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-Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
by Dr. D ~
Rocky Mountain Pictures, April 18, 2008, Directed by: Nathan Frankowski, Runtime: 100 minutes, Cast: Ben Stein, David Berlinski, Richard Dawkins, William A. Dembski, Alister McGrath, Stephen C. Meyers, PZ Myers, John Polkinghorne, Will Provine, Michael Ruse, Eugenie Scott
‘Expelled’ was a fascinating presentation of how Darwinism dominates academia to such a degree that no alternative thought is presently allowed. The picture documents how some who merely mention ‘Intelligent design’ have been attacked and even dismissed from their teaching or research positions.
The film host, Ben Stein, who is Jewish, asserts in the documentary that Darwin and evolutionist theory actually paved the way for the atrocities of the Holocaust.
The most interesting part of the film was an interview with famous atheist Richard Dawkins. Dawkins makes a comment that he’s 99 percent certain there’s no God. Ben Stein latches on to that number and replies, “Why not 97%?, why not49%?”. Stein continues until an exasperated Dawkins concedes:
“Maybe there is an intelligent designer. But if there is, I can guarantee that that intelligent designer is a life form that evolved elsewhere and came to earth and seeded life here.”
So that’s his major concession to the ID camp? If there is an ‘intelligent designer’ than it was an ‘alien’ who evolved somewhere else in the universe? So there you have it, Dawkins believes in aliens but not God.
The film is an important contribution to the dialogue on Intelligent Design and one that should not be missed either in the theater or on DVD. *Top
July 15th, 2008 at 5:26 am
What Dawkins meant by 99% (as opposed to 100%) is that if he was confronted with sound, scientific evidence for a designer, he may change his mind. A good scientist should always leave open the possibility of as-yet undiscovered evidence that will change his or her mind.
Next, he is hypothesizing about the origins of an intelligent designer, should there prove to be one. It might be very unlikely that we were designed by, to use your word, “aliens”, but consider the recent advances in bio engineering here on earth. Already, simple life forms have been “intelligently designed” by humans. Someday, we might be those “aliens” who, by accident or intention, seed life (designed or evolved) on another planet. In this case, we would be the “intelligent designer”, and we would have evolved on our own elsewhere.
It is a much more intelligent explanation of the origins of a hitherto undiscovered intelligent designer than “He has just been there, forever.”
July 15th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Thanks Joe, But obviously you didn’t see the movie.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Nope, I was responding to the points made in the review. I’ve already heard the counter-arguments, and I don’t find them convincing.
Maybe I’ll get around to watching it though, thanks for listening, anyway.