And that’s something with which you and I can both firmly agree. =)
“[i]Christ who in His perfection is the Standard for our thoughts and our actions, the alternative to Whom is the eventual Hitlerian Abyss.[/i]
Really? Then what did people do for the thousands of years of recorded human history before your god? I hear those Egyptians had a pretty good civilization. You wouldn’t say the Greeks, upon whom we base Democracy, were in the “Hitlerian Abyss” would you? Many European countries are mostly atheistic and I don’t see them dropping into chaos and debauchery any moreso than what we see here in the U.S.A. Cheers!”
That might be debatable. God, who Christians see in Christ, is from time immemorial, and has caused the moral law to be written on mankind’s collective heart, since aeons before Christianity. The outright denial of that law, silently written on our hearts, is what will lead to the Abyss.
Anway I’ve been asked to back from from purely religious posting.. acknowledged Vic.
“Students have actually been disciplined for even mentioning God or reading their personal Bibles while at school. If students want to gather for prayer and it’s not a school-sponsored prayer they should be utterly and completely free to do so.”
On this point, I agree with you, Vic. What students do on their own is entirely different from something organized and required by the school. I have no problem with students exercising their religious freedom, just as long as the school doesn’t take part. Punishing them for doing so is very much going too far in the opposite direction.
“On the other hand, of course you’re right, ultimately it comes down to the parents, many of which these days are unfortunately, raving idiots when it comes to how they raise (or more accurately, DON’T raise) their children.”
It’s with the parents where I place all the blame for violence in schools, and the need for armed security. Parents don’t monitor what their kids watch, listen to, or do, and they don’t bother to talk to their kids about these issues. They leave their kids to learn these things from television, music and movies, and what is supposed to be simply entertainment for profit becomes much more as a result.
However, I don’t believe putting religion back in public school classrooms is the answer because of the issues I pointed out above. It would only create new targets. Religion is, and should be, a private matter, something for the parents to deal with.
Vic:
“The thing that drives me insane about the NEA and the ACLU is that they’re trying to change things from “freedom of religion” in the U.S. to “freedom from religion.”"
Spoken like a true creationist. What the ACLU (and scientists generally) are trying to do is (1)devote science classes to science (you will note that I spoke about science class, please), and (2) Prevent the government from favoring one religion over another, as required by the US Constitution. If you wish to think of this as protecting YOU from having SOMEONE ELSE’S faith crammed down the throats of your kids, fine. That’s the purpose of our legal protection.
I notice that you were VERY careful to ignore my main point, which is that the claims made in this movie are LIES. They are NOT TRUE. They are false. They are fabrications and misrepresentations. But this doesn’t seem to bother you – Stein is saying something you like to hear, so you not only don’t bother to check and find out Stein is lying to you, but when someone points it out, you decide to ignore it anyway.
I have nothing against most religious faiths. I do have something against a faith devoted to pushing falsehoods onto our children for dishonest puposes. If these were any other falsehoods than those you WISH were true, I imagine you’d notice.
Darron, LOL, yeah, this just won’t end, although I’m enjoying the debate. I don’t have time to dig up research (and that’s not a cop out). I would think it’s self evident that things have gotten worse over the last 40 years or so. Teen pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, smoking, teen violence (look at the recent youtube teen girls video), etc.
Flame, yeah parenting these days… holy cow. And when I see a parent shoving a can of Coke or an ice cream cone into the hands of a one year old I want to walk over and punch them in the face…
Vic
Flint,
We’ve had a very civil discussion here up until this point, but you are pushing it with your tone. Keep it up.
I don’t believe what is in the film are lies, especially when it comes to Hitler wanting to improve the human race.
When did I say that opponents of ID have “low moral standards”?
And I’ll point you to any Michael Moore film or Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” if you want to talk about lies and fabrication.
So if you want to continue in this conversation, back up the righteous indignation truck, bro.
Vic
I would think it’s self evident that things have gotten worse over the last 40 years or so. Teen pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, smoking, teen violence (look at the recent youtube teen girls video), etc.
Hey Vic! I was having a talk with my pops about this very thing a few months ago. I was of your opinion that “things have gotten so much worse from when “I” was a kid”, and I grew up in the 80’s! My dad laughed and just said something like, “It’s not that things are worse now; it’s that we’ve got 1000 channels of cable news, camcorders, camera phones, the internet, and a thousand other ways to hear about the things that go on in the world. Back when I was a kid in the 50’s we had 2 TV stations and one phone in the house.” He then went on to tell me about all the fights he used to get in at school; how they used to set the neighboring schools football field on fire with their schools initials; how drunk driving used to be a misdemeanor; and generally all the crazy stuff that used to take place in his time, but there was just no way that the average joe could report it except via word of mouth.
These days each household has more communications and recording device than could be found in an entire city 60 years ago! Ok, maybe I’m exxagerating there, but you get the picture. The point is; maybe things aren’t really worse, but that maybe we’re just much more capable at spreading good/bad news these days!
As an example, look at how many people have been getting information from this one little thread on some random site on the internet. It’s pretty amazing how our ability to communicate information has progressed in such a short period of time! Cheerio!
Darron, I know what you mean but the whole mass media promiscuity thing is insane right now. We have a friend who pulled their son out of private school and put them in a public high school last September. Since then he told his mom that he has had EIGHT different girls come up to him to offer him oral sex.
I guess the latest thing is that they refer to themselves as “vaginal virgins” in order to rationalize what they’re doing, offering it like free candy.
Unbelievable.
Vic
Hey Vic, that just sounds like bad parenting… or lack of parenting, on the parts of the girls. Don’t parents talk to their kids about sex these days? My parents made sure I had a good sex education and made it so it was ok to ask questions… I wish people would take more interest in their kid’s lives. Seems that it’s just easier to send them to the mall or buy them an Xbox and have someone or something else fill their time. Sad…
Exactly… it IS sad, and then who do they blame? The school system.
Vic
And a society that’s dumbed down is easier to control.
I watch what they do, not what they say……
“the school system has gotten worse over the decades and I am forced to agree with Vic that removing prayer, the Ten Commandments, etc… has done a dis-service to the system. Just my opinion.”
I respect your opinion, but the fact is that not all public school students are Christians, so the schools have to respect those students beliefs as well. Hindus, Shintos, Buddhists, and atheists may be the minority, but they don’t deserve to be victimized because they don’t believe in the Christian’s deity.
Also, I have a question: Which version of the Ten Commandments would you want posted? I understand there are actually two or three versions in the Bible.
That aside, though, I believe that you can get the lessons of those commandments across without including the religious trappings. You don’t have to refer to God to teach that it’s wrong to murder and steal. You don’t have to refer to God to teach that you should respect the rights, feeling, and property of those around you. All of that can be taught without singling out those of other, minority religions for persecution by the other kids.
The US Constitution guarantees that Congress is not allowed to establish a state-sanctioned relgion. There was never a promise to spare minorities in society from the influence of the majority. It assures that in the exercise or promotion of any religion the force of law could not be enlisted. Other than that free excercise of religion is guaranteed. What many expect from the first ammendment way exceeds this IMO.
Well, my opinion is this. If we get rid of all traces of Christianity from schools and government, then the foundations of America will be destroyed. Think about it from this point of view: America was founded on Christian moral principles. These principles have governed and led this remarkable country forward for over several centuries. If we get rid of this connection of Law=Christian Morals, what are our Law makers going to follow? Their own personal preferences?
“It assures that in the exercise or promotion of any religion the force of law could not be enlisted.”
Public schools are government funded institutions, and public school teachers are, I believe, government employees. As such, posting the Ten Commandments and having organized prayers in public schools is tantamount to state sponsorship of Christianity. All the above quote does, in my opinion, is support my argument.
“There was never a promise to spare minorities in society from the influence of the majority.”
Hey T Edward, I’m curious what you’re advocating here. What level of influence should religions have on other minority religions (or us godless heathons)? Are we talking about kneeling toward mecca and praying 5 times per day in school? Or the right to go out and prosthelize in your neighborhood? Just curious… tks!