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Charles Darwin's earth-shattering 1859 thesis The Origin of Species has a new challenge in the intriguing 2008 documentary film by Ben Stein, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This film is one of the many voices now challenging Darwin's hypotheses about the evolution of life. In the balance are serious issues. Is there visible evidence of intelligent design (ID) by a divine creator who has a purpose for His creation?
I found the presentation to be captivating. It shows Stein traveling around
the United States, Europe and even the Galapagos Islands where Darwin's
evolutionary theory had its genesis. The travelogue and interviews draw
you into the reality of discrimination. Anyone who believes in any form
of ID or religious explanation of creation is ridiculed or even ostracized.
Stein's use of the Berlin Wall as a metaphor for what is happening in the scientific community is thought-provoking, if not a little dramatic. As the film concludes, the candid interviews and on-the-spot reflections make clear there is a serious war going on to minimize religion and, in particular, the impact of a divine creator.
What I appreciated is the clarity Stein provides. He draws out the tension surrounding this topic during his many interviews. There is an obvious struggle going on, with many in the science field staunchly opposed to ID. The common worldview among strict evolutionists rejects design as incompatible with the undirected process of nature. Many in the academic world resist ideas that focus on "purpose," "intentionality" and "why."
Stein takes on Richard Dawkins, author of many books on Darwinism and proponent of evolution. Toward the end of the presentation, Stein gets Dawkins to agree that some form of ID could have started life, only to hear Dawkins backpedal and muddle his logic thereafter.
Stein interviews people in the scientific community, including college professors and those writing papers promoting science. As the movie most powerfully spotlights, the bias of Darwin's concepts in the scientific community leaves no room for any mention of intelligent design or the possibility that creation was purposeful and meaningful. The refusal of some to even allow for this discussion assumes that evolution is, indeed, a fact. If you don't accept this theory, you could be held back from some opportunities—especially in the academic world.
Stein also includes his own personal journey as a Jewish man, connecting the radical Nazi extermination camps of World War II with Darwinism. He visits some of the places where hundreds of lives were taken in the name of science and explores euthanasia, the purposeful killing of those who are considered unfit to live.
A sobering yet educational film, Expelled is worth watching and pondering. It is easy to assume that institutions of higher learning are always accurate—truthfully expanding our knowledge base in important fields of study. Science, it would seem, should be the most unbiased field since it's supposed to be based simply on evidence. Stein shows this is not always the case. You can be fired for believing that an intelligent Being is directing the course of events. Believe the truth anyway. VT
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