Reviews, Interviews , News, Commentaries, My Top 5 Movies, Best-Of Lists, Filmmakers of Faith, Film ForumExpelled: No Intelligence Allowed
The pre-release controversy surrounding Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed didn't quite reach the fever pitch that preceded The Passion of the Christ, but it has nonetheless "bought" the filmmakers more free publicity than they ever could have afforded.
Recent weeks of hullabaloo have included:
- Film critics allegedly "crashing" private screenings
- Interview subjects claiming they were duped by filmmakers
- A prominent atheist being denied admission to a screening
- Producers suing opponents for allegedly "suppressing free speech"
- The advent of a website devoted to "exposing" Expelled
Ben Stein interviews Richard Dawkins
There's yet another comparison to the pre-Passion hype: While critics accused director Mel Gibson and his film of anti-Semitism, the filmmakers behind Expelled—and movie host Ben Stein, who is Jewish—argue that Darwin and evolutionist theory paved the way for Hitler and the Holocaust (but Scientific American begs to differ). Perhaps it's no coincidence that Motive Marketing, which is spearheading publicity for Expelled, was also in charge of PR for The Passion.
Now that the movie has hit theaters, does it live up to all the pre-game hype? Well, sort of.
On the one hand, it does accomplish what its title infers. "Expelled" refers to several college profs and scientists who were reportedly denied tenure or lost their jobs because they dared to mention Intelligent Design (ID) in the classroom, in research papers, or on the job. The film presents these cases in varying degrees of detail, but always implying that a clear injustice was done in each situation. (Christianity Today looked into at least one of the cases earlier this year—that of Guillermo Gonzalez, denied tenure at Iowa State University ostensibly due to his support of ID.)
The film's subtitle, "No Intelligence Allowed," refers to what Stein and the filmmakers decry as a lack of "academic freedom" or "open inquiry" in academia and the scientific community. The movie argues that gatekeepers in those circles aren't even allowing ID as a topic of discussion. Of course, filmmakers only depicted those situations which support their premise—the movie was made by a company called Premise Media—but ignore any cases of public school classrooms across America where ID theory is at least discussed, if not taught.
Stein considers a statue of Darwin
So, the film succeeds in making the point that Intelligent Design should at least be on the table for discussion. But if you're looking for ammunition to argue your Darwinist friends under the table, you may want to look elsewhere. While Expelled certainly leans heavily toward the ID side of the debate, it's not trying to present an airtight case, or to shut the door on evolutionary theory.
Still, Expelled was made by people—including Stein—who believe in ID, and indeed in God as Creator. There is little talk of "biblical creationism," and in general, folks in the ID camp either don't want to be perceived that way—or they simply don't buy a literal interpretation of the Genesis account. Still, ID proponents argue that the complexity of organisms—even within a single cell—points to some sort of designer, whether or not they call that designer "God."
Star Trek Into Darkness
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Lucas
Has done more to promote the cause of atheism than the combined powers of Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and Hutchens. Well-done Ben Stein, you've made it even MORE difficult to be a man of faith in our society.
Graham
Superb movie. The critics of this film have no real argument. The establishment want no alternatives to materialistic atheism presented and Ben does an admirable job exposing that fact. The critics have been vicious nasty and plain wrong. When I read so called "believers" opposing the teaching of ID it becomes ridiculous. If you believe in God at all then you DO believe in ID. The idea that you cannot be a good scientist unless you study it from an atheistic perspective is utter nonsense. The superb Jonathan well summed it up well in the film, that there is evidence of sideways change but absoloutely no evidence of less complex organisms becoming more complex.
Matt
I really enjoyed the movie. It was a shame that the clip of John Lennon's song was removed from the DVD. I felt that was a nice piece of the film. I felt this was a fair review unlike what I read on Wikipedia, which seems to be intent on destroying the film's credibility. It's not like the Wikipedia entry on Bowling for Columbine seriously scrutinized that documentary, which was completely slanted. There is a lot that people find to criticize on the film, but that's because they don't want to accept that atheism and science are related or that the Nazis believed in Darwinism. As Christians, we are to "demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God" and evolution sets itself up against the knowledge of God. The fact that these scientific people can't acknowledge the existence of a design or a Creator means the darkness covering their minds are darker than they realize. The conflict is not science, but worldview.