Expelled and the Non-Believers

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?

Can’t we just agree to disagree?

No! That’s the resounding answer I tend to get from friends, family (oh man do I get it from the family), newscasters, religious leaders, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindu’s, Scientologists, sports fans, etc. We can’t both have an opinion that’s valid. I’m right and you’re wrong! Bill O’Reilly thinks so. Keith Olberman thinks so. Sean Hannity thinks so. Pat Robertson thinks so. Mugabe thinks so. Al-Sadr thinks so. Kim Jong-il thinks so. Red Sox fans, Yankees fans, Red State / Blue State people, Obama, Clinton, McCain – they all think so. They’re right and if you don’t agree you’re wrong. There is no dialogue – just debate.

In America, at some point during this century, we went from being able to have healthy dialogues to having debates. People feel the need to have to prove themselves right, many times by beating someone down. If I hear someone’s opinion it’s not just good enough for me to understand it, I have to agree with them. If I don’t agree I’m not intelligent. Or I’m close minded. Or I’m uninformed. Maybe they turn up the decibel levels of the conversation. Maybe they get emotional with me. Maybe they decide to talk about me behind my back. When did this happen? Why can’t opinions be different and both be correct? They are opinions after all.

I started this blog as a way to get dialogue going about my brother the Atheists book. Some of the anecdotal feedback has been good: “thanks for letting me know about your brother the Atheists book”; “interesting questions your brother the Atheist is raising”; “good insight into the wackiness that is organized religion – thanks for posting it”. However some has been confusing: “Why are you so angry about your brother the Atheists book?”; “why is your brother the Atheist so angry with your blog?”; “why can’t you see that’s he’s right and you’re wrong?”

Lets get this down in print right now – I’m not angry about the book! I’m not angry with my brother the Atheist! Heck – I want him to sell a million copies, write another book, sell another million copies, get on Oprah and decide to share some of the wealth with me (if he doesn’t share the wealth I’ll be forced to tell all of those embarrassing stories related to bed wetting, fear of spiders, experimentation with cross dressing, etc…. whoops, maybe I just did!). He and I are great friends – at least from my point of view. We travel together, our wives are close friends, we do business together, we make each other laugh, we talk regularly. I don’t think our relationship has changed at all over the past several months/years. The book was not a surprise to me, nor was it a surprise that my brother is an Atheist. He and I have talked about this since we were teens. And for all of my close minded readers, I’m not going to have an issue with his beliefs – sorry. It’s his decision to believe what he wants to. It’s a well informed decision.

Now, hopefully everyone is on the same page here. It’s ok to be different, to like different things, to believe differently. Here are some of the things I believe:

I believe in global warming (sorry Dad) and that it’s our responsibility to help the planet. I believe that Obama would make a better president than either McCain or Clinton. I think Rush, O’Reilly, Hannity, etc are all full of crap and tend to lie or embellish to get their points across. The same goes for Al Franken who’s the same as Rush only left leaning. I think Pat Robertson and Dr. Dobson should retire before they open their mouths the next time. I don’t believe there’s any news agency that’s not biased, and therefore everyone should watch / read multiple sources (not all conservative or all liberal) to get a true picture of what’s going on out there. I disagree with the war in Iraq. I don’t think we should have gone to war in Vietnam. I think ice cream is disgusting. New born puppies smell nicer than new born babies. U2 and REM are the greatest bands of this and most other generations. Dave Mathews Band is overrated. Tequila is the greatest drink invented, next to a Flaming Moe. Baseball on TV sucks. The NCAA tournament is the greatest sporting event in the world. Popeye’s fried chicken is proof of a god. Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino are mailing it in during the late stages of their careers. The Office is currently the best show on TV. Reality TV sucks (all of it) and dumbs’ down all of us. The electric car was a great idea killed by big auto and the government. Frank Caliendo is not funny. The band of gold in the song is a wedding ring.

If you don’t agree with my opinion, ok. Tell me why. Post a comment. I won’t get mad. I might not agree with you… and that’s OK. So what? It’s just my opinion, right?

The Devil made you do it

Chapter 3 of my brother the Atheists book starts with a discussion of the cop out a lot of people in the world take when it comes to personal responsibility. “I sinned because Satan deceived me”; “I killed that group of Jewish people to fulfill my jihad as outlined by Mohammed”; “I shot at those Muslim’s because they’re on land given to me by God”; “I decided to molest those boys because that’s what I learned in Catholic school”. Ok, that last one was a cheap shot – I might want to leave the cheap shots to my brother the Atheist. But you get the point. Do we really do things without knowing we’re doing it? When I lie, is it really a surprise to me? What about when I commit another sin? If someone cheats on their diet is it because they didn’t have self control, or did some other worldly being temp them? I’m one who believes people make their own decisions – right or wrong. For Christians it’s called free will. For everyone it’s called having a brain and thinking for yourself. Even if someone tells you to do something, you still have to act. His chapter on this starts light and funny, and then gets into a scary story related to why he wrote the book in the first place. It’s an awesome example of misguided Christianity, or a person deciding to justify their behavior by blaming Satan. C’mon, do these people really still exist? I guess so. When I think about it we all probably do it to some degree – it’s a form of self defense so we don’t have to admit that we’re basically evil beings on this planet with our own agenda’s. No matter how hard we try we’re still sinful beings.

Why No Cartoons of Mohammad or Allah?

In my brother the Atheist’s book, “the why do I have toenails?” he’s got several pithy comments about Christianity. He’s got quite a few cartoons about old and new testament historical figures and stories. But in all of his discussions he doesn't bother to take on Islam – not even one cartoon making light of the extremists he’s concerned about. I find it interesting that while he’s railing on all things Christian, he skips Muslim’s completely. Heck, the Dane’s published a cartoon of Mohammad (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=12146&offer=&hidebodyad=true), and several newspapers got together to defend the artist. If all religions are dangerous, as stated in his book, then why not take on the Muslim’s that are touting fear and killing based on their religious beliefs? Mock Mohammad! Question the church leaders in Muslim countries for not stopping the madness! Ask hard questions about why they believe that Mohammad had a vision, the way he asks how anyone can believe that Joseph Smith had a vision. Why leave this large (and growing) religion off the table? I’m OK with asking questions, questioning beliefs, and disagreeing with my beliefs. But the more I dig into this book the more I think the subtitle should be “How to be the best non-Christian you can be”, vs “How to be the best Atheist you can be”.

And since we’re asking the question about Muslim’s, what about Scientologist's and L. Ron Hubbard? He was a wacky sci-fi writer who came up with a religion on his own. Something about space ships coming to earth and dropping people off near a volcano (sorry to paraphrase, but you can visit http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/what-cos.htm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology for more details). Doesn't this sound like something you can really make fun of? South Park mocked them quite a bit (one of my brother the Atheists favorite shows). I’m sure other people have taken shots at them. But not this book. Why?

So after rereading the first couple of chapters I'm starting to conclude that my brother the Atheist might not believe in any supreme being, but he's really mad at Christianity. I'll need to look deeper into this as I read and talk to him, to gauge what this is all about. Although it's reminding me of the anger some people felt when George Bush was elected last time - there was this weird anger at all republicans and people who voted for him. Not disappointment in not having John Kerry win, or frustration with the process, but an out and out anger at people (including little George) over the results. Is there a link here, or is this a coincidence?

Mohamed Bashing?

I'm not an expert on religion at all - but I do know that around the world when Mohamed is disparaged or even drawn in a political cartoon, there tends to be serious repercussions. However, is this response true in other faiths? If I draw a cartoon making fun of Vishnu, do Hindu's come looking for me? I know when people speak ill of Jesus it bothers me, but not to the point of jihad. So what's the deal? If Mohamed sacred to the point of killing other human beings? What about Alla? What about the other prophets in Islam? Is it just the one guy, or all guys are untouchable when it comes to humor? The Simpson's make fun of all faiths - except Islam. The same with South Park. Is it because if they cross the line and depict Mohamed in a negative or humorous light a jihad will be declared on them and their families? Can we have firm political discussions about faith without it leading to violence? For example, if I believe that Christianity is the true faith, and have this discussion with a Muslim, is he expected to get violent if I think Mohamed was just a guy vs something more? Man, getting clarity on this would help go a long way to preventing my Brother the Atheist from getting killed for things he's putting in his book about Islam and Mohamed...

What is an Atheist?

Here is the definition from dictionary.com:

a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.

—Synonyms: Atheist, agnostic, infidel, skeptic refer to persons not inclined toward religious belief or a particular form of religious belief. An atheist is one who denies the existence of a deity or of divine beings. An agnostic is one who believes it impossible to know anything about God or about the creation of the universe and refrains from commitment to any religious doctrine. Infidel means an unbeliever, especially a nonbeliever in Islam or Christianity. A skeptic doubts and is critical of all accepted doctrines and creeds.

Hmmm - sounds like my brother. Do you know anyone like this? Is this definition accurate?