May 09 2008
Expelled vs Exposed!
Well, I dont want to steal to much of the thunder from these sites, but if you havent heard about Ben Stein’s presentation of the movie Expelled, it is creating some waves. Probably the largest reaction to it I have seen is the site Expelled Exposed, and it offers an opposing point of view regarding the material presented in Expelled. The whole issue is regarding the inclusion of intelligent design as an equal theory to the theory of evolution. Exposed claims that science operates on assumptions that can neither prove nor deny theological claims, and as such intelligent design theories have as much place in a science classroom as a geometry theorem in an Old English literature course. What are your thoughts?
i really need to watch the movie and see what’s up… as a fan of science (biology minor in undergrad) i don’t really see a split b/t science and religion. what i see is close-minded ppl on one side against close-minded ppl on the other. i’m not a fan of either.
i see no evidence in the theory of evolution to disprove God, only the mechanism through which God works. i guess i need to study up on I.D. as what i’ve read in the past was just creationism under a different name… any reading suggestions?
Well, my take is similar to yours, except I have always enjoyed the physics side of things.
As far as reading goes, I have found Genesis 1-4 by C.J. Collins immensely helpful in identifying exactly what those chapters are saying about the origins of life, and how we as Christians should respond. He has another book called Science and Faith that I have not personally read, but have heard good things about.
I feel like there are no actual scientists backing up ID. I mean, the guy who coined the idea of intricate systems that could not possibly evolve w/o a designer basically came out and acknowledged his theory was crap…
I’m all for encouraging students to analyze all theories as THEORIES, but ID has, IMO, failed to be presented as a valid scientific theory according to the definition of one.
And I saw some of Stein’s film. What I watched was very boring.
I think movies like Expelled and Inconvenient Truth are trying to do the same thing. I have not seen either movie, but I think they are made by true believers who are looking for converts. But I don’t understand why scientist seem to have faith in Al Gore and no faith in Ben Stein. Have your read Michael Crichton’s speech called, “Environmentalism as Religion” at his official website?
I converted to the evolution religion years ago and I think God is OK with that.
Mike, I heard Francis Collins speak on this topic recently. He’s clearly a committed Christian, who’s written “The Language of God”, and is a highly regarded scientist. He believes that the bible and science meet in evolution, and believes that both can hold true. Have you looked into what he says?