mbjones

The new rage in movies currently is [Expelled][1], or so I am told. I’ve had many folks asking about this movie over the past few weeks and thought I’d put my thoughts down for all to see (since so many of you keep prodding). In short, **I have no real interest in seeing it** and won’t.

Now, to back up a bit, [Expelled][1] is an ID (*intelligent design*) documentary that looked to have promise when I first heard about it. Ben Stein and company were going to take a serious look at the plight of ID scientists in the field, or so I thought. In the end it seems to be nothing more than more propaganda, no different than one would expect out of a Michael Moore documentary (which I’m somewhat proud to say I’ve never seen).

The first hint that I was going to be more disgusted than excited at this film came from reading the [tale of PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins][2] in getting into the opening screening. To make a long story short, Myers — one of the evolutionary scientists *interviewed for the film* was kicked out (they let Dawkins in though — he was also interviewed but wasn’t recognized).

That got me reading further into things. It turns out that the producers outright lied to the scientists in order to get them to talk on camera. They claimed the interviews were for a movie entitled *Crossroads* that explored honestly the intersection of faith and science. Funny thing is though that the domain name for [Expelled][1] was reserved and set up months before the interviews occurred and the domain for Crossroads *was never reserved*, making intentions pretty obvious.

So we’ve moved from expelling some of the participants from the screening (something I’d look down on but could forgive) to outright dishonesty. There is a lot more “dishonesty” involved in this flick though so don’t be easily fooled if you do go and see it. [Scientific American][1] lists 6 things in particular that immediately jump out as dishonest:

1. Misquoting sources (particularly the quotes linking Charles Darwin to the holocaust).
2. Ben Stein’s speech was a setup, staged at Pepperdine and filled with extras paid off by the production company.
3. I’ve already discussed their third item: the dishonest interviews.
4. The ID researcher who “lost his job” was never actually an employee of the Smithsonian Institute. This is a big one because one of the primary premises of the movie is that scientists are losing jobs left and right because of this issue which isn’t really true. If you want to look at OU, we have many ID sympathetic professors, but that’s another story.
5. A weaker weakness. Could take this one either way. Basically the approach of science towards evolution and ID isn’t accurately portrayed.
6. Specifically chose to interview *only* atheistic scientists and not any of the Christian scientists that might be sympathetic to evolutionary views. (*”Mathis explained that his presence would have “confused” viewers. But the reality is that showing Miller would have invalidated the film’s major premise that evolutionary biologists all reject God.”*)

And thus we are left with a documentary that pulls out all of the tricks to sucker people into believing everything they say. Again, there really aren’t any difference in the above tactics and the charges commonly leveled against folks like Michael Moore. And it’s a shame that this is all done under the guise of Christianity and a “Christian” film. Those that are going to be seeing it already have their minds made up about the ID issue and those that ***should*** be exposed to some ID thought aren’t going to want anything to do with it. In their words,

“Christians have a growing reputation for their appreciation of dishonesty.” (from [here][2])

and

“Lying for Jesus” (from [here][3])

So hopefully this all explains why I don’t have much interest in seeing [Expelled][1]. I’d love it though if someone actually did what the producers told Myers, Dawkins and others they were going to do (namely create a serious exploration of the intersection of faith and science). Here’s to hoping they do, and here’s to hoping for integrity in any film-making that’s going to be in some way associated with Christ.

[1]:http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=six-things-ben-stein-doesnt-want-you-to-know&page=3
[2]:http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/a_late_night_quick_one.php
[3]:http://richarddawkins.net/article,2394,Lying-for-Jesus,Richard-Dawkins