Expelled movie: Why the scientists were expelled, and why you should care

“Many recent discoveries do not support a materialist position, but increasingly that position is enforced as an orthodoxy”

by Denyse O’Leary

Yesterday a friend told me about a new movie he thought I should see. Starring comic Ben Stein, it shows how dangerous it is for a scientist today to say that there is evidence of design in the universe or life forms.

I knew about Expelled, the widely denounced political documentary. I had announced its existence on my blog in August [2007].

I honestly wondered whether the film would ever be shown because, almost immediately, prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins claimed they had been tricked into taking part. Yoko Ono sued the filmmakers over the use of a couple of bars from John Lennon’s “Imagine.” The film was supposed to be released on Darwin’s birthday but was pulled for edit. The screening at Mall of the Americas was overshadowed by an uproar when local biology professor P. Z. Myers was refused admittance by producer Mark Mathis. (Myers is well known for advocating the firing of intelligent design sympathizers.)

Security was so tight that even the Canadian screenwriter Kevin Miller couldn’t get a copy because of piracy concerns. When I needed to confirm a quote I had to ask Mathis to give me a transcript from his own copy on his laptop.

Last Thursday I finally saw the film at the premiere in Toronto. To me the controversial content was nothing new; I had been covering the firings, the denials of tenure and the scurrilous abuse of design theorists and their sympathizers for years. I have long since learned that to many materialist atheists, “liar” means “a person who puts forward information that does not support atheism” and “fraud” means “an opponent who cannot simply be dismissed.”

I recall a meeting at which a distinguished elderly scientist expressed considerable anger at the turn things had taken as he surveyed a row of younger colleagues who had suffered because their research findings simply do not support materialism.

I should take a moment to underline the nature of the problem, because there is considerable misunderstanding about that. Few ideological atheists care if a scientist shouts that Jesus is Lord in a chapel somewhere. Some wouldn’t even care if she witnesses at work. Indeed, they may boast of their tolerance. And the scientist may never notice a problem. She3 may even believe and insist that no problem exists.

A problem arises when the scientist uncovers evidence that better suits design than materialist atheism an then insists that it be treated as evidence-not mere “faith.”

That is what young Cuban American astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez did. Gonzalez, who discovered several planets orbiting stars other than our sun, went on record as saying Earth is bit just an average planet in the galaxy. The view he opposes is a cornerstone of materialist doctrine. The evidence shows, he said, that Earth is fine-tuned for life and discovery.

Other astronomers did not choose to argue with Gonzalez over the evidence. They denied him tenure – as the subpoenaed documents showed – on account of his public disclosure of the evidence for his position.

I recommend Expelled even though it does not provide a clear explanation for why there is an intelligent design controversy. In one sentence: Many recent discoveries do not support a materialist position, but increasingly that position is enforced as an orthodoxy – as what “science” is really about, as the position scientists must take. However, I believe that a multi-part TV series is needed to unpack the many facets of this growing controversy.

My favourite scene features Ben Stein, mathematician David Berlinski and physicist Gerald Schroeder standing by the remains of the Berlin Wall, as if to say that the old way of understanding nature as the handiwork of a great Craftsman (Psalm 19:1) will survive this two-century materialist blip. (This column originally appeared in ChristianWeek, August 2, 2008)

Other posts you may be interested in:

From The Post-Darwinist:

Enron and Darwinism – a perfect fit?

Burying Darwin while he is still hot? The Altenberg 16 (Yesa, they are, they just aren’t admitting that that stuff they are pouring on him is dirt.)

More weird news from Darwin’s new world: The Myers cracker controversy

Conservative blog charges: The ID think tank is in league with Islamic radicals

Literary Darwinism: Crap? Lit crit chasing its collective tail?

From Mindful Hack

Economic decisions: Complex but not irrational?

Animal minds: Monkeys understand money? No, of course not, but efforts to pretend they do are hilarious

Neuroscience: How complex is your brain? More than you can easily imagine!

Hunting, herding, hiding, and hustling – that explains our social relationships?

Psychiatrist Jeff Schwartz speaks on what drugs can do for you – and what you and your mind must do for yourself

From Colliding Universes:

This summer’s fashion in origin of life theories is diamonds (Well, of course, because diamonds are a swirl’s best friend … )

Extraterrestrials: Younger astronomers less likely to believe than older ones?

So what if fossil bacteria are found on Mars? Polls show many Americans expect Star Trek!

Talking to origin of life scientists: Like giving a bobcat a prostate exam?

Carl Sagan and celebrity cosmology: Was he the best cosmology could do? Or the best celebrity could do?

Increase in UFO sitings in Canada – what’s behind that?

Stephen Hawking, miffed over science funding cuts, to move to Ontario, Canada?