REViewed - EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed

Ben Stein is EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed.

After a couple of people mentioned this movie, I decided to take Mrs. Rev with me to view it yesterday.  If you haven’t heard about it, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, is a controversial documentary movie, hosted (somewhat mysteriously) by Ben Stein.  The movie refers to several college professors and scientists who were allegedly denied tenure or lost their jobs because they dared to refer to “Intelligent Design (ID).”  (They were… “expelled” – that’s the premise of the film.)

The film decries a lack of freedom or open inquiry in the academic and scientific communities and argues that the gatekeepers in these circles refuse to even allow discussion of ID.  This refusal is allegorized as a “wall” and even literally compared with the Berlin Wall…that obviously needed to come down!  The film also asserts that the ruling scientific theory regarding origins is Darwinian evolution and that no other option has any level of acceptance among the scientific elite in the world.  In an effort to be balanced, the film includes interviews with some leading proponents of Darwinian evolution, atheists (most notoriously, Richard Dawkins), non-religious proponents of ID, Christian scientists, and non-Christian scientists.

There is little talk in the movie of Biblical creationism, and you get the idea that the scientists interviewed in the film are not arguing implicitly or explicitly for that.  Rather, that the complexity of organisms, even within a single cell, points to some sort of “designer,” whether or not that “designer” is God = INTELLIGENT DESIGN.

Among the more controversial elements in the film, is the link Stein alleges between Hitler’s Nazism and Darwinism.  Visits to Dachau and to a WW II German medical facility that exterminated and experimented with “disabled”  (“defective”) humans, were particularly gut-wrenching.  “Eugenics” is another controversial element – the idea that humans should breed from strength rather than from weakness.  This led to a brief reference to the founding of “Planned Parenthood,” as well.  I’m sure critics of the film will jump all over the idea that Nazi exterminations, eugenics, or Planned Parenthood was spawned by belief in Darwinian evolution.

One of my favorite parts of the movie was appearances by Oxford Mathematician, John Lennox.  Jan and I have had the privilege of meeting and hearing John speak at the past two Ravi Zacharias Conferences we attended.  He’s brilliant.  He is a world-class scientist.  As a bonus, his insight into the Word of God is stellar.  Alistair McGrath also had a cameo segment.  The movie was not ostensibly Christian, but the inclusion of these two men and a visit to the campus of BIOLA University made an obvious link to the Christian worldview regarding human origins.

SIDEBAR -John Lennox had a most insightful moment in the film where he mentioned the common (mis)perception that science comes first, and then, one’s worldview.  I’m not directly quoting, but the general idea was that he proposed the exact opposite may be closer to the truth – that worldview comes first, and then one’s scientific inquiry – shaped by the worldview.  If you see the film, you will know why this is such an important assertion.

Despite the controversy and the allegations that ID is simply Biblical creationism in a cheap tuxedo, I believe “Expelled” is an important film that will generate valuable discussions about human origins.  To no one’s surprise, I admit that I believe in Intelligent Design, and that THE Designer is the true and Living God.  Whether or not you agree, I hope that you would agree that we should be intellectually free to discuss it, research it, and consider it as one of the possible scientific options.

Comments

[darron s]

Hey there! I haven't actually seen the movie yet, but I'm considering going this weekend. I'm curious, did Stein or the pro-ID scientists offer up any kind of evidence supporting ID, or was the main focus of the movie on discounting Evolution via Natural Selection? I've heard a lot of reviewers talking about Evolution/Darwinism linked to Nazism and such, but I haven't heard of anyone talk of making a case for ID scientifically, which really should be the focus of the film right? Just curious, tks!

[chris]

Amen, I've been through some medical training in college at one time and have watched The Case For Creation by Lee Strobel and it's undeniably creation and intelligent design.I don't see or understand how men can believe any other.

Romans 1:18-20

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,since what may be known about God is plain to them.For since the creation of the world God's invisable qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen,being understood from what has been made,so that men are without excuse."