Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Rated PG
reviewed by Christopher Lyon
Ben Stein's documentary about the battle in the scientific community between Intelligent Design and Darwinian evolution is NOT a debate film. Stein mostly doesn't try to make the case for Intelligent Design (ID) or get too deeply into the science of evolution. What he wants to do is make the case that the scientific and academic establishment is freezing out legit ID scientists from participating in the conversation. And he makes that point convincingly -- especially if you were pretty sure that was true to start with.
The Story
Stein starts off with interviews of several scientists (and one journalist) who have been "expelled" from their jobs for either supporting the idea of ID -- or for giving ID a voice. The most compelling case is that of an editor at the Smithsonian who was forced to resign for allowing a qualified, peer-reviewed paper by Stephen Meyer of the Discovery Institute to appear in the pages of one of the Smithsonian's scientific journals.
Stein listens as one professor after another describes the career suicide that often comes with standing up and saying, "We should do the science to investigate the validity of ID." He also talks to professors (including one from Biola University) about why the ideas behind ID are such a significant threat to the notion of Darwinism.
Along the way, Stein talks to several well-known scientists and professors who openly mock Intelligent Design. Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion," makes his case that the scientific evidence has rendered belief in God is not only foolish, but dangerous.
Finally, Stein shows how Hitler embraced the theories of Darwin as one of his compelling reasons for exterminating the Jews and the infirm. He visits a Nazi "research hospital" and a concentration camp to make his points.
The Verdict
What Works: Secular critics are hating on "Expelled." And, honestly, unless one agrees with Stein's POV on this divisive issue, he's not likely to love the film. While I didn't dig everything about his approach (see below), Stein ultimately succeeds in making his main point. I think anyone who watches the film with an open mind will have a hard time denying that the Darwinists in control of the "scientific establishment" are squelching academic freedom at many levels. Professors who understand the scientific evidence to show that Darwinism is flawed or that a designer is required for life to exist are often pressured to keep their mouths shut -- or else.
I also enjoyed Stein's globe-hopping approach to interview some of the best and brightest minds on both sides of this debate in their own home towns and institutions. In fact, I wish we could have heard more from Steven Meyers, Dawkins, and others...
What Doesn't Work: . . . with less interruption by those cheesy black-and-white "old movie" clips. I understand why they're in the movie. It's visually boring to just look at a string of talking heads for 90 minutes. Still, do we need old school images of bullies beating up weaker kids, soldiers marching in lock-step, and monkeys to drive home what the speakers are saying? It feels amateurish and ham-fisted.
In fact, Stein uses lots of techniques I associate with Michael Moore's watchable-but-ridiculous "documentaries." Like Moore, he weakens the strength of his own arguments by using hyperbole, fake document graphics, and manipulations of tone, lighting, and music to create heroes and villains. He may have won a few people over with a lighter touch.
For example: Stein spends a chunk of the film examining the link between Darwin and Hitler. As a Jew himself, it's hard to discount Stein's emotional reaction. And I think there's a valid question on the table about Darwin's views on the "survival of the fittest" and the value of human life, especially the handicapped, the old, and the unproductive. But Stein comes close, at least in tone, to placing evolutionists who discount ID in the same camp with Nazis. That harshness makes it tough to be heard on the other side.
Content: You'll hear a little swearing in the film, and you'll see some disturbing images of bodies piled at a Nazi concentration camp.
Worldview
"Expelled" is all about a clash of worldviews. It shows how worldview bias is making a mockery of the idea that "organized science" in this country is objective. Academic science is controlled by people with a materialist worldview. They are committed to the idea that "real science" must be built on a foundation that rejects the supernatural as a cause for anything. That eliminates a "non-material" designer. And that worldview is fine -- unless there is a designer, unless there's a God who works through the supernatural. Then that worldview breaks and leads to lots of flawed scientific conclusions.Over the last few years, several atheists and agnostics have become more bold in declaring that God does not exist and that those who believe He does are fools. Some see this as a lack of civility, but I like it. I'd rather know what someone really believes, polite or not. Even in science, you cannot separate bias from your conclusions about the facts. And Stein's film illustrates how bias is running the show in most of the scientific community.
As Bible-believing Christians, we are convinced that God created all life. Here's my bias: I'm going to believe that no matter what. Faith in God as revealed in His Word is my first commitment. Because I'm so convinced, I believe that a thorough and free study of the scientific evidence will, in fact, eventually reveal that a designer is necessary for life to exist.
Here's atheist Richard Dawkins' worldview: He is convinced that there is no God. Period. Can't be. He would like you to believe that his "liberating" non-faith is based on the scientific evidence alone. I don't buy that. He says himself in the film that nobody knows how the first cell came to life, that maybe it was planted here by some alien intelligence, but even that intelligence would have had to come about by natural processes. I think Dawkins (and others) looked at the evidence and made a choice about what to believe because it was what they wanted to believe. He calls us deluded fools for believing in God.
The Bible is equally harsh. It calls Dawkins a fool for not believing in God. (Psalm 14:1) Dawkins points to the false faith of organized religion for many of the world's ills. God's Word points to the false faith of those who reject God as the cause for the downfall of every civilization. (Romans 1:18-31)
To find out more about "Expelled," check out the movie's web official web site here: http://www.getexpelled.com/
Questions:
- What did you think of "Expelled" as a film? What did you think of the points Stein made in the film?
- Which scientists made the best case for their point of view? Were you shocked or surprised by anything in the film?
- Do you think the movie has the potential to change anyone's mind on these issues -- or is it more likely to just confirm what people already believe?
- Do you think there is a bias against Intelligent Design in the scientific and academic communities? How is that issue talked about at your school?
- Do you think it is possible to be completely objective as a scientist? To "do good science," do you have to come from a perspective of a completely materialist view of the world? Why or why not?
- Do you think its fair for colleges and institutions to fire scientists based on their support of ID? Why or why not?