EXPELLED - 2008
RATED - PG for thematic material, some disturbing images and brief smoking.
RATINGS - 318 Amazon (3/5), 16,783 Netflix (3.6/5), 5,115 IMDB (3.6/10).
STARRING - Ben Stein as writer & host. Richard Dawkins, Guillermo Gonzalez and many others as themselves.
THEMES - Intelligent Design is being censored in the academic world and those who promote it are being expelled from higher education world.
STORY - First of all, Ben Stein is a talented and very smart individual. Second, there is no attempt to be unbiased in this documentary. The theme is that those who take a stand for Intelligent Design in the elite world of science and higher education are finding themselves out on the street sooner or later for their beliefs. The metaphor he uses for the science/academic world is Communist East Germany. The film flashes back and forth to Germany beginning with the building of the Berlin Wall as a symbol of academia building a wall around itself and its cherished Darwinian philosophy so that no competing theories can get in and muddy the waters. The film bounces back and forth between interviews with Intelligent Design proponents who, apparently, have lost their positions because of their beliefs, Atheistic evolutionary proponents and clips from Germany. The film moves along quickly and is entertaining, if not factual. Some might call this a 'red meat' film that plays to the ID base audience. There is very little, if any, attempt to validate the ID theory versus Darwinian evolution or to document that those 'expelled' actually lost their jobs due to prejudice. It is assumed the evolution is wrong and, in an effort to protect its turf in science and academia, it is purging the ID enemies. Ben Stein is no dummy and he has crafted a 'documentary' that 'proves' his point through some rather strong metaphors including using the Holocaust as an example of what random selection, survival of the fittest evolution leads to ultimately when it falls into the hands of someone as evil as Hitler. This is worth watching to better understand the battlefield between ID and Darwinian evolution in halls of science and academia which ultimately filter down into our schools and society. It is not the kind of film I would make if I was really wanting to start a serious conversation with those who differ with my viewpoint. Lu G. for Lus' Reviews. 10/30/2008.
LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, TRAILER.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS - I believe that Intelligent Design is the product of good science and is a valid theory, one that is actually more and more becoming acceptable in scientific and academic circles. It is hard to defend the Origin of Species as proposed by Darwin. The science is outdated and would be akin to defending a 'flat earth' today. The problem seems to me both theories have been hijacked by those wishing to prove a religious belief. The creationist viewpoint of the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam all point to ID as validating their religious faith in a Creator God. The Darwinians have been hijacked by a militant atheistic faction with spokespersons like Richard Dawkins and others. Both sides want science to do something it cannot - prove the existence or non-existence of God. I believe there is tremendous evidence for a loving Creator who is personally involved in our world and wants a personal relationship with each person through the historical person of Jesus Christ. But that does not mean ID is the proof for my faith. It is good evidence but it may give the same 'proof' to those who believe some intelligent alien force created the world. On the other side, there is a denial of the seemingly overwhelming evidence that life cannot be reduced to a simple cell that came from nothing and then through random selection and survival of the fittest got us to where we are today. Whether you go small and end up confronting DNA, the string theory, etc. or go big and encounter billions of stars and galaxies, and hundreds of events that must all be kept working together with zero tolerance for error to support life such as distance from the sun, the tilt of the earth's axis, the composition of our atmosphere, the odds are immeasurable of chance being the cause. Both sides need to follow the science and be willing to accept it for what it can and cannot do. ID is a valid theory but we should not assume that it automatically confirms our faith view as much as we might want that to be the case. Evolutionists need to follow the science, admit that legitimate science confirms there is intelligence behind the universe and not continue to claim that somehow this came out of pure chance. Those of us with religious beliefs should not force people who accept ID to accept our faith. Let's all work together and let legitimate science take us wherever it will without preconceived ideas. Science and faith are not mutually exclusive.
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