A review of
"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" (opening in theaters April 18)
By J. Matt
Barber
April 7,
2008 (LifeSiteNews.com/CWA) - There's a shakeup in the cult of neo-Darwinist
pseudo-science, and that endearing, monotone high school teacher of
"Ferris Bueller" fame is doing the shaking.
With his
new feature documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" (opening
in theaters April 18), Ben Stein - actor, economist, presidential speechwriter
and all around really smart guy - squares off with some of the world's most
prominent anti-theist elites as he gets to the heart of the question, "Who
are we, and how did we get here?"
This is not
your father's documentary. "Expelled" rocks the house both literally
and figuratively. It's gripping, music-packed, comically wry and always
entertaining. But its entertainment value is yet surpassed by its educational
merit. Throughout the film, Stein boldly shines a light of honest inquiry,
revealing time and again that Evolution's Emperor has no clothes. In his
trademark deadpan fashion, Stein skillfully debunks the dogmatic neo-Darwinist
programming we've all had relentlessly rammed down our throats ever since
"Big Science" went bananas over that cute little Scopes Monkey.
Unlike
Michael Moore's anti-Bush propaganda flick "Fahrenheit 911" - which
sold us a lemon with deceptive editing techniques and staged confrontations -
"Expelled" is intellectually honest, cerebrally stimulating and
delectably provocative.
Nonetheless,
there are those who won't like it, not one little bit.
Enter
Richard Dawkins. Dawkins, a prominent evolutionist, outspoken atheist and the
best-selling author of "The God Delusion," is featured throughout the
film. In one segment, he sits down with Stein for a heart-to-heart. After dancing
around several pointed questions about how life began, Dawkins finds himself at
a logical impasse with no surplus of sci-fi rhetoric.
He's
finally forced to concede that, indeed, an intelligent being may have created
life on earth. However, that being could not have been "God," but
rather, it must have been some organic, alien life form. Of course, that alien
life form has to have been a product of "Darwinian evolution."
Through
tears of wild laughter, audience members watch as Dawkins - apparently grasping
the dizzying nature of his own circular argument - turns three shades of red
and becomes purply tight-lipped.
Dawkins? …
Dawkins? …
But apart
from space aliens, the general consensus among the evolutionary scientists
interviewed was that all life, including human life, likely began when
lightening struck a mud puddle (you know, like Frankenstein but without all the
prefab body parts). This was then followed by a series of unexplainable,
unprovable and totally random events that occurred over umpteen million years,
eventually resulting in … you.
Although
"Expelled" indirectly makes a strong case for the scientific theory
of intelligent design, its primary message drives home the need for academic
freedom, intellectual honesty and open debate on all scientific fronts.
As the
movie masterfully illustrates, we live in a cultural climate where secular
elitists in academia, the media and the courts chew up and spit out anyone who
dares to question the gospel according to Charles Darwin. They're absolutely
terrified to follow the scientific evidence wherever it may lead.
They don't
want to upset the morally relative applecart, which is loosely held together by
the notion that we're all just a bunch of monkeys with an instinctive,
biological excuse for all our behavioral choices. To them, life's a whole lot
easier under the theory of evolution. Without a sovereign Creator to answer to,
we get to scoot along and party hearty, free from accountability.
Consequently,
it's no wonder "Expelled" has Darwin's disciples scurrying for the
shadows. Those secular humanist one-trick-ponies in the media, throughout
academia, on the blogosphere and elsewhere are in full damage control. They're
doing everything possible to discredit the film before it even opens. It's even
been reported that two major networks are refusing to cover the movie (Gotta
love that journalistic objectivity).
So, if you
happen to be one of those evolutionary fundamentalists who were "randomly
selected" to evolve with a built-in blindfold and earplugs, and you're
comfy with your very limited worldview, be afraid of this film - be very
afraid. However, if you're willing to have your eyes opened and are interested
in looking at all the evidence, then suck it up, wipe away that Darwinian
Kool-Aid mustache and hang out with Ben Stein for a night. What do you have to
lose?
For
everyone else, "Expelled" is a must-see. If you're already a person
of faith, prepare to have your faith strengthened. And even if you're not, you
can't possibly walk away without at least admitting that the debate over who we
are and how we got here is far from over.
So hold on
to your hat. "Expelled" is nothing short of earthshaking. And, as the
scientific community clearly recognizes, its tremors may be felt for some years
to come.
Matt Barber
is one of the "like-minded men" with Concerned Women for America. He
is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law and serves as CWA's policy
director for cultural issues.
By Hilary White
August 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "If you have questioned Darwinism,
that's it, your career is over."
"I was viewed as an intellectual terrorist."
"I have been told to shut up."
The quotes come from interviews with research scientists featured in a new
film, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," starring the New York
writer and intellectual Ben Stein. The film, set for release in February 2008,
documents the crushing of any investigation or questioning of materialist
Darwinism that is the orthodox position of most of the scientific
establishment.
In the trailer for "Expelled", Stein is seen addressing an audience
saying, "There are people out there who want to keep science in a little
box, where it can't possibly touch God…Scientists are not allowed to even think
thoughts that involve an intelligent creator."
A PRNewswire release says that Stein, a lawyer, economist, former presidential
speechwriter, author and social commentator, was "stunned" when he
investigated the debate surrounding Intelligent Design theory and Darwinism.
Stein uncovers what he says is an elitist scientific establishment that
actively suppresses any research that may lead to questioning of the accepted
Darwinian theory.
The film features interviews with scientists and thinkers including biologists,
astronomers, chemists and philosophers who have had their ideas suppressed for
questioning adherence to the materialist theory.
"Big Science in this area of biology has lost its way," says Stein.
"Scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it
may lead, no matter what the implications are. Freedom of inquiry has been
greatly compromised, and this is not only anti-American, it's anti-science. Its
anti-the whole concept of learning."
Stein writes that the Darwinian orthodoxy in science is as dangerous
politically as it is antithetical to free scientific inquiry.
"America is not America without freedom," he writes. "Human
beings are supposed to live in a state of freedom. Freedom is not conferred by
the state: as our founders said, and as Martin Luther King repeated, freedom is
God-given."
"A huge part of this freedom is freedom of inquiry."