I watched Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed last night, discussing the scientific and academic boundaries levied against the theory of intelligent design. I must say outright, that this documentary was very well done.
The film begins with about half a dozen interviews with extremely well qualified professors at prestigious universities who lost their jobs for simply entering the idea of intelligent design into research. None of the interviewed professors sided with the idea of intelligent design or had any overt affiliation to religious systems. They simply wished to enter the hypothesis in along side other valid hypotheses. That clearly didn’t work.
Through the course of the film, a great prejudice is exposed in the academic and scientific community. After many interviews, the viewer will be convinced that the evolution theory, while scientifically plausible, is not as rock solid as we are led to believe. A fight against evolution, however, is neither the point nor the strength of this documentary. The intention is to expose the deteriorating freedom of inquiry in American academia. All inquiry is permitted up until the suggestion of a higher power or creator. Many scientists, including well known Richard Dawkins, prefer the explanation that “aliens” did it, rather than suggesting the possibility that a god was responsible.
Throughout the film, the Berlin Wall is used as a metaphor for these problems we face today; a poignant choice, considering the immediate effects of the Berlin Wall. Along the same line of thought, the film also guides the viewer through some of the philosophical implications of limiting this freedom of inquiry: eugenics, to Nazism and so on.
The film concludes with a truly brilliant, telling and climactic interview between Ben Stein and Richard Dawkins that I really couldn’t do justice to.
The temptation for many Christians in watching this film will be to respond in a gung-ho manner with a “see, I told you so” attitude. While the film should be an encouragement against the onslaught of flimsy, but loud, scientific study, this movie is not waiving any kind of Jesus banner (let’s remember that Ben Stein is a practicing Jew). The point of the movie is not religious, it’s sociological. It’s not about proving Christianity, Judaism or Islam or any other deity based religion right, it’s about challenging the current status quo; religion is scientifically unconfirmed, but so is Darwinism.
Many of the reviews you read for this film are either going to absolutely love it, or absolutely hate it (just look on IMDB). For me, that is somewhat telling. Many will call this movie a “propaganda piece”, although that didn’t seem to evident in the film. I highly recommend everyone get out to see this movie, or rent it when it hits DVD. I believe it will either stand as an encouragement to your faith, or challenge the scientific community and their megaphone.
Tags: academics, Ben Stein, darwin, evolution, expelled, intelligent design, movie review, no intelligence allowed, richard dawkins, science
