Go see Ben Stein's "Expelled"

I knew nothing of Ben Stein or this new documentary until yesterday, and now I am telling everyone I know to go see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. At first I said no. Not only do I not usually enjoy seeing movies, but there's the expense and I know my reaction on seeing the website was not exactly interest or enthusiasm. But when my brother and I were invited to go with my dad and the Norm Geisler, we could not pass up the opportunity!

Don't let the high-school playground aura fool you. Expelled truly is a masterfully drawn case for Intelligent Design. I was thinking--hard!--the entire two hours. Ben Stein interviews experts on both sides and the content is deep while the pace is brisk enough and spiced with plenty of humor to keep even a skeptic interested. My brother's favorite part was seeing Richard Dawkins stammer and stutter when Stein tried to nail him down on a few key points. And yet the blatant blasphemy is chilling. The reality of this battle is chilling. From a press release:

Stein, who is also a lawyer, an economist, a former presidential speechwriter, author and social commentator, is stunned by what he finds on his journey. He discovers an elitist scientific establishment that has traded in its skepticism for dogma. But even worse, along the way, Stein uncovers a long line of biologists, astronomers, chemists and philosophers who have had their reputations destroyed and their careers ruined by a scientific establishment that allows absolutely no dissent from Charles Darwin’s theory of random mutation and natural selection.

For example, Stein meets Richard Sternberg, a double PhD biologist who allowed a peer-reviewed research paper describing the evidence for intelligence in the universe to be published in the scientific journal Proceedings. Not long after publication, officials from the National Center for Science Education and the Smithsonian Institution where Sternberg was a research fellow began a coordinated smear and intimidation campaign to get the promising young scientist expelled from his position. This attack on scientific freedom was so egregious that it prompted a congressional investigation.

Unlike some other documentary films, Expelled doesn’t just talk to people representing one side of the story. The film confronts scientists such as Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, influential biologist and atheist blogger PZ Myers and Eugenie Scott, head of the National Center for Science Education. The creators of Expelled crossed the globe over a two-year period, interviewing scores of scientists, doctors, philosophers and public leaders.

Seeing it is a crash course in history, science, apologetics, and rhetoric. You may even cry; I came close. Masterful. Now if only we can get more people to see it....

Spending an evening with Dr. Geisler was not so bad either! He is the one under whom great minds like Ravi Zacharias and J.P. Moreland studied apologetics. The author of over 70 books--8 new ones coming out this year alone--it was truly an honor for me to hear his thoughts on the issues of the film as well as touching on subjects like his writing, education, and discovering he has a great sense of humor.

All in all, it was a Friday evening very well spent!