[ExI] New documentary by Ben Stein, "Expelled"

[BillK]

On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 10:33 PM, Damien Broderick wrote:
> The deep scientific thoughts of Richard Nixon's speechwriter. Gee,
>  just what we all need.
>

The film is not officially released yet, so the usual film review
sites haven't reviewed it yet.

One of the first available, from the Orlando Sentinel, is here:
<http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2008/02/is-ben-stein-th.html>

Quotes:
Is Ben Stein the new face of Creationism?

It's a movie that uses animation, archival documentary footage,
interviews with outraged "people of science" who want ID on the table,
and "atheists" (scientists) who see all this as a step backward, all
freighted to back up the argument that it stifled "freedom" when you
refuse to consider the work of a supernatural being in America's
science classes.

ID is "creation science" is "creationism" is "God dun it." Teaching
that as something provable beyond faith in a science curriculum is a
big reason future Nobel winners will pour out of China and India, and
not Kansas. Or Florida. That's the reason a consensus of the world's
scientists fret so much over the time they have to waste on this
non-debate. Stein found a Pole and the infamous Discovery Institute to
back up his attacks, even though they offer no counter theories that
they can back up.

Expelled makes good points about academic freedom and the ways
unpopular ideas are shouted down in academia, the press and the
culture. But not offering evidence to back your side, where the burden
of proof lies, makes the movie every bit as meaningless and silly as
that transcendental metaphysical hooey of a couple of years back, What
the Bleep Do We Know?
================


BillK