Comments on: New Ben Stein Movie — EXPELLED

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:55:44 +0000

Just because something is proposed as a theory doesn’t mean that it needs to be taken seriously. You could just as easily purpose that the Universe was sneezed out by a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a viable alternative. Moreover, Intelligent Design or Creationism (because they are the same things) have been thoroughly tested using just about every scientific method that we have, and each published account (in a peer reviewed journal or similar) has laughed it off.

Point being, it was tested and it failed. Time to stop beating that dead horse.

By: Erik John Bertel

Erik John Bertel — Sun, 18 May 2008 11:38:46 +0000

As I said in my blog, Why There Are No Expelled and Ben Stein Bootlegs at http://millenniumwriting.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/why-there-are-no-expelled-and-ben-stein-bootlegs/, you can measure the quality and success of a movie by the number of bootlegs copies on the street. There aren’t none for Expelled.

Erik John Bertel
Author of Flores Girl The Children God Forgot and the Millenniumwriting blog

By: onein6billion

onein6billion — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:11:55 +0000

“I want the legislature or anyone else except the school administration to keep their hands off.”

Ok. Florida passed bills in both House and Senate by large margins to enable “teach the controversy” and then refused to compromise the bills - so neither bill was sent to Jeb. Louisiana is next. Three other states in the works. And Expelled is promoting these bills.

And the “school administration” at Dover paid $1 million to find out that they should have kept their hands off of a high school biology class.

“Present the facts, talk about the interpretations and let students make up their own minds.”

Ok. But not in high school. Biology is a 9th grade subject and neither 9th grade students nor teachers have the time or background to know the actual “facts” in a situation like this. So, yes, in a university philosophy class. So the students come to a better understanding of the difference between science and religion.

By: almather

almather — Sat, 03 May 2008 12:10:40 +0000

If design is so intelligent,especially early life.Why was it so fraught with mistakes?Billions of species that went no where.Such imperfect creations in all species?
We think so much of ourselves.Because our minds perceive something as “complex” it cannot have been chance.

Mathematics,with all it’s laws and complexity,starts in our minds as the basic concept of zero and one.

By: almather

almather — Sat, 03 May 2008 12:00:27 +0000

Creationists wants to do an end run around the science involved in testing theory.
My big question here is this.If Creationists had their way..would they accept the nameless,faceless diety?Would they welcome the creation stories of all religions..Hindu,Wiccan,Judeo-Christian,etc ,into the discussion?(A discussion taking place in a science class??!?!)

By: dwhitsett

dwhitsett — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:36:07 +0000

“They” doesn’t include me. I want the legislature or anyone else except the school administration to keep their hands off.
Controversy occurs when the facts resulting from scientific discoveries are interpreted to mean anything more than what they are. This is fodder for discussion but only as opinion. Present the facts, talk about the interpretations and let students make up their own minds.
I don’t want anyone dictating what I or my children can or cannot believe.

By: onein6billion

onein6billion — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:53:15 +0000

“It is not a scientific method.”

Note that they want state legislatures to pass laws specifically allowing the criticisms of the Theory of Evolution to be taught in high school science classrooms. Obviously if the Theory of Evolution is not perfect in the eyes of the creationists, then “intelligent design” must be the correct answer. LOL

By: dwhitsett

dwhitsett — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:28:09 +0000

What does intelligent design mean? Well, I think it means design that seems to be of intelligent origin instead of the result of billions of years of cosmic accidents, some of which turned out to be beneficial. Raymond Obomsawin made an excellent observation in a previous comment.
Intelligent design doesn’t “do” anything. It is not a scientific method. It is a conclusion some scientists have reached. Come on…do a little investigation before passing judgment.

By: onein6billion

onein6billion — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:46:06 +0000

“So instead we are told what it does not include.”

I also told you what it does include. And “intelligent design” is not science because it does not do the things that are required for it to be science.

“there should be a debate allowed in the classroom”

Riiight. Let’s debate Religion versus Science. After all, there has never been a debate like this in the last week, month, year, decade, century, millennium. Oh, there was? I missed it? What did it resolve, this debate? Which side was Wm F Buckley on? Well, let’s have this debate in a high school science classroom because that way we will get really informed opinions on both sides. No, I know - let’s make a “documentary” describing how this “debate” has not and will not ever occur. And how “God did it” is sooo helpful in choosing the next scientific research project to be funded. No? The movie did not actually explain what “intelligent design” really means?

By: bubba

bubba — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:18:11 +0000

They also have strikes against them for several reasons. For example the book they were fighting over in the public school case was originally a creationist book (which had been ruled unscientific) that was merely repackaged by going in and removing all references to creationism and replacing them with intelligent design or cdesign references, etc.

So ID may be worth studying but their methods certainly do raise the hairs on the necks of scientists.