Expel Ben Stein!!

Ok, maybe I'm in the minority here, but I have to write about it (since everybody else in the blogosphere seems to be). I'm not sure how exactly I'm supposed to feel about the new sensationalist film Expelled. I'm going to be up front with you and admit that I probably won't be watching the movie, and all my views as of today are based off presupposition and speculation (and a little research). If any of you have seen a preview and want to comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Otherwise, I'll see what everyone else says when it opens on friday.

Caveat: As a Christian, I believe in Intelligent Design. I believe that God created the world and everything in it. I believe in all the creeds and statements of faith that go along with it. What I don't like, is turning a serious (and possibly life-altering) discussion into a sensationalist circus. There are plenty of Christian scientists out there, the first that comes to mind is Dr. Hugh Ross. I've heard him speak and he is compelling, interactive, and engaging. His organization is formed from scientists and theologians from major universities. They make Christians and religious people seem intelligent. I take issue that the movie has Ben Stein, of all people, as the pointman. I watched the preview (correction: tried to watch), and it read like one of those old, boring PBS specials.

Ben Stein, in all his insipid glory, narrates the preview like he's reading out of a sunday school primer: I've had a wonderful life, I believe that God made us, just like he made everything, even the rocks. Honestly, it was at that point when I stopped watching the preview. I've done a lot of reading about what the movie talks about. Supposedly, it's about the suppression of Intelligent Designers in Universities who are fired or refused tenure once they speak out about Darwinism. I've heard (as all there is right now is gossip) that the movie liberally intersperses clips of Stalin, Hitler, and other "anti-freedom" monsters. It is emotive and it seems that the only purpose of the movie is to incite anger and unrest.

That being said, however, I think it is good that the issue is getting out there. I think it probably would be better served in a different fashion, a different venue, or with a different spokesperson. There are much more respected people out there (respected in both the Christian and scientific communities) who could easily lead a crusade for Intelligent Design. The proof is out there. And if you actually follow science, the more they learn about the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, or uninhabitable planets, or baby's brains, or quantum mechanics, or what have you, and it all leads back to the unquestionable complexity and uniqueness of our life on earth.

While I agree that this issue is one that needs to be debated and talked about, I think it is too serious an issue to sensationalize. It's good if this movie gets people talking about Intelligent Design, I just wish that it had gone about it in a different, less crusading way. Instead of going with my church to the movie, maybe I should do a serious, intelligent series on "Science and Faith: How they complement each other, and what to do when they don't" with our youth group. I, for one, am not on the Christian bandwagon this time.