Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a documentary hosted by Ben Stein set for release in the spring of 2008, which recounts how people supporting intelligent design theory are suppressed and persecuted within schools, universities and the scientific community.[1] The film highlights several academic disputes which, according to Stein, demonstrate that scientists and educators who promote intelligent design are persecuted by the scientific establishment.[2] Examples given by the film include Richard Sternberg, a biologist and an unpaid research associate at the National Museum of Natural History, and Guillermo Gonzalez, a pro-Intelligent design astrophysicist denied tenure at Iowa State University in 2007.[3]
In the film's trailer, Stein states that there are "people out there who want to keep science in a little box where it can’t possibly touch God" and that "freedom of thought and freedom of inquiry have been expelled from publicly-funded high schools, universities and research institutions."[3]
The film also implies that Darwin's theory of evolution was responsible for the Holocaust,[4][5] a view which has previously been put forward by the Discovery Institute, a scientific think tank which endorses intelligent design.[6]
Backlash
Some of the scientists interviewed in the film, notably Richard Dawkins, claim that they were deceived as to the film's purpose and title, and would not have agreed to participate in it had they known of its pro-intelligent design message[3] (see deceit).
See also
- Creation-evolution controversy
- Intelligent Design and Academic Freedom by Barbara Bradley Hagerty at NPR.com
References
- ↑ Expelled the movie website
- ↑ Lesley Burbridge-Bates (2007-08-22). Expelled Press Release. Premise Media. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin, New York Times, 27 September 2007
- ↑ Expelled Movie trailers
- ↑ Ben Stein to battle `anti-religious dogmatism`, Bill Berkowitz, Top Scoops, Scoop Independent News, 11 September 2007.
- ↑ New book by Discovery Institute Fellow shows influence of Darwinian principles on Hitler's Nazi regime, Discovery Institute.