So this movie Expelled is getting some interesting attention. Some positive, some not so positive. I haven't see it yet, so I'll reserve judgement on the film, the info, and message, etc. I did see the preview and was uninspired - but then Ben Stein hasn't ever inspired me. I do have some friends who've seen it and I'm hopeful they'll comment on it. Was it filled with facts and valid data, or hype and fluff? Do the non-Christian reviewers treat it fairly, or is it being bashed for no good reason? Here is a response I got when I asked some friends if they'd seen it and if they were watching with an open mind - in case it was filled with fluff (I asked them to be cautious and not sheep!):
I went to see this movie today because I knew I would be asked about it. After reading a blazing review in the Gazette about how full of garbage it was, I went expecting it to be a “You must Believe” film made by Fundamentalists. I was both wrong and moved to think deeeeeply about the freedoms we have or don’t have in this country. I have begun to wonder over the last couple of years whether America is truly the free-est country on earth. Stein makes it a point to say that regarding science, Poland is freer than we are! Ugh!
Whereas the reviewer had made the part about Nazi Germany out to be hogwash, I found it very interesting and even frightening.
I used to be more open to the idea of Darwinism than I am today. When I viewed another Intelligent Design film that detailed what a single cell contains, it shook the evolutionary theory to the bones.
After seeing the film “Expelled”, I went to see that Yahoo reviewers had to say. After noticing that Yahoo won’t even let their reviewers review the film, I read 20-30 user reviews and found them very balanced and including agnostics, atheists and Christians, are more upset about what they deem a lack of freedom or “being told” what to think, than about the issues of evolution.
I think Ben Stein might have put his finger on something that is bothering the American people but they haven’t known how to articulate it up until now. I think we are nervous about being told what to think. I think we are fearful that we might be losing freedoms we have held dear. I could imagine that a movie like this and a follow up, could be a movie(s) that could shape the American mindset in years to come. I definitely think Ben has the potential for a “cult classic” on his hands.
I am considering having our church go to see this movie. It strikes at the heart of what I stand for, questions! I WANT PEOPLE TO THINK! I DON’T WANT PEOPLE TO SHUT OFF THEIR MINDS JUST BECAUSE THEY MIGHT BELIEVE IN JESUS OR IN GOD!
I came away from this movie being challenged to really think.
Greg
Wow - good insight and perspective. What do the rest of you think? What do Muslim's think? Jews? Hindus? Is this just a Christian topic, or do other faiths struggle with creation vs evolution?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
So, I haven't heard off or seen the movie until reading the post here.
Sounds like it may be worth viewing just because of the contorversy!!!
On a less controversial note, has anyone here seen the movie 'Baptists at our BBQ? Pretty nice piece of work, although from the mormon pov.
Very well done (chick flick) that has some good messages about tolerance and multi-faith understanding.
I haven't seen either of them, but I have seen a trailer for a new one coming out called "Fireproof". The trailer looks pretty good, about a husband and wife who've grown apart and the steps the husband takes to win her affection -- until it gets to the part where it says you can't love another person unless you have the love of God in your heart.
I'll reserve final judgement until I've seen the movie, but if the story follows the trailer's outline, then I anticipate it being typical fundamentalist propaganda that says non-believers can't be good, loving people.
I think the controversy is over whether Intelligent Design or Creationism should be given “equal time” in schools and taught along side evolution. Yet all major scientific institutions, like the National Academy of Sciences (the authority on science in the US), say “no." They contend that Intelligent Design is not really science because it doesn't follow the same rules as science.
While ID proposes that an Intelligent Agent produced certain complex features of living things, like cells, DNA, or the bacterial flagellum, ID theorists cannot explain how the Agent produced these features. ID merely describes features of living things as complex systems, but it fails to form a testable hypothesis to explain how that complexity arose. Since we don’t know how the Intelligent Agent produced complexity in nature, the theory can never ever be tested, and thus can never be falsified. If the theory cannot be falsified, then it’s not really a scientific theory and does not belong in science.
Nonetheless, an attempt was made in 2005 to introduce ID into the classroom in Dover, PA. The Dover school board was immediately sued on the grounds that ID shouldn’t be taught in school because it is not science; because it fails to follow the rules of science by not publishing in peer review journals; because it is merely another form of Biblical Creationism; and because it is inherently religious in nature – a violation of the establishment clause of the Constitution. The Judge agreed and ruled against the school board on all counts.
I think people who are aware of the controversy and all of the arguments from both sides don’t want to give ID “equal time”, not because they are zealous atheists who are out to censor others with opposing views (as Ben Stein suggests in ‘Expelled’), but because they realize that ID is nonsense. It does not belong in the science classroom.
Post a Comment