Colorado Springs Independent: Lies, damned lies and "intelligent design'

By PvM

expelled movie exposedLies, damned lies and “intelligent design’

It’s nuttiness right from the opening moments of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Images of Nazi atrocities and the terrors of life behind the Berlin Wall are smugly deployed in an attempt to editorialize away basic scientific fact. In a saner universe, you could scoff at Stein and not give his nonsense another thought. But we don’t live in that universe. We live here, where the religious insecurity of a scientifically illiterate populace is being twisted by people who certainly know better.

Pointing out that Ben Stein, like Mathis, lacks the intellectual background to effectively critique evolutionary science, or defend Intelligent Design musing:

Since Stein is unable to adequately critique evolutionary science, he resorts to a kind of name-calling that is purposely designed to mislead his audience. He constantly refers to those who accept evolution as “Darwinists,” which is akin to referring to quantum physicists as “Newtonians” or “Copernicans.” He does this even though one of his own ID proponents notes that biological science has moved on from Darwin just as physical science has moved on from Newton.

All pretense that the “competing theory” Stein champions is not Judeo-Christian Creationism is put to rest, too. The (supposed) scientists interviewed here who support intelligent design make no mention of who an “intelligent designer” might be. Yet Stein wastes no time in focusing on a particular and narrow idea of who that designer must be.

And finally, the realization that ID is all about “God”

Nope; wrong designer for Stein and his audience. If ID isn’t about “God” as defined by Stein, then why does Stein believe he has impeached the honor and professionalism of scientist Richard Dawkins when Dawkins admits that he’s an atheist (as if it were a secret)?

Expelled isn’t about “intelligent design,” about an alternative scientific theory, or even about academic freedom. It’s about Stein believing he has proven that acceptance of evolution leads to atheism (and also, we’re told, to such horrors as birth control). Hence, evolution cannot be allowed to be true. Even if it is.