what the hell is this crap
Posted on: August 22, 2007 - 2:03pm
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what the hell is this crap
http://www.expelledthemovie.com/
Ben Stein starring in a movie about how the mean old Darwinians are persecuting the Intelligent Design advocates by demanding that they actually do science. They're going to talk to all kinds of people whose careers have been destroyed by those evil Darwinians! People like... well, IDers have never really managed to make a list, but I'm sure it's really big.
Götter sind für Arten, die sich selbst verraten -- in den Glauben flüchten um sich hinzurichten. Menschen brauchen Götter um sich zu verletzen, um sich zu vernichten -- das sind wir.
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Wow...... that's pretty sad.
What's even sadder is I used to be a big fan of Ben Stein, especially when he had his game show. I know he has always been pretty conservative but I was able to ignore that so I could enjoy the game show. Unfortunately.... I am sure this project is right up his alley.
My goodness that trailer is so annoying with that guitar riff being played over and over again. Apparently the premise of this documentary is in the realm of "Did we land on the moon", "Spare Change" and other nonsense which tries to portray misinformation as fact.
Of course universities and scientific institutions discriminate, that's why science does. If a person makes a claim and can't back it up with research then it is rejected. Creationists can't present any science to support their myth so they aren't published. Universities have the old saying, "publish or perish" and that's what happens to creationists.
Why should the rules be any different for creationists? We give special treatment to retarded people so the creationists are just demanding that we treat them like retards. Well, that sounds fair enough.
Apparently we can leave comments so feel free to flood their blog with the reality of the situation.
http://expelledthemovie.com/blog/2007/08/21/bens-blog/#comment-22Hey, PZ Myers is gonna be in it! I'm sure the producers were totally honest about their motives when they asked to interview him... or not.
Götter sind für Arten, die sich selbst verraten -- in den Glauben flüchten um sich hinzurichten. Menschen brauchen Götter um sich zu verletzen, um sich zu vernichten -- das sind wir.
Stein graduated from Yale Law, which immediately makes his suspect. Then, he worked for Nixon and Ford. I should be little surprised by anything he does.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
I guess it's easier to focus on the "controversy" than to try explaining the "science" of "goddidit." Do they really think every popular misconception deserves equal time? Why not teach about Nessie?
Of course scientists are allowed to question Darwin, science is about questioning what we know as much as it is about discovery. But as has been said, you have to present a solid argument. This movie looks like a silo of pig crap (which reminds me of a rather good movie I saw recently).
Atheist Books
I posted a comment, it's awaiting approval by a moderator.
What do you think my chances are?
Oh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
Probably as good as mine. It appears my comment and many other pro-science comments were permitted. Looks like the mockumentary was debunked even before it aired.
Wow, they actually allowed those (including mine) to be posted. I'm impressed.
Naturally the creationists have started to defend it. Many of them accusing us of being closed-minded. That really hurts coming from someone who would never question their literal interpretation of the bible, no matter how much evidence they get.
Oh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
The only example of someone being run out on a rail by the "evil Darwinians" that I can think of off the top of my head would be Dembski. Which brings me back to the broadway musical "Chicago."
He had it comin'
He had it comin'
He only had himself to blame
If you'da been there
If you'da seen it
I betcha you would have done the same...
Er, when did this happen?
Götter sind für Arten, die sich selbst verraten -- in den Glauben flüchten um sich hinzurichten. Menschen brauchen Götter um sich zu verletzen, um sich zu vernichten -- das sind wir.
It doesn't have a page on IMDB. Interesting.
Here's PZ Myers' take on the film:
You have got to be kidding me
In Creationism
Come February, we are going to be privileged to see a brand new movie that stars Ben Stein and portrays Intelligent Design creationism as the cool rebel oppressed by the stodgy old Darwinist bullies. Did you know that "scientists are not allowed to even think thoughts that involve an intelligent creator"? I didn't either. I think a lot of scientists have thought about it and noticed that there is no evidence for such a hypothesis, and have therefore rejected it.
This movie fits with the intelligent design strategy of declaring itself the victim of an unfair exclusion (which isn't true, of course: they haven't ponied up the science that would legitimize them), but interestingly, its central theme seems to be that Big Science has excluded god from the classroom and the lab … it's a raw demand for a violation of the separation of church and state and for the inclusion of superstitious dogma in science. That's very convenient. It'll make it easier to use the courts to keep their religious propaganda out of the classroom.
Oh, and putting Ben Stein in short pants and playing "Bad to the Bone" does not make him a rebel. He's a Republican apologist, and he's not "cool" at all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dembski#Baylor_University_controversy
Ah, Baylor. It's funny, because Dembski actually got pretty much what he wanted, made the university look bad by gloating, and then the president of the college -- who was a Baptist and sympathetic to ID -- asked him to take back the press release, which Dembski called McCarthyism. I can't really see what the evil Darwinians did other than oppose Dembski: he got to keep his ID center despite their complaints, and the only reason he got booted was because even the ID-friendly president thought he was being unpleasant.
Götter sind für Arten, die sich selbst verraten -- in den Glauben flüchten um sich hinzurichten. Menschen brauchen Götter um sich zu verletzen, um sich zu vernichten -- das sind wir.
Has anyone else noticed the release date?
February 12. Darwin's birthday.
I see what they did there.
Good night, funny man, and thanks for the laughter.
Wonderful film. I bet you can get a discount from Amazon if you buy it together with "The God who wasn't there"
In Joshua, I don't remember what passage, the sun and the Moon were fixed in the sky allowing Joshua to finish the battle. Someone should use this passage to go to NASA and tell them that they're feeding the people misinformation by saying the Earth revolves around the sun. If he gets kicked out of there, hey, Ben Stein might be able to make a second stupid documentary about the poor ID being repressed.
There's so much wrong with the premise. Intelligent design is neither smart nor new, and neither should science be bastardized to include unfounded speculation. ID/creationism is simply a rationalization; an attempt to formalize a "god of the gaps"; to dress religion is pseudo-scientific jargon.
Ben is promoting the movie on FOX and making an ass of himself at the same time.
From PZ Myers again:
Any conservative can make an ass of themselves on Fox: Ben Stein gets crazy
Category: Kooks
Posted on: September 1, 2007 6:46 PM, by PZ Myers
Ben Stein is making a new movie (Expelled, have you heard of it?) that's supposed to be out in February, but right now he's building the excitement by making television appearances and demonstrating that he is a raving lunatic. Yeah, this is exactly the guy I want as the spokesman for Intelligent Design creationism.
He's defending Larry Craig. It's promisingly incoherent, and here are his arguments, more or less in the order babbled.
He's upset that the police arrested an Idaho senator when they're supposed to be busy chasing Al Quaeda. What is it with these wingnuts? We're supposed to suspend law and order while they look for Muslim terrorists hiding under the beds? I think I'll go rob a bank, and when the police show up I'll chide them for neglecting their duties in protecting the citizens of Morris from the jihad.
All he did was tap his foot. Yeah, right, OK. And gesture, and confess. And all Florida representative Bob Allen did was ask for sex, he didn't actually fellate a police officer.
Gestapo, gestapo, gestapo, gestapo, gestapo. I call Godwin! Gestapo.
Homosexuality is not illegal. This is true and as it should be, but this is coming from the fellow who sneered at the Democrats as the party of homosexuals, and equated homosexuality with pedophilia (but it's OK—some of his best friends are gay.) Craig wasn't arrested for being gay, he was arrested for soliciting.
It is not only legal, but widely approved by all Republicans, that heterosexual men have sex with their wives. Still, I think if my Trophy Wife™ and I were in the mood next time we were traveling and found a quiet place in the airport to get wild together, the airport police would have legitimate grounds for arresting and fining us for inappropriate behavior.
I would, of course, immediately tell the Gestapo that they should be searching for Al Quaeda instead of disturbing fornicating heterosexual couples, which is perfectly legal in America. It also sounds like it would be more fun than robbing a bank.
This is a trumped up attempt by the executive branch to change the balance of power in the senate. All I can assume with this remark is that former Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein is jealous that the current Republican in the Oval Office seems to be doing a much better job of undermining the Constitution than his favorite president. But even there, Craig is a Republican rubberstamper, and Bush is a Republican, and this arrest is most embarrassing to the Republican party. Maybe he should have saved this argument for when Hillary takes office and starts shipping the Republican senators off to work camps in the Alaskan oil fields.
Now I'm looking forward to his movie even more. A googly-eyed gnome with a monotone accusing people of gestapo tactics has already had his screen test, and it flopped.
Whose to say there weren't some gay terrorists looking for anonymous sex in a public restroom?
What is the plan to destroy the US population by making everyone gay? That wouldn't work btw.
If you're going to kill yourself by crashing an airplane you might as well get one last thrust in before the flight. Just listen to the moaning. While everyone is saying, "Oh god!" the terrorists will be saying "Oh allah!"