On Wednesday night, my roommate (Mark) and I went to go see “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” If you have not heard/seen anything about this movie, click here to go to its website. Basically, it is a documentary done by Ben Stein to show how professors, scientists, and other professionals have been fired or strongly disciplined for teaching or writing about “Intelligent Design.” Here’s the deal, though. I will call this a “mini-review,” because I will try to make this short and sweet. Not to mention, I went to see the movie at 10:10pm, and I was definitely tired. The only other time it was playing was 1pm, which is when I am at the office. The guy selling tickets was actually surprised when we said we wanted tickets for “Expelled.” I wonder what their ticket sales were like… I did have a chance to explain the movie a bit to him, and he seemed interested, even telling me he went to a religious school where he was taught Intelligent Design.
Ok, on to the “mini-review”: I will say this… It was interesting. It wasn’t exactly what I had pictured. It was only 90 minutes, but it seemed longer. I believe he could have gotten his point across in 45-60 minutes. The middle section seemed to go off topic a bit into a seemingly different direction. However, the beginning and end hit the nail on the head. In a free country, I believe professors and other scientists should be able to teach/research/write whatever they want. Yes, professors/teachers are not allowed to push their opinions on people, but why should they not be able to teach certain things? Before the movie, I had always thought Creationists and Intelligent Design people were basically the same. I guess not. Now, coming from my worldview, I definitely believe the Intelligent Designer to be God (Yahweh), but some would not agree with me. The funniest parts, for me, were when the organizations said their reasons for firing those people had nothing to do with Intelligent Design when it was very obvious it did. Some even had letters proving it. I also learned that Hitler and the Nazis had a large connection to Darwin’s teachings…much more than I had realized. Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie. If you can find it in a theater around you (at a descent time), go see it. Or you can wait for the DVD. I would really like to get a group together and discuss it afterwards.
Have you seen this movie? Share your thoughts! I’d love to hear/read them. Also, who’s up for a movie/discussion night when this comes out on DVD?
Steve Cullum 